AUDI HAS confirmed that Joe Duffy Motors is