Renault acquires its current Irish importer

After 21 years of successfully importing Renault cars to Ireland, Bill Cullen, Chairman of the Glencullen Group, has reached agreement for Renault to take over Glencullen Distributors Ltd. Bill Cullen grew Renault sales to more than 11,900 in 2006. Bill Cullen intends to continue as a leading figure in the Irish Motor Industry selling the Renault range in the six Renault dealerships of the CityGate Motor Group.

Bill Cullen commented: “With the full resources of the Renault Group behind the surge of new models coming into Ireland in the next 18 months, we now have the opportunity to take Renault to at least a 9% market share. I will be delighted to put the full force of our Citygate Motor Group into achieving that objective.”

In the context of Renault Commitment 2009, Renault will launch new models including the recently presented New Laguna 110 HP dCi – 130g/km CO2 emissions, New Twingo with the TCE 100 HP Engine but also New Clio Sport Tourer and New Kangoo.

Renault will use the highly professional existing network, which includes 34 dealerships and 6 Parts & Services Centers. Thus, customers will be able to visit the same sales points as they do today.

Rachid Assas, future Managing Director, Renault Ireland commented: "We are grateful to Bill Cullen for the outstanding job he has done for 21 years in Ireland, which will definitely enable Renault to become a leading brand by 2009, in terms of customer satisfaction, quality and profitability. We will rely on the existing Irish dealers to deploy Renault’s ambitious service strategy and product plan."

Renault’s three key commitments in the areas of quality, profitability and growth to be met by 2009 entail an increase in annual sales volumes worldwide by 800,000 vehicles compared to 2005 levels. The Europe region is important to this target and a number of markets like Ireland have been identified where the Renault brand has a growth potential.

Renault has been present in Ireland since 1956, when the first Renault 4 CV was imported. Renault’s entire range of right hand drive cars and LCVs is currently sold in Ireland.