UK car manufacturer sees profits grow by 1,350 per cent

Banbury-based Prodrive has turned around its £365,000 loss in 2024 to a healthy profit of £4.562m for the year ending December 31, 2025.

Turnover decreased by 13 per cent to £73.675m for the year, however a decrease in costs resulted in an operating profit of £3,681,000.

Tim Colchester, chief operating officer at Prodrive, said in a report: “This reduction in turnover reflects the completion of the limited-edition P25 production run during 2024, which had previously contributed significantly to revenue.

Prodrive HQ, off the M40 (Image: Google Maps)

“The Prodrive P25 is a modern reinterpretation of the iconic Subaru Impreza WRC97 rally car, combining contemporary performance engineering with a championship-winning rally heritage.”

Seven staff also left the business last year, accounts published to Companies House reveal. Prodrive employs 232 people in its Banbury site, which can be seen from the M40.

Mr Colchester said the operating profit, up 524 per cent from a loss of £868,000 to a profit of £3.681m, followed a “strategic” restructure of the business operations.

This was aimed at reducing costs, improving efficiency and helping to mitigate economic uncertainly, the boss explained.

He added: “These changes have strengthened our resilience to external economic pressures, enabling us to continue supporting our customers with the expertise and dedication that have long made Prodrive Motorsport the driving force behind some of the most iconic names and achievements in world motorsport.”

Over the years, Prodrive has been involved in the successes of some of the greatest championships in motorsports.

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Under its belt, it has six World Rally titles, 11 World Endurance Championship titles, six Le Mans 24 hour race Mans titles, four British Touring Car Championship titles, the 2022 Extreme E Championship and the 2026 Dakar Rally – a gruelling 85,000-mile looped route in Saudi Arabia that started and finished in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast.

“Outside of racing activities, the company is growing its partnerships with other leading automotive customers which is helping to mitigate risk, as well as taking on additional engineering projects,” Mr Colchester added.

“The company is exposed to further risk due to potential changes in leading manufacturer strategy.

“This is mitigated by ensuring long-term contracts are in place, as well as working closely with the company’s customers to build a strategic partnership.

“This is specifically relevant to Aston Martin Racing and JLR, who are key customers of the company.”

In addition, Prodrive in the last year has hosted 44 students with visits from the Frank Wise School in Banbury and Bicester College.