It’s been a bumpy ride for Car Store and Evans Halshaw owner, Pendragon, after its latest trading update revealed its full-year loss is likely to come in at the bottom end of expectations.

Share prices fell by four per cent in the wake of the news, now standing at 12.00p at the time of writing. It’s the latest in a long line of woes for the car dealership firm after a string of profit warnings, site closures and the admission last year that it had a stockpile of used cars that it was struggling to sell.

Today’s trading update revealed that Pendragon does not expect its full-year performance to change since its last profit warning in September and broker, Liberium, predicted that losses could come in around £18.6 million.

Despite the gloomy news, Pendragon’s board remained optimistic, saying that a significantly improved performance in the second half of the 2019 calendar year meant it was on a stronger footing for 2020.

Analysts remain unconvinced though – Liberium has maintained its ‘sell’ rating, and a target price of 9p, saying that: “Pendragon remains our least preferred motor retailer, given the high operational and financial gearing and the need for material business change in a difficult trading environment’.

It’s true that the car dealership firm has faced a number of pressures from the wider market, including a shift towards electric/hybrid cars, weak consumer demand due to political uncertainty and a crackdown on personal consumer loans. The departure of Chief Executive, Mark Herbert, after less than three months at the helm and the closure of 22 locations have added to the group’s turbulent year. Whether Pendragon can get their foot back on the pedal in 2020 remains to be seen but analysts are certainly taking a cautious view.

Luxury car brand, Aston Martin, famed for its James Bond connections has also had a disastrous year but its now pinning its hopes on selling a sizeable stake of its business to a strategic investor.

Chinese car manufacturer, Geely and Formula 1 billionaire Lawrence Stroll are said to be vying for a £200 million, 20 per cent stake in the luxury car firm. Initial talks with Geely earlier this month sent share prices soaring by 13 per cent, after a disastrous first year on the stock market, and the stock now stands at 402.70p.

The rival bids were said to have been discussed at an emergency board meeting yesterday evening, with much likely to depend on what else, besides financial investment, each party could bring to the table.

So, could this be the shot in the arm the luxury car brand needs after a string of profit warnings and desultory results?

In January, CEO Andy Palmer issued a profit warning saying the company had been hit by “lower sales, higher costs and lower margins”, and it only expected to make between £130m and £140m in profit, down from analysts’ expectations of £196m.

The potential interest from Geely and Stroll looks promising though – Geely owns household names such as Volvo and Lotus, and Canadian entrepreneur Stroll is interested in the possibility of a Formula ONE relationship with the brand. Having lost 75 per cent of its value in its first year of trading, there’s no doubt that Aston Martin needs to refuel, so can one of the potential investors make it into a decent long-term proposition?