About Us

In 1910 John Brown, our founder, was born. Although he was trained as an insurance broker and accountant, his love of cars, which later led him to competitive motor sport, drew him towards the motor trade and led to the formation of Eastern Motor Company.

In 1952 the established business of Eastern Motor Company was run from a showroom in George Street, Edinburgh, adjacent to the Assembly Rooms. John took his company emblem from the weather vane on St. Georges Church at the West End of George Street and this has remained the Group’s emblem for the past 52 years.

In the following years John was appointed dealer for BMW as Eastern Motor Company and Western Automobile Company was formed to sell Mercedes-Benz passenger cars, trucks and Mitsubishi.

In 1981, on the death of John Brown, the business passed to his son Douglas. At this time we were dealers for Mercedes-Benz Car and Truck, BMW, Mitsubishi and Saab.

The company continued to grow through the acquisition of a Volkswagen franchise in Falkirk and in 1999 we acquired a Saab franchise in Newcastle. This gave Western Saab one of the largest territories in the UK.

In April 1999 we moved into a new Mercedes-Benz site at Willowbrae Road and January 2000 saw the completion of a purpose built truck depot in Kirkcaldy with Lexus joining the group at our site at Newbridge. The millennium continued to be a busy year for the Group with an additional Volkswagen franchise coming on board in Edinburgh and both Volkswagen franchises being redeveloped.

2002 saw the acquisition of Bells Of Coldstream allowing us to extend our representation of Mercedes-Benz into the Borders and Northumberland.

In 2003 we again greatly increased our operations when we were appointed main dealers for the entire South Scotland for Mercedes Truck with the acquisition of Vardy Trucks in Glasgow and Derwent Trucks in Bellshill. We also moved into Perth and Glasgow with Westcars Saab and expanded into Perth with Mitsubishi.

We were appointed to the Toyota franchise for Fife and Edinburgh, with operations in Dunfermline, Sighthill and Whitecraig. We also established a new showroom to cope with the success of Mini.

2004 saw further consolidation with a number of new facilities opening. Truck facilities in Govan and Bellshill and a new PDI Centre for the Group at Broxburn. The moving of our Accident Repair Centre to Broxburn; which promptly scooped the prestigious Franchised Dealer Bodyshop Of The Year Award at The Bodyshop Magazine Industry Awards. The planning phase for a new Mercedes-Benz Passenger Car facility began and the acquisition of the world famous Harley-Davidson brand with Edinburgh Harley-Davidson at West Mains Road.

In addition August 2004 saw the completion of our head office at Broxburn, which allows all group head office functions to operate from the one location. 2004 also saw a massive investment in computerisation of the Group to ensure that we remain at the forefront of the industry.

Growth has also continued in 2005. A brand new Commercial facility has been opened at East Mains Industrial Estate in Broxburn and Western Toyota at Halbeath, Dunfermline, will see a total facelift.

We remain proud to be Scotland’s leading privately owned dealer group and look forward to building on 75 years of success. We intend that the business remains family owned, independent, financially secure and able to give employment and development to its staff and continued delight to its customers.