4x4 cars like Jeep, Toyota, Nissan etc.

TheUnicorn

Hi guys,

I'm in the middle of research about 4x4 market in Ireland. Basically I'm going to introduce new brand to this lovely country and that's all about accessories for 4x4 cars. I was running business like that before in another country and it was successful enough, but size of the country was like 10 times bigger than Ireland. I have rather unusual business background connecting IT, marketing, automotive and financial sectors. However working in IT sector at the moment I have no connections with automotive market of Ireland - all I know is what I saw on the streets of Dublin. There are some 4x4 cars and it doesn't look bad in terms of popularity. So I found it could be worth a try to make use of my experience and invest some money in company selling that sort of products. I'm planning to generate sales online - handy enough if you know what you want and I'm not affraid about the quality / returns because I know products I would like to introduce to the market. By sales online I mean internet shop designed for people willing to modify, improve performance and prepare cars for different ... let's say... tasks (rally, tourism, casual driving in the city).

I'm going to ask you a few questions hoping to get as many answers as possible - I'd be grateful for any help:

1) Is there already any company selling stuff like that in Ireland?
2) How do you estimate market share of 4x4 cars in Ireland?
3) How do you use your 4x4 car:
a) as casual driver,
b) at work (building sites, forests, mountains, agriculture etc),
c) for sport (rally, extreme off-road),
d) just for fun (trips, nothing hardcore)
4) What is the brand of your vehicle?

I'm not asking you to answer the questions here on the boards (because of security, whatever purposes), you can send me your answers as PM. After all I'd like to know if it makes sense to start something like that or this market is too small for that sort of business (too few cars, you get parts from UK or USA, whatever) - please share your opinions.

Short explanation : as accessories I mean bumpers, lights, driving wheels, locking hubs (aka free-wheeling hubs), soft-tops, winches, hi-jacks, chrome elements and that sort of items.

Thanking you in advance,

TheUnicorn

TheUnicorn

Shameless BUMP as message was posted late yesterday and members could missed it. Cheers.

TheUnicorn

blackbox

Suzuki jeep.

Use it for keeping hens in.

Lex Luthor

X5's - used for school runs and general shopping trips to local Superquinn

Hyundai Santa Fe - for those who can't afford X5's but think they look just as good

farva

As far as I know a crowd called Mr. Bullbar do 4x4 equiptment in Ireland.

I have a 97' Mitsubishi Pajero 2.8 Commercial. I use it mainly for going to college and a bit of light off roading. Its got BFG All Terrain tyres, spare wheel cover, side steps, A-Bar, and PIAA driving lamps. I'm getting a car at the end of the summer but I might keep it as a second car for recreational off roading.

To be honest I think that the 4x4 market will be declining in this country, especially if the government target the VRT/Road tax on commercial jeeps as the vast majority of 4x4s sold in Ireland are commercials.

pburns

farva wrote: »

To be honest I think that the 4x4 market will be declining in this country, especially if the government target the VRT/Road tax on commercial jeeps as the vast majority of 4x4s sold in Ireland are commercials.

Yeah, you may be a little late to the party...

Anecdotal evidence from mates suggest the arse has fallen out of the s/h commercial 4x4 market in recent months. VRT/tax/environmental reasons apart, I think a major reason is that a lot of builders/tradesmen who survived on credit are starting to feel the pinch. (Serves 'em right - the smart ones hasve made hay while the sun shone!)

I have a pick-up as recreational/second vehicle and had a struggle to find a bedliner last year, eventually had to go to Nissan Ireland who found one in the depths of storage (...yes, it's a Navara so given the recent horror stories it loks like i'll be stuck with it for a while...)

TheUnicorn

Thanks for all your posts. All you say is very interesting as it's quite fresh point of view - it seems to mean that 4x4 cars like Jeep Chrysler, Nissan, Toyota, Ford, Land Rover etc are mostly used for commercial purposes. Have you heard of any off-road clubs in Ireland or there was no bigger off-roaders community here? There's a few really big communities like that in almost every european contry - anyway number of people like that is only 3-4% of all 4x4 owners/users. I bet it all depends on taxes and other expenses in Ireland. I appreciate your answers a lot and I'm still hoping for more people to come and share their knowledge. The more "pieces" I have the more I can see.

TheUnicorn

S.I.R

i use several iszuzu trooper on a mates farm aswell as a early 90's range rover.... mainly as recovery veichales after the weekly smash and bash we hold but then again they do get used for towing horse box's , my " project " cars etc....

landydef

the fact is that any accessories (winches,high lift jacks,lift kits etc.) are far too expensive in ireland, buying from england is ALWAYS the cheaper option even when you include p&p etc. i know of at least one large 4x4 parts retailer in the uk who refuse to sell to ireland because they have an irish stockist the problem is that the irish stockist is massively overpriced and his service is terrible often leaving you waiting 6-7 weeks + for items, i would say that there is plenty of room in ireland if your prices are competitive and service promt. also decent off road tyres mud/mountain terrains are hard to find

TheUnicorn

Thanks for your post a lot, looks like you know the market. I didn't find that company in Ireland. It seems they don't care about promotion on google.ie or even have no website and I have to ask - what is their average price for 11.000 lbs 12V winch landydef, and what brand they sell? Please give me any example so I can see if it's expensive when compared to my sources. Most of the accessories are cheap in factories, but when you put them on the plane prices increase a lot. I'm not saying that this company is a victim and sell with minimum profit - I don't know them, couldn't even find them, but it seems that their main problem is the fact they don't import items from the factory but distributor in UK. Being last part of the chain you want your chain to be as short as possible just to not loose balance.

TheUnicorn

groupb

Helped a friend with a patrol a year ago.He bought all his stuff on line from Australia. Air powered diff locks , uprated suspension etc........

Seinas

I think that 4x4 accessories places in Ireland seem to think that if someone has alot of money to spend on a new 4x4 that they have loads of money to spend on accessories, like 4x4 Bitz in Tralee, what a complete rip-off..... They tried to convince me to buy a set of spotlights for €155 and i got them the next day in my local motor factors for €85.......

Jean_kelly

That wasn't my experince with 4x4 bitz in Tralee, we have a no. of 4x4 motors for myself and my business partner and a van also. The guys in 4x4bitz were great sourcing some body styling accessories as we attempted to get a uniform look to compliment the vehicle decals and sign writing.
I tried two of my local motor factors and halfords (don't get me started about halfords - omg, too many indians in the store and not enough....) but the motor factors told me I'd probably have to sell the nissan if I wanted the body styling look to match the other / hard top. - as if that was practical, ??:rolleyes: Most others I called didn't do body parts or didn't even answer the phone!!
The crowd in tralee found our solution, we didn't want to spend a fortune but presentation is important - they made it happen, looks the part, all 3 vehicles and came in on budget, actually cheaper on the chrome'd handles than halfordds. And they fitted our bitz aswell.
So I'd recommend 4x4 bitz and the company vehicles are spot on now, I like the fact you've an Irish company that provide a good service - for what is really all the manufacturers do when they update a model, a bit of chrome here or change the grille a bit - not a lot really and they do try to rip you off - this years model, give me a break!
etc. etc. -
jk

-Chris-

Hi,

Please read the charter and don't bump 2 year old threads. Start a new thread if you wish.

Thanks,

Chris