Bill Cullen is a main dealer again

unkel

SsangYong this time after his Renault dealerships failed two years ago

Not sure why he thinks he can make it work this time. No car in the SsangYong line up looks like a great ownership proposition to me. The SIMI figures back this up. Zero SsangYong private cars were sold in January of this year, and just 4 commercial vehicles.

bazz26

JohnBoy26

I wish him the best of luck and it's nice to see new dealerships opening but Of all the car brands, he decides to go with ssang yong, ssang yong!!!

He'll need to be one heck of a "warrior" to make this one work:P

cabb8ge

Probably plan to focus on second hand sales but want to have prestige of main dealer.

unkel

That makes a lot of sense. Or to put it more negatively, he couldn't be seen to come back as a second hand car salesman (a job with not the best reputation). That would have been a bit too much of a comedown I suppose.

R.O.R

Must be a massive demand for SSSsssangyongs around the Red Cow Area.

2 Main dealers within about 3km of each other.

bbam

I thought the new Korando was a vast improvement on previous styling (or lack of), IMHO its not a bad looking SUV.
But haven't seen one in the flesh so ill reserve final opinon until I sit into one....

Glebee

Fair play Bill, was just think he was keeping a very low profile.

dbrunson

R.O.R wrote: »

Must be a massive demand for SSSsssangyongs around the Red Cow Area.

2 Main dealers within about 3km of each other.

Probably down to the fact that harris is the importer of SsangYong and has set all his buddies up with dealerships, realistically they are very overpriced and will continue in the doldrums unless a major price drop is forth coming, also the price you can buy they 04-06 models will factor heavily on any potential buyers mind.

mickdw

The Ssang yong designers must really be trying to made ugly cars. There is no other excuse for the state of them. That koranda looks reasonable but the rest are so ugly its almost funny

ba_barabus

mickdw wrote: »

The Ssang yong designers must really be trying to made ugly cars. There is no other excuse for the state of them. That koranda looks reasonable but the rest are so ugly its almost funny

The next couple of MGs are based on them which doesn't bode well.

stimpson

cabb8ge wrote: »

Probably plan to focus on second hand sales but want to have prestige of main dealer.

The last thing a Ssangyong dealership has is prestige.

mickdw

stimpson wrote: »

The last thing a Ssangyong dealership has is prestige.

Not prestige but buying from someone who is a main dealer will certainly give alot of people more peace of mind as generally they tend to be well established outfits that will still be there next week when some warranty work is needed.

stimpson

mickdw wrote: »

Not prestige but buying from someone who is a main dealer will certainly give alot of people more peace of mind as generally they tend to be well established outfits that will still be there next week when some warranty work is needed.

Which it might do if it wasn't run by Bill.

For Forks Sake

R.O.R wrote: »

Must be a massive demand for SSSsssangyongs around the Red Cow Area.

2 Main dealers within about 3km of each other.

It's a strange one aright.

Autocentre are 5 mins away at Newlands Cross. Granted, they seem to focus more on their secondhand stuff (bought a car off them myself) but having a second franchise in such close proximity, especially for such a low-key brand is odd.

bigroad

Thats great news for the country.Does this mean he will pay off his 60m dept or will we pay that for him. as a kind of good luck token.

JohnBoy26

mickdw wrote: »

Not prestige but buying from someone who is a main dealer will certainly give alot of people more peace of mind as generally they tend to be well established outfits that will still be there next week when some warranty work is needed.

This isn't a well established outlet though and is run by someone who already had a well established outlet that went belly up.

A long established outlet doesn't guarantee that it will be there next week, plenty of good long established places have gone out of business in the recession, although their closures are obviously for very different reasons than a shady s/h outfit

aujopimur

It could be worse, he could be selling Great Wall 4X4s:D.

For Forks Sake

aujopimur wrote: »

It could be worse, he could be selling Great Wall 4X4s:D.

Could happen yet.

mickdw

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

This isn't a well established outlet though and is run by someone who already had a well established outlet that went belly up.

A long established outlet doesn't guarantee that it will be there next week, plenty of good long established places have gone out of business in the recession, although their closures are obviously for very different reasons than a shady s/h outfit

All valid points but my point was that to many people it will give that impression and likely be helpful to him.

JohnBoy26

mickdw wrote: »

All valid points but my point was that to many people it will give that impression and likely be helpful to him.

