About Us
We are the largest family run new and used car dealership covering Surrey, London and the South of England that has been selling cars for over 120 years offering our customers extensive choice, unbeatable value and a service they can trust in one location. We're proud to represent eleven new car brands - Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Dacia, Fiat, Hyundai, Jeep, MG, Nissan, Peugeot, and Renault - as well as stocking over 1,000 nearly new and used cars on site that you can browse online today.
We are always open to taking on new talent and are proud to offer jobs in Epsom to local residents. Interested in joining our team? Have a look at our careers page here
So, how did it all begin?
In 1904, Wilsons opened as one of the first driving schools in the UK. Florence Wilson and Howard Wilson saw an opportunity when a friend was fascinated by the new '"horseless carriage" he was driving, and they began offering driving lessons and later on started to sell cars.
Florence Wilson was one of the first female driving instructors in the country.
In the 1920's, during the First World War, the Wilsons taught Australians and New Zealenders to drive army trucks in London in an effort to beat the enemy!
By the 1930s, the second world war had ended and the number of car owners was increasing. Wilsons expanded and move on to a bigger site in Epsom
In 1946, Wilsons became the dealership with the largest self-drive car fleet in the UK. Most of the Wilsons children were taught to drive from as young as 5! In the 1950's, Tony Wilson even taught CHILDREN to drive at school as part of a road safety campaign!
In 1953, Wilsons became a franchise dealer for Renault, and are the oldest Renault dealership still in business.
In 1958, Wilsons started the FIRST global motorhome sales centre and through the 1960s and 1970s, Wilsons was the largest global motorhome dealership, trading as Wilsons Motor Caravan Centre. They were selling over 2,000 motorhomes a year! We even supplied motorhomes to celebrities like Steve Mcqueen!
In 1981, Wilsons opened a stand alone Van Centre at 101 East Street in Epsom.
In the 1990s, Wilsons became a franchise dealership for Nissan and Peugeot, and in the 2000s we added Fiat, Vauxhall and Citroen to the Wilsons family.
In 2002, Van Sales purchased a larger site and moved to the London Road in North Cheam, where they remain today. Loads of Vans are family owned and run by the Wilsons and are committed to supply the best new and used vans on the market.
In September 2003, there was a fire in the Renault Showroom which caused damage to the Sales and Service departments.
However, not being the type to backdown to a challenge, as early as April 2004, just 7 months after the fire, Wilsons were back up and running and just over a year later Wilsons was back to full capacity. Despite such a tragic event, the business survived and continued to function in a show of strength and adversity.
In 2015 Wilsons added Dacia to the growing list of franchises, and in 2016 added Abarth, growing the FCA franchises.
In 2018, the business expanded again adding Nismo to the Nissan franchise.
In February 2020, the main showroom was completely refurbished and Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Hyundai were added to the franchise family.
In January 2021, Wilsons launched a new website, with a buy online option where customers can transact completely online, buying cars using cash or applying for finance completely online, and having it delivered to their homes when convenient for them, driving the business forward digitally.
In July 2021, despite the challenges from Covid-19, Wilsons added MG to the franchises.
Now, Wilsons have 11 New Car Franchises, over 1,000 used vehicles in stock, a stand alone Vans centre and are leading the switch to electric vehicles in Surrey. The business continues to go from strength to strength and is a market leader for car dealerships, who knows what the next few years will have in store!
Choice, Value, Trust. Wilsons. Since 1904.