Murphy and Gunn expected to end BMW franchise deal after nearly 50 years

Comhrá

https://www.irishtimes.com/business/retail-and-services/murphy-and-gunn-expected-to-end-bmw-franchise-deal-after-nearly-50-years-1.3493653

High-profile south Dublin car dealer group Murphy and Gunn is expected to end its franchise deal with BMW after nearly 50 years. It is believed the move is just the first in a number of changes within BMW’s Irish dealer network that will see other well-known outlets leave the brand.

The German premium car giant has 14 dealers in its Irish network, but franchise contracts expire at the end of September. BMW is currently in negotiations with dealers about its future network arrangements. According to industry sources, other BMW dealers are likely to leave the network by October.

The departure of Murphy and Gunn, which was one of the first BMW dealers in the Republic, would leave Frank Keane as the sole BMW franchised retail dealer in south Dublin.


It’s believed Murphy and Gunn is seeking to retain a servicing and repair contract with the car firm, and plans to retail used premium cars from its current BMW premises on Milltown Road, Dublin 9. Murphy and Gunn will also remain a franchised Hyundai dealer at its other facility on Rathgar Avenue. Management did not return calls from The Irish Times.
Future arrangements

A spokeswoman for BMW Ireland said: “In line with BMW Group’s pan-European practice, BMW Ireland is in discussions with all partners in our Irish retail network on future arrangements that we might have with them on the expiry of current arrangements. As BMW Ireland is bound by confidentiality agreements in its current arrangements with each of its partners, we cannot comment further.”

The premium car brand currently has a market share of 3.3 per cent, with 2,670 sales. That is down 17.8 per cent on the same period last year. It’s Mini brand has recorded sales of 298 cars this year, which is up 6.4 per cent on last year.

Like all car firms in the Republic, BMW has suffered from the influx of used imports from the UK on the back of the weak sterling exchange rate. While the total number of used imports is up 13 per cent on last year, at 37,935, BMW has witnessed a 46 per cent increase in used imports of cars from its brand.

As of May 10th, 2,095 used BMWs have been imported this year. A further 340 Minis were imported over the same period.

Gravelly

Been a while coming.

blingrhino

Nothing would surpise me with BMW ireland.
i received a new loyalty card last week offering me 15% off some products and to contact my nearest dealer - mIchael mc keon in kells which was printed on the card,except they are closed 8 years !

sdevine89

Don't be surprised if they announce plans for investment in the showroom and keep the franchise.

MarkN

sdevine89 wrote: »

Don't be surprised if they announce plans for investment in the showroom and keep the franchise.

They don’t have the space on that site.

KFed

Is it a scale and space issue?

I imagine its a very valuable site in milltown if it could be rezoned for housing, but, the value probably pales compared to the investment joe duffy b.m.w. on the m50 (finglas?) cost to build and operate.

Are b.m.w. going to go the way of a few supersized regional hubs?

What other dealerships do they have on the southside? Is there any one dealer xomparabke to joe duffy finglas site?

MarkN

There’s usually size conditions on any upgraded showroom as far as I know.

I don’t think there’d be any issue with that land being zoned residential and to the family who own the site and operate it under BMW, that’s going to be worth a huge amount of money.

There’s Frank Keane in Blackrock but it’s not on any big scale also.

There probably simply isn’t a site in any of the built up areas in south Dublin to do a Joe Duffy scale showroom, certainly nothing that could be purpose built. The cost of land is just too high. Perhaps the option of buying an existing premises is there.

useless

Frank Keane in Blackrock is the old Maxwell Motors which iirc lost/handed back the franchise after refusing to invest a ton of cash in a new showroom a number of years back. Must’ve been sickened to see FK take it over a few years later with no complaints from BMW...

Only place I could see a Joe Duffy scale operation on the southside would be Sandyford a la Audi’s new place or maybe Carrickmines or Cherrywood which are close to a motorway exit and have plenty of (expensive) open ground.

California Dreamer

Boo hoo cry me a river!!!

If BMW hadn't taken pride in how much they could screw the Irish buyer on parts and cars there wouldn't be the amount of imports that there is.

When there's a 4-5k difference in price for comparable cars you really know you are being screwed!!!

bazz26

BMW dealers here bring cars in from the UK also.

carsfan2

bazz26 wrote: »

BMW dealers here bring cars in from the UK also.

Yes but then charge full Irish prices for them!

The murphy and gunn situation is probably part of a restructuring that Bmw Ireland are doing along the lines of what Audi did.
Will mean bigger dealers more sparsely spread out and less competition between them. The buyer will lose out ultimately and pay for the new premises.

James Bond Junior

carsfan2 wrote: »

Yes but then charge full Irish prices for them!

The murphy and gunn situation is probably part of a restructuring that Bmw Ireland are doing along the lines of what Audi did.
Will mean bigger dealers more sparsely spread out and less competition between them. The buyer will lose out ultimately and pay for the new premises.

I wonder how Colm Quinn will fare with two outlets on the go. I know he sells more cars than a lot of the Dublin dealers so maybe he might be able to move in and fill another void.

road_high

Didn’t they do this already? Anyone remember Capital Cars in Tullamore got the chop that time? I’m sure there were a few others, possibly Maxwells also at the time.

KFed

James Bond Junior wrote: »

I wonder how Colm Quinn will fare with two outlets on the go. I know he sells more cars than a lot of the Dublin dealers so maybe he might be able to move in and fill another void.

I didnt realize colm quinn did more volume than dublin. Is that just he has the midlands and west sewn up, or, is he more competitive on price?

Worth a drive to athlone for a dublin based buyer?

James Bond Junior

KFed wrote: »

I didnt realize colm quinn did more volume than dublin. Is that just he has the midlands and west sewn up, or, is he more competitive on price?

Worth a drive to athlone for a dublin based buyer?

Most definitely I believe. My mother has her car in for warranty work as they are only a 20 minute drive away and she was VERY impressed with the service. We have a loyalty to another dealer down the country and wouldn't dream of buying elsewhere but going by that experience it was all positive.

JoeA3

KFed wrote: »

I didnt realize colm quinn did more volume than dublin. Is that just he has the midlands and west sewn up, or, is he more competitive on price?

Worth a drive to athlone for a dublin based buyer?

I believe Quinn is doing huge business with buyers from the pale. His Athlone franchise is a much much bigger operation than the one in Galway.

KFed

JoeA3 wrote: »

I believe Quinn is doing huge business with buyers from the pale. His Athlone franchise is a much much bigger operation than the one in Galway.

Is that the future model for dealers? Peripheral locatuin, at scale, 60-90 mins from dublin (and other major population centres?)

Going to cost a lot to build the gleaming shiwrooms but the land cost a fraction of greater dublin. If youre retailing cars, the travek time, within reason, probably isnt a factor.

JoeA3

KFed wrote: »

Is that the future model for dealers? Peripheral locatuin, at scale, 60-90 mins from dublin (and other major population centres?)

Going to cost a lot to build the gleaming shiwrooms but the land cost a fraction of greater dublin. If youre retailing cars, the travek time, within reason, probably isnt a factor.

Exactly. Athlone is a pretty ideal location for a lot of potential buyers, whether its East or West. Little more than an hour, easy motorway spin.

Bigus

JoeA3 wrote: »

Exactly. Athlone is. Little more than an hour, easy motorway spin.

If your timing chain isn't rattling

Wailin

Bigus wrote: »

If your timing chain isn't rattling

Yawn

ba_barabus

Bigus wrote: »

If your timing chain isn't rattling

Or you don't have travelling the absolutely shyte and down right dangerous roads north and south of Athlone.