Turnover rises over 50% at General Motors Ireland

TURNOVER AT General Motors Ireland, the company which controls the Opel brand in Ireland, increased by more than 50 per cent in 2010 to just under €103 million, as the company benefited from last year’s recovery in the motor trade.

Pretax profit at the distributor dropped from €835,000 to €462,000, with the firm’s part sales business under pressure.

The company booked an €833,000 actuarial loss on its pension scheme, bringing its total recognised losses for the year to €344,000, compared to total gains of €1.48 million in 2009.

General Motor’s market share was 7.1 per cent in 2010, up 0.3 per cent from 2009. The company hopes to increase market share to 8 per cent in the next two years, and 10 per cent in the medium term, it said. The company also expects the “bounce” in the market in 2010 to continue into 2011, accounts state.

Meanwhile, the Irish distributor for Saab cars and DAF Trucks has reported a pretax loss of €2.9 million for last year. The loss by Armalou Limited includes a write-off in investments totalling under €2.5 million.

This follows losses in 2009 of €5.4 million, which included a €2.3 million writedown in the value of vehicles in stock, recent accounts show.

Turnover for the company fell from €55.9 million in 2009 to €33.4 million last year.

Along with the distribution rights for the troubled Swedish car brand and DAF Trucks, it also has the national franchise for Hyster forklifts and SDMO generators and pumps. Its subsidiaries include the Faichney Ringwood dealership in Stillorgan Park, Dublin 18, which added the Peugeot brand to its current Saab sales operation last year.

The directors’ report states that in common with many firms in the motor industry “the group has experienced difficult trading conditions in 2009 and through 2010” but that it is confident that the group will see a material improvement in the results for 2011.

In terms of its Saab distribution arm, industry figures show total new registrations for the brand last year came to 81 cars in a total new car market of 88,373. In the first 10 months of this year registrations rose to 138 new cars.

During the year, the firm moved its interests in Jaguar Land Rover Ireland Ltd and Spirit Motor Group Ltd to a connected company, Armalou Holdings Ltd. Accounts filed last month for Armalou Holdings show it had a pretax profit of €504,748 last year.