AGM Trading Statement

Inchcape PLC
12 May 2005



12 May 2005

Inchcape AGM Trading Statement

In his statement to shareholders at today's Annual General Meeting (AGM), Sir
John Egan, Chairman of Inchcape plc, will make the following comments about
current trading:

'As expected the UK car market is forecast to be slightly lower than 2004.
Despite this, UK Retail has enjoyed a positive start to the year. It is expected
that this will continue. In addition the recently announced acquisition of six
Mercedes-Benz dealerships will also benefit the UK.

'In Greece and Belgium our market share in the year to date has been lower than
anticipated. However, better product availability and a slightly broader product
range should help our performance in both markets in the second half of the
year.

'In Australia market conditions remain strong and our performance is ahead of
previous expectations.

'In Hong Kong we anticipate profitability will be in line with our expectations
at the start of the year.

'The Government of Singapore has issued the COE (Certificate of Entitlement)
quota for the year to March 2006, and the resultant car market for 2005 is now
expected to be higher than 2004. This is better than we had previously expected
and will impact positively on profitability.

'We have commenced the earnings enhancing £65.0m share buy back programme,
previously announced in our preliminary results statement on 28 February 2005.
As at close of business on 11 May 2005, £14.6m has been returned to shareholders
through the purchase of c. 764,000 shares at an average price of 1910p per
share.

'Inchcape continues to benefit from its broad geographic spread and strong
operational performance. The overall trading conditions seen to date leave us
confident that 2005 will show further progress for Inchcape, and we are well
placed to continue with our record of profit growth and strong cash generation.'

In a separate announcement today, Inchcape has presented its unaudited full year
results, for the year ended 31 December 2004, under International Financial
Reporting Standards (IFRS), which shows that the effect on profit before tax and
earnings is broadly neutral subject to the achievement of hedge effectiveness
under IAS 39.


Notes to editors

You can view the IFRS announcement by visiting our website www.inchcape.com.

The accompanying AGM slides and speeches will be available online, under
'Presentations', from approximately 1200hrs today on our website. The results of
the AGM resolutions will also be available today, under 'News Desk', from
1600hrs.

For further information, please contact:

Group Communications, Inchcape plc 
020 7546 0022

Hogarth Partnership Limited (John Olsen/Barnaby Fry) 
020 7357 9477

Inchcape, an international automotive services group, provides quality
representation for its manufacturer partners, a choice of channels to market and
products for its retail customers and a range of business services for its
corporate customers. Operations are focused on the UK, Greece, Belgium,
Australia, Hong Kong and Singapore. Inchcape's activities include exclusive
Import, Distribution and Retail, Business Services, automotive E-commerce and
Financial Services. Our key manufacturer partners are Toyota/Lexus, Subaru, BMW,
the Premier Automotive Group of Ford, Mazda, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen.

For further information, visit us at www.inchcape.com




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