Motor dealership collapses with loss of 30 jobs

ONE of the country’s biggest motor dealerships has collapsed with the loss of up to 30 jobs.

The Drive Motor Group, based in the Blarney Business Park on the outskirts of Cork city, was placed into voluntary liquidation yesterday after a massive slump in car sales.

Dozens of vehicles worth tens of thousands of euro have been left sitting in the closed showrooms.

“It is with regret that the board of directors of Drive Motor Group announces that the company has been placed in voluntary liquidation,” the company said in a statement.

“The current recession coupled with the drop in new car sales throughout Ireland by up to 70% has necessitated this course of action.

“The directors wish to thank their exceptional staff and valued customers for their loyalty and custom over many years.”

The Drive motor mall was Munster’s only, and one of the country’s biggest, when it opened three years ago.

Founded by brothers Finbarr and Dermot O’Sullivan, the Drive group was seen as a hugely ambitious project.

The O’Sullivans began their involvement in the motor trade more than 50 years ago and ran the hugely successful Top Car dealership at Victoria Cross in the city.

The group built several large car showrooms on a five-acre site at Blarney Business Park, overlooking the Mallow Road, and secured the franchise to sell Land Rover, Jaguar, Ford, Peugeot, Nissan and Mazda.

At its peak, the group employed up to 80 people in administration, sales and servicing.

However, as the recession began to bite earlier this year, the group did not renew the Land Rover and Jaguar franchises.

It shed 50 jobs in recent months but as the recession deepened, the group experienced financial difficulty. A company spokesman declined to discuss the figures.

Senior company officials, including managing director Finbarr O’Sullivan, spent yesterday in talks with advisers to organise a creditors’ meeting, which will be held in the coming days.

It is expected that when a liquidator is appointed, he will have to determine the ownership of the vehicles left in the showrooms.

A 21-day period will follow during which creditors can draw up a list of what they are owed.

lDrive Motor Group is an amalgamation of Dennehy’s Cross Garage, Topcar, Topcar Newmarket and Jaguar Cork.