Expansion into Russia

Inchcape PLC
06 March 2006

6 March 2006

                         INCHCAPE EXPANSION INTO RUSSIA

 Joint venture signed with Independence Group for retail and service of Toyota
                     vehicles in high growth Moscow market

Inchcape plc ('Inchcape' or the 'Group'), the international automotive retail
group, today announces its expansion into the high growth Russian market.
Inchcape has entered into a joint venture with the Independence Group of
Companies ('Independence'), one of Moscow's leading independent car retailers,
for the retail and service of Toyota, one of Inchcape's core global brand
partners.

The joint venture will establish two retail and service centres in Moscow for
Toyota vehicles. The retail centres, which will be newly constructed, are due to
open in the second half of 2007 and are expected to become Inchcape's largest
retail outlets in Europe.

Toyota is one of the most successful foreign brands in Russia with sales of
around 60,000 units in 2005, and a market share of foreign brand car sales of
over 10.0%.

Russia is the largest car market in Central and Eastern Europe and is
experiencing rapid growth in automotive sales. In recent years foreign brands
have been increasing their share of overall sales in Russia, with a 61.0%
increase in sales in 2005 to 567,000 units. The foreign brand share of sales is
forecast to increase from 38.0%, of the total new car market in 2005, to over
50.0% with estimated sales of some 900,000 units by 2010.

The joint venture, which will be 51.0% owned by Inchcape and 49.0% owned by
Independence, marks the Group's first entry into the important growth market of
Moscow, which has seen the highest growth in Russia over recent years. Moscow
currently represents approximately 50.0% of foreign brand sales in Russia.

Independence is a multi-franchise automotive retail group based in Moscow. It
was established in 1992 and has become one of the leading automotive retailers
over the last fourteen years with twelve showrooms and six service centres in
Moscow. Its current brand portfolio includes Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo,
Volkswagen, Audi, Ford and Mazda.

The joint venture will initially invest around US$35.0m in the construction and
fit out of the new facilities. The sites will be based to the south east and
south west of Moscow where growth opportunities have been identified for the
Toyota brand.

Andre Lacroix, Group Chief Executive of Inchcape, commented:

'This joint venture with Independence is an important step for Inchcape in its
expansion plan for Moscow and the Russian market place. It has been vital for us
to find the right opportunity with the right partners, and with this joint
venture we have created a strong platform from which to develop a larger
presence in Russia over time.

Roman Chaikovskiy, Chairman of Independence, commented:

'Inchcape is one of the world's leading car retailers. The Group enjoys a strong
long term relationship with Toyota, and we are excited to have this excellent
opportunity to partner with Inchcape and retail one of the most successful
foreign brands in Russia.'


Notes to editors

For further information, please contact:

Group Communications, Inchcape plc
020 7546 0022

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

Inchcape is a scale automotive retail group operating in Australia, Belgium,
Greece, Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. The Group also has operations in a
number of other global markets. In addition to growing our core businesses, we
are looking to develop scale operations in new and emerging regions. We
represent leading automotive brands and operate either a retail, or a vertically
integrated retail model (i.e. exclusive distribution and retail), depending on
the market. 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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