A local car dealerships could soon be boasting a branch in Marrakesh... after reporting a stunning rise in export sales!

The Chorley Group, which already has Nissan and Fiat outlets in Chorley, Preston, Blackpool, Wigan and Burnley, is spreading its net further and wider than ever before in a bold drive to beat the credit crunch.

The move is already starting to pay handsome dividends for the group, with year-on-year export sales up by a whopping 20 per cent over the last nine months.

And with plans afoot to further strengthen that presence abroad over the next 12 months, Dave Hull, The Chorley Group’s exports director, is confident that will lead to even further growth.

“We export cars to places all over the world, from Spain and Portugal to more exotic locations like Morocco, Zambia, Kenya and Mauritius,” explained Dave.

“We recently sold five off-road vehicles to a French water technology company in Samoa, which is working on a project funded by the United Nations.

“We also supply lots of cars to the British Armed Forces in Germany, and we’ve sold cars to foreign diplomats working for the South African, Kenyan and Irish embassies in London.

“It’s a niche market but it’s one that is growing all the time for us, and it illustrates how we are becoming a world-wide business.”

The Chorley Group already has three sales teams based in Germany - in Osnabruck, Bergen-Hohne and Sennelager - who specialise in supplying cars to the British Armed Forces.

And with export sales booming, the group is investigating the possibility of setting up a fourth base in the country in Rheindalen.

Andrew Turner, managing director of The Chorley Group, said: “I’m delighted to see we are laying the foundations for something that is going to be absolutely massive for us in the future.

“We’ve been exporting Nissans abroad for quite some time now and we are looking to do something similar with Fiat.

“We are continuing to develop our links with foreign diplomats, many of whom are based in embassies in London, and we also export a lot of left-hand drive vehicles to ‘ex-Pats’ who have moved to countries like Spain and France. They find the whole process of buying a car over there problematic due to the language barrier.

“It’s an expanding market and we want to be at the forefront of it.”