Murphy & Gunn BMW business at Milltown will cease trading

mr c · 02-09-2018 11:26PM #1

Shocked to hear this
End of an era

"MOTOR INDUSTRY CHANGES LEAD TO OUR MILLTOWN GARAGE CLOSURE
Murphy and Gunn Hyundai business in Rathgar unaffected

It is with a great sense of sadness that the Directors of Murphy & Gunn Group have today (Friday, 31 August 2018) announced the intention to wind down the Murphy & Gunn BMW business at Milltown which will cease trading from 1st of October next. The Murphy & Gunn business in Rathgar is unaffected by this decision and continues to trade normally.

The decision follows an extensive review by the company into the future viability of the Milltown business after the announcement by BMW, for whom Murphy & Gunn was a franchised dealer since 1968, to change its distribution arrangements in Ireland from 1 October next.

While the business had initially hoped and planned to take a very different route after October 1, the negative impacts from the adverse publicity around that decision changed the basis of assessment.

An analysis of options highlighted several significant uncertainties and challenges in the marketplace, many beyond our control. We have thus been forced to accept that the Milltown operation will not be viable without the franchise, and that, as directors, we have no option but to wind up on a voluntary basis before losses are incurred.

Murphy & Gunn will continue to trade at Milltown until the BMW franchise contract agreement has ended. The subsequent closure will impact 37 staff across sales, service, parts and administration. There has begun a period of consultation with staff and their representatives to conclude redundancy terms.

Despite the wider challenges in the longer term, trading in the last few weeks has been buoyant, although there is an unplanned and unwanted end in sight, we have plenty of cars to sell at Milltown. We plan to see out our last month with one of the car industry’s greatest brands with the same energy and focus we have always shown our customers.

We would like to thank our staff and our customers for their loyal support through the years."

Source
http://www.murphygunnbmw.ie/web/Notice/

Toyotafanboi · 03-09-2018 08:51AM

Sad to see it end up like that for the sake of the staff if nothing else. It's been rumoured to be on shakey ground for a few years though hasn't it, it's disappointing but not a surprise as such.

We're they hoping to stay on as a service centre or what?

mr c · 03-09-2018 12:59PM

Ive no idea
but at a guess id say they refused to build a big expensive showroom etc. , the site was small and probably easier to cash out now rather than invest in a new site or go below ground which id say would be the only viable option there,either way id say redeveloping or selling the site would be a easier and more financial sensible option for the directors , A shame as they were 50 years in operation,haven't bought of them in a few years but they used to run a great service and there were some great staff there , Hopefully they all end up o.k. bye the end of it ,but must be devastating for them all them same , its a big change to the landscape of south Dublin BMW anyway just like when Maxwell Motors went

terrydel · 03-09-2018 01:23PM

Do the owners own the property? If so, I'd assume they are cashing in on its value as the market is pretty much topped out. If it goes for residential it'll bring in a fortune.

ELM327 · 03-09-2018 01:30PM

What happened, did BMW take their franchise?

IrishZeus · 03-09-2018 01:54PM

I wonder if they will sell off the existing stock at good rates, to clear house?

coylemj · 03-09-2018 02:02PM

IrishZeus wrote: »

I wonder if they will sell off the existing stock at good rates, to clear house?

Might attract a raft of tyre kickers making ridiculous offers. They may negotiate to offload the used stock in one or two tranches to Joe Duffy and/or Frank Keane

bazz26 · 03-09-2018 02:49PM

ELM327 wrote: »

What happened, did BMW take their franchise?

BMW are restructuring their Irish dealer network like Audi did a few years back. M&G were one of the unlucky ones to lose the franchise, my guess is that the property value of the site is more lucrative than just running a service centre. Could be another one or two more around the country too.

Claw Hammer · 03-09-2018 02:54PM

ELM327 wrote: »

What happened, did BMW take their franchise?

Most manufacturers are reducing the number of dealerships. They are also insisting on high standards of premises and staff training as well as restrictions on selling on trade-ins. Many dealers are finding the requirements too onerous.

ELM327 · 03-09-2018 02:56PM

Claw Hammer wrote: »

Most manufacturers are reducing the number of dealerships. They are also insisting on high standards of premises and staff training as well as restrictions on selling on trade-ins. Many dealers are finding the requirements too onerous.

bazz26 wrote: »

BMW are restructuring their Irish dealer network like Audi did a few years back. M&G were one of the unlucky ones to lose the franchise, my guess is that the property value of the site is more lucrative than just running a service centre. Could be another one or two more around the country too.

Pity, I recently bought a car from their Hyundai dealership and they all seemed nice enthusiastic people.
Unlucky. I'd say you're right, that land in D6 is I'm sure more valuable as a commodity than as a service centre

bazz26 · 03-09-2018 03:03PM

It's just the BMW franchise M&G are losing, none of the others.

I was interested in a 430d GC they had for sale last year and they wanted silly money to trade up from what I had. No attempt at showing any flexibility on the price at all.

Guy:Incognito · 03-09-2018 03:23PM

What was the change of direction they hoped to take after October that drew the negative publicity?

kdevitt · 03-09-2018 05:29PM

Guy:Incognito wrote: »

What was the change of direction they hoped to take after October that drew the negative publicity?

They were going to continue as an authorised service centre, and sell used BMW's. Seems that quite a few people read the initial stories saying they were closing down, and took their servicing work elsewhere.

They would have had to invest millions in upgrading the premises to keep the BMW franchise, so opted against it. Can't really blame them.

coylemj · 03-09-2018 07:53PM

kdevitt wrote: »

They would have had to invest millions in upgrading the premises to keep the BMW franchise, so opted against it. Can't really blame them.

+1 MSL (Grange Motors) in Deansgrange built a brand new Audi showroom, in it's day the only standalone (i.e. not shared with VW) Audi showroom in the country and they still lost the franchise. It's now a Hyundai showroom, operated by Mooney.

So you can't blame M&G for not taking the risk.

mr c · 03-09-2018 10:49PM

did Audi take all sales back under here own control ?
Audi Dublin did I think
surely we are getting closer to when manufacturers will handle sales direct to customers for new cars and not have to deal with third parties for a lot of manufactures over the next decade I would guess that will be the model

unkel · 04-09-2018 12:41AM

mr c wrote: »

surely we are getting closer to when manufacturers will handle sales direct to customers for new cars and not have to deal with third parties for a lot of manufactures over the next decade I would guess that will be the model

The Tesla way. Going into a car showroom and chatting to people who actually know a lot about the cars they are selling is a revelation.

dudara · 04-09-2018 07:14AM

Really sad to see this happen. It’s where I bought my BMW and it’s where I take it for service etc. always super nice and super helpful staff. Hopefully they will all land on their feet.

Idbatterim · 04-09-2018 09:50AM

Will probably sell for millions for apartments...

bazz26 · 04-09-2018 09:54AM

unkel wrote: »

The Tesla way. Going into a car showroom and chatting to people who actually know a lot about the cars they are selling is a revelation.

Now if only Tesla could focus on doing the same when their customers have a problem. Selling is the easy bit.

Marcusm · 04-09-2018 01:56PM

mr c wrote: »

did Audi take all sales back under here own control ?
Audi Dublin did I think
surely we are getting closer to when manufacturers will handle sales direct to customers for new cars and not have to deal with third parties for a lot of manufactures over the next decade I would guess that will be the model

Audi Dublin is Lookers/Charles Hurst.

Guy:Incognito · 04-09-2018 06:28PM

Marcusm wrote: »

Audi Dublin is Lookers/Charles Hurst.

There's audi centre and audi North Dublin. North Dublin is Joe Duffy.

Audi centre is the Charles Hurst one.

unkel · 04-09-2018 09:31PM

bazz26 wrote: »

Now if only Tesla could focus on doing the same when their customers have a problem.

But they do. And unlike other manufactures they replace faulty parts not with the same part but with improved parts where possible

Problem is that the Teslas S and X are low volume essentially hand built cars and their build quality is nowhere near on the same level as say a BMW or Mercedes of the same value

Back on topic: sad to see them go after 50 years in business and after having survived the terrible recession. I had my E34 V8 5-series serviced there once when I just got it and they were sound and knowledgeable about the car (which was quite rare at the time, particularly as it was an original Irish car bought new by the Finnish ambassador to Ireland. Most Irish E34 were 518i and 520i)

Chiparus · 04-09-2018 09:37PM

BMW demand that the showrooms are of a particular standard. This may make the milltown site unviable.

Blazer · 04-09-2018 09:41PM

bazz26 wrote: »

It's just the BMW franchise M&G are losing, none of the others.

I was interested in a 430d GC they had for sale last year and they wanted silly money to trade up from what I had. No attempt at showing any flexibility on the price at all.

good riddance to them too.
I remember looking at a 530D touring and they were offering me only trade price for my 525D..5k less than what Conlan's were offering me.
Tried to push me into a pcp deal for a new one.
Had considered it before I went there but didn't like their attitude one little bit.

neris · 05-09-2018 09:39AM

was it not manufacturer demands on sleek modern stand alone showrooms and service areas that put alot of the main dealers out of business when the crash came along? Falling sales & the big money they'd ploughed into new buildings

yllw.ldbttr · 11-09-2018 09:10PM

Does anyone have any thoughts on buying a used BMW from Murphy and Gunn now?

Looks like they're selling the car I'm after at a few K discount to other BMW dealers.

I assume that BMW would still honour the warranty.
Are they still able to issue finance etc, does anyone know?

Would appreciate any advice.

MarkN · 11-09-2018 10:32PM

Their prices do seem a bit keener alright in the last few weeks, finance is something you’d have to enquire about, if they’re still operating under BMW then I’d imagine it’s not an issue.

nim1bdeh38l2cw · 12-09-2018 10:42AM

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

Does anyone have any thoughts on buying a used BMW from Murphy and Gunn now?

Looks like they're selling the car I'm after at a few K discount to other BMW dealers.

I assume that BMW would still honour the warranty.
Are they still able to issue finance etc, does anyone know?

Would appreciate any advice.

The only used warranties M&G give with their cars is the BMW AUC one, which is from BMW Europe.

yllw.ldbttr · 12-09-2018 10:45AM

Iliana Delightful Vehicle wrote: »

The only used warranties M&G give with their cars is the BMW AUC one, which is from BMW Europe.

That's all they will all give though isn't it? Or am I missing something?
Thanks.

MarkN · 12-09-2018 12:27PM

yllw.ldbttr wrote: »

That's all they will all give though isn't it? Or am I missing something?
Thanks.

24 month warranty which can be extended, what else are you potentially thinking about?

yllw.ldbttr · 12-09-2018 12:30PM

MarkN wrote: »

24 month warranty which can be extended, what else are you potentially thinking about?

Sorry, is the AUC warranty above not the same as the 24 month warranty?
Apologies if I've confused things here.

Murphy & Gunn BMW business at Milltown will cease trading

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