Casey AutoGroup closes with loss of over 60 jobs

CASEY AUTOGROUP, a major midlands motor dealership, has closed with the loss of more than 60 jobs.

An authorised dealer for Ford, Honda, Kia and Volvo vehicles, it had sizeable retail outlets in Roscommon, Athlone and Carrick-on-Shannon. Spokesmen for both Kia and Volvo said the news came as a surprise over the weekend and they had no advance notice.

It is believed staff at the firm were informed at a meeting on Friday evening, after the directors secured the High Court appointment of a provisional liquidator.

The closure is a major blow to the motor sector in the region. While the firm’s directors were unavailable for comment yesterday, its website claims the group was “the largest employer in the automotive industry in the Midlands”.

Peter Casey and Sons, which trades as Casey AutoGroup, recorded a turnover of €26 million for the year up to May 31st, 2008, with an operating profit of €293,231. The accounts also report that among its lenders, AIB held a letter of guarantee for €381,000, while Permanent TSB held personal guarantees from the directors, Peter and James Casey.

The family-run business has been a Ford dealer for more than 80 years in Roscommon and in the last 10 years it opened two new outlets: first in Athlone and then in Carrick-on-Shannon. It took on the Kia franchise in 2006 and introduced Honda and Volvo brands to its Athlone business in July last year.

However, the group is not connected with the Casey dealerships in Mayo, which are also Ford dealers.

The closure comes just two months after the collapse of the Galway-based Tom Hogan Motor Group, with the loss of nearly 190 jobs. The Irish motor industry is suffering due to a dramatic fall in new car sales, down 64 per cent on last year. Sales this year are not expected to exceed 55,000.

The recession could not have come at a worse time for an industry that has invested heavily in upgrading and expanding premises and operations in the last decade. Eddie Murphy, chairman and managing director of Ford Ireland, said he was greatly saddened by the news of the Roscommon group’s closure, but it was yet another indication that the current scale of the Irish motor industry is unsustainable.