Indeed, it most probably will

JackF1

Rather ballsy. Building a car brand essentially from scratch. Who I wonder is financing dear Bill. Opening a dealership is neither for the faint hearted nor the short of capital!

ofcork

That korando looks like an opel antara,according to the radio today bill has booked dromoland castle with a 2k deposit for his 100th birthday in 28 years time!

JohnBoy26

ofcork wrote: »

That korando looks like an opel antara,according to the radio today bill has booked dromoland castle with a 2k deposit for his 100th birthday in 28 years time!

Im still waiting for an invite :pac:

Kristopherus

I would'nt be as heart-warming in welcoming Cullen back. He's too bombastic in his attitude to be wholesome. He'd be better off flogging apples imo.:D:rolleyes::eek::(:mad:.

bs2014

Fair play to Bill I say, when Renault and the banks all turned against him in late 2012, he didn't come out and lambast in the media, he kept a low profile. Believe constantly condemned him saying hes not a warrier anymore bla bla but look hes back in the game at 72. Most people would cut their losses and retire. Wish him all the best! Whilst he may not have a nationwide network of shiny showrooms, its the principle of perseverence and getting back on the horse that is most inspirational! All the best Bill and Jackie in the future.

Btw, only 4 ssangyongs sold this year so far? thats quite a miserable number considering the amount of 131/132 there are out there!

Stallingrad

He's operating with stock arranged with sale or return, which makes starting up a new car business somewhat viable.

JohnKelly5

SsangYong have actually sold 20 passenger units in January 2014 according to beepbeep.ie ....

If you run a search on this page you'll find that:

http://www.beepbeep.ie/stats/

unkel

JohnKelly5 wrote: »

SsangYong have actually sold 20 passenger units in January 2014 according to beepbeep.ie ....

If you run a search on this page you'll find that:

http://www.beepbeep.ie/stats/

Welcome to boards.ie, JohnKelly5

Interesting point!

Beepbeep claims 20 sold in January. If you dig a bit deeper and look at the excel spreadsheet on the simi.ie site, there is no SsangYong in the list of new passenger car registrations. There is however an "other" category with 20 sold

Now this doesn't make sense as several other makes with sales of 0 or 3 or 4 are all listed separately

So I reckon there is possibly a classification error on the SIMI site and there might very well be 20 passenger cars sold!

SIMI, are you reading this?

JohnBoy26

even if there is 20 cars sold it's still very, very poor.

TheHappyChappy

unkel wrote: »

SsangYong this time after his Renault dealerships failed two years ago

Not sure why he thinks he can make it work this time. No car in the SsangYong line up looks like a great ownership proposition to me. The SIMI figures back this up. Zero SsangYong private cars were sold in January of this year, and just 4 commercial vehicles.

Great news for all the people bill owes money to......He will surely look after them won't he?

TheHappyChappy

ofcork wrote: »

That korando looks like an opel antara,according to the radio today bill has booked dromoland castle with a 2k deposit for his 100th birthday in 28 years time!

He obviously thinks none of the lads he owes money to wont catch up with him, I'd say a fair few of them will be visiting his new premises.

Stavros Murphy

Well, there's a Musso jeep out on the yard and no-one ever turns their nose up at it if they need to tow something heavy - it's a pure workhorse and never misses a beat. Goes in for it's DOE every year without ever getting anything other than its usual servicing and flies through. I've drivven a lot worse. The damn thing is fast too, for a 4wd. Great engine, and tough as old boots.

JackF1

TheHappyChappy wrote: »

He obviously thinks none of the lads he owes money to wont catch up with him, I'd say a fair few of them will be visiting his new premises.

"Lads" - he owes the bank a fair few euro. There wasn't to my knowledge any disgruntled suppliers or employees.

coylemj

bs2014 wrote: »

Fair play to Bill I say, when Renault and the banks all turned against him in late 2012, he didn't come out and lambast in the media, he kept a low profile.

'Fair play' me arse, this is why he kept a low profile.......

Yesterday Rossa Fanning, for the Danske Bank, said about four efforts to effect personal service over loans worth in excess of €8.2m had proven unsuccessful and he was seeking an order to allow service by ordinary post at his home.

http://www.herald.ie/news/courts/bank-chases-apprentices-bill-for-8m-28850622.html

Guy:Incognito

TheHappyChappy wrote: »

He obviously thinks none of the lads he owes money to wont catch up with him, I'd say a fair few of them will be visiting his new premises.

Yes, because hes the only one to start up again after going bust. Maybe the lads that were owed money by EP Mooney got confused when they went back and it just said Mooney on the wall , so put the shotguns away and went home?

For Forks Sake

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

even if there is 20 cars sold it's still very, very poor.

17 more than Alfa Romeo.

Think about that for a minute.

JackF1

For Forks Sake wrote: »

17 more than Alfa Romeo.

Think about that for a minute.

How Alfa Fiat group survive here I'll never know. 123 cars and 85 LCV's sold . There probably isn't an once of margin on them.

dbrunson

JackF1 wrote: »

How Alfa Fiat group survive here I'll never know. 123 cars and 85 LCV's sold . There probably isn't an once of margin on them.

shame really, nice cars really suffering from lack of any credible dealer network.

bs2014

Anyone see Bill and Jackie on Brendan O'Connor tonight? Bill was very quiet and Jackie was doing all the talking, which made for a change! Nevertheless, all good and valid points they were making!

mickdw

bs2014 wrote: »

Anyone see Bill and Jackie on Brendan O'Connor tonight? Bill was very quiet and Jackie was doing all the talking, which made for a change! Nevertheless, all good and valid points they were making!

Brendan looking at another lawsuit after her calling the people who took control of their businesses as cowboys.

bs2014

mickdw wrote: »

Brendan looking at another lawsuit after her calling the people who took control of their businesses as cowboys.

Ye was priceless, when Jackie went "don't worry Brendan, I know your only covering your arse":)

ABajaninCork

Wait - I thought he was broke (Bankrupt)?

rob316

Balls of ****e. I know someone who bought a fleet of of Kyron's for there sales reps and returned them 6 months later they were that bad.

goochy

he will fit in well with the mooneys , why are we expected to be delighted that the likes of bill Cullen and the mooneys open up again and get off with paying millions they owe while ordinary plp are hounded ?? would never buy from these places:mad:

road_high

The Ssangyong prices are off the richter scale. €36 grand plus for a Rodius? Seriously, what would you have to be on to pay that for that yoke? Redure it by €12-15k and it might be a seller.

road_high

rob316 wrote: »

Balls of ****e. I know someone who bought a fleet of of Kyron's for there sales reps and returned them 6 months later they were that bad.

What happened them? When was this?

r3nu4l

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

even if there is 20 cars sold it's still very, very poor.

For a brand that is poorly established and that most people wouldn't even look at twice, I think that's actually quite a good figure! If it was 20 Kia's I'd say that was very poor.

For Forks Sake wrote: »

17 more than Alfa Romeo.

Think about that for a minute.

Exactly.

Put it this way, I wish Bill success for himself and because the greater success he has, the greater chance there is of his paying back any monies he owes. Even if his debt is wiped clean, any success he has means greater chances of new employment and contribution to the economy in that way.

bigroad

r3nu4l wrote: »

For a brand that is poorly established and that most people wouldn't even look at twice, I think that's actually quite a good figure! If it was 20 Kia's I'd say that was very poor.


Exactly.

Put it this way, I wish Bill success for himself and because the greater success he has, the greater chance there is of his paying back any monies he owes. Even if his debt is wiped clean, any success he has means greater chances of new employment and contribution to the economy in that way.

I agree with you on the employment front .
In saying that what turns me off Bill and Jack is this constant media moan.
As far as i am concerned they were on their high horse when things were good.
A good business man would not put his business close to the acid ratio of assets against loans.He took a grave risk and lost .Thats business.
His new staff are more than likely working for commision only.
Unfortunately for him his renault brands sister budget car Dacia will win this game.Ironic.

dbrunson

road_high wrote: »

The Ssangyong prices are off the richter scale. €36 grand plus for a Rodius? Seriously, what would you have to be on to pay that for that yoke? Redure it by €12-15k and it might be a seller.

agreed are you going to buy this http://billcullen.ie/vehicle/ssangyong-korando-2-0litre-4x4-turbo-diesel-155ps/


or this hilux 3.o d4d for the same money new, source is Toyota.ie

D-4D (3.0) Double Cab SR5
€35,995
€333
203
Diesel

bigroad

That sangyong is a not so nice vehicle.I would however buy a dacia logan diesel with higher than class load space for 13k .Not making a direct link to that sangyong but value is value.