Bentley, the luxury car brand owned by Volkswagen, has taken a surprise 28 per cent stake in the upmarket dealership HR Owen.

The stake is worth about £9 million. The dealership was founded more than 75 years ago and includes the famous Jack Barclay franchise in London’s Berkeley Square.

The move by the luxury carmaker is seen as a stabilising move for HR Owen, which has undergone a radical restructuring over the past two years. It has sold off 36 sites and concentrated on prime London locations with a handful of other branches in the South East and one in Manchester.

HR Owen used to specialise in Bentley and Rolls-Royce as its top-of-the-range cars. Now it also sells Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bugatti.

HR Owen said it had been advised by Bentley that the motor group has no intention of increasing its stake. It is believed that Bentley bought the stake from the Australian car dealer Neville Crichton. There has been speculation that Mr Crichton or some Dubai-based investment groups could make a move on the dealership.

It is believed that Bentley held discussions with the other luxury brands before taking its stake. VW also owns Lamborghini and Bugatti.

Nick Lancaster, chief executive of HR Owen, said: “We don’t see this as an unfriendly move. But we only heard about it at lunchtime and we need to have a meeting with them.”

No one from Bentley, which is based in Crewe, was available for comment. Bentley’s fortunes have prospered since it and Rolls-Royce were split up, with Bentley bought by VW and Rolls-Royce bought by its German rival BMW. Similarly, Rolls-Royce, which was moved from Crewe to Goodwood, has also been successful under its ownership by BMW.

Last week Bentley said that its operating profits had increased 13 per cent last year to €155 million.

The company has benefited from the popularity of new models, including the Continental. Last year Bentley made more than 10,000 cars for the first time. Five years ago the carmaker made only 1,000 vehicles. However, some other luxury carmakers now query whether Bentley has pushed the volumes too high for a top-of-the-range luxury brand.

Bentley said last week that it was seeing strong growth in emerging markets such as Russia and China along with robust demand in the more traditional markets of the UK, the United States and Germany.

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