Pendragon demonstrated the vulnerability of the car retailing sector to the consumer spending slowdown when Britain’s largest dealership warned trading was so unpredictable it was no longer able to forecast profits for the year. The shares dropped more than 23 per cent to 15p on the news.

A market-wide 9.5 per cent fall in new car registrations in May for retail customers and 15.4 per cent for small business users looked likely to have continued throughout June, the company said.