The Society of the Irish Motor Industry, in partnership with sponsor Bank of Ireland, took place yesterday at the Clayton Hotel in Dublin with Simon Delaney, Master of Ceremonies announcing the accolades in front of over 700 senior motor industry figures, writes Trish Whelan.
The award winners, adjudicated by an independent panel, operate across all sectors of the Irish Motor Industry. Companies selected demonstrated an award-winning level of excellence and best practice over the last 12 months.
Category award winners were:
Bodyshop of the Year: Denning’s Cars Ltd., Dublin
Vehicle Recovery Operator of the Year: Hamill Rental Ltd., Co Westmeath
Independent Retailer Operation of the Year: Autopoint Motor Group, Co Kerry
Franchised Aftersales Operation of the Year: Toyota Naas, Co Kildare
Franchise Sales Operation of the Year: Western Motors Drogheda, Co Lough.
Before their announcement, SIMI President Paddy Magee commented the resilience and adaptability of the Motor Industry to trade during these challenging times and acknowledged the industry’s continued commitment to the climate change targets.
The Motor Industry plays a significant role in the Irish economy, collecting over 1 billion euro for the Exchequer from car sales last year. When other motoring taxes, and the annual tax take from motorists are included, it is close to 6 billion euro.
Mr Magee remarked: “Manufacturers and retailers have worked diligently to grow the EV market, with over 70 different new electric vehicles models now available, demonstrating the dedication to consumers and the investment by the industry in the electric vehicle transition. While we accept that incentives cannot continue indefinitely, it is still too premature to start phasing out supports. The Government has been generous in its supports of EVs to date; it is simply imperative that this Government commitment is maintained as we move to the next cohort of potential EV buyers.”
Zero Emission Vehicles Ireland (ZEVI) announced the winners of the ZEVI EV Dealership of the Year regional awards which are:
Fitzpatrick’s Garage Kildare Ltd in Kildare for Leinster, Fermoy Nissan in Cork for Munster, Western Motors Ltd in Galway for Connaught, Connolly’s Volkswagen Letterkenny for Ulster.
John Feeney of Finance Bank of Ireland said the bank are delighted to partner with SIMI for the Irish Motor Industry Awards and the event is ‘a small representation of our strong and steady backing for the motor finance business’. He said the bank is proud of their partnership with 23 motor brands and are committed to supporting the transition to electric vehicles.
SIMI President Paddy Magee (pictured below) praised all the companies who were shortlisted for each of the SIMI Motor Industry Award categories.
Pictured above at yesterday’s ceremony were (L-R): Paddy Magee, President of SIMI; John Feeney, Bank of Ireland with Liam Gillespie and Robbie Matthews of Western Motors Drogheda, winners of the Award for Franchised Sales Operation of the Year 2024; Brian Cooke, Director General of SIMI.
