Joe Duffy Motors accelerates sales in 2020 as ‘digital showrooms’ help to beat lockdowns

One of the biggest car sales groups in the country, Joe Duffy Motors, shrugged off the pandemic and last year's lockdowns to grow its sales and profits in 2020 as more people switched to buying luxury motors online.

JDM Automotive recorded sales of close to €338 million for the year, up more than 5 per cent on 2019, while annual profits rose to €7.1 million. The directors of the business, including chief executive and majority owner Gavin Hydes, noted that the result "exceeded our expectations" as quarterly sales initially plunged 53 per cent between April and June, a period that included the first lockdown that "decimated trading conditions".

The company says a switch to online “digital showrooms” helped the business through Covid, along with an increase in sales at the company’s ZuCar used motors division. There was also a bounceback in sales due to “pent-up demand” from the first lockdown.

The group said its web traffic rose by 28 per cent overall in 2020, while digital sales inquiries were up by almost half. Used car enquiries, meanwhile, spiked sharply with a rise of 83 per cent.

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Joe Duffy, which has 21 dealerships and sells more than 10 car brands including BMW and Mazda, managed to increase staff numbers by 10 per cent to 511 by the end of the year, despite two separate mandated closure periods due to public health restrictions.

The strong performance was reflected in the group’s balance sheet, with the accounts filed this week showing accumulated profits to date of almost €41 million, shareholders funds of €45.4 million and a near doubling of cash over the year to €9.6 million.

The company said it will launches new websites and continue to focus on growing its used car division, although it flagged a “realignment” in profit margins in the sector. It also flagged potential shortages of new cars in future due to the global semiconductor chip shortage.

The company is 90 per cent owned by Mr Hydes, after a buyout of minority shareholders earlier this year including tech entrepreneur, Pat McDonagh. Joe Duffy Motors celebrates 50 years in business next year.