London-listed car distributor Inchcape plans a fivefold increase in China dealerships in the next five years. With an investment of about GBP10 million per outlet, Inchcape plans to spend a total of about HKD2 billion adding 16 new dealerships by 2016 to the four it now operates. “We are taking our time to build our presence in China because our competitive advantage is customer service, and that takes time to develop people’s skills and capability to deliver,” Chief Executive André Lacroix said. Hong Kong, where it operates as Crown Motors and is the sole official importer for Toyota and Lexus, ranks as the firm’s third biggest market globally. Inchcape grew into a multinational conglomerate with businesses as diverse as shipping, Coca-Cola bottling, high-end fashion retailing, insurance broking and wine and spirits trading, in addition to car sales, until the board decided in the late 90s to sell all of its businesses except the core car trading operations. In China Inchcape now operates Toyota, Lexus and Jaguar Land Rover dealerships in Shaoxing and it has one Lexus showroom in Shanghai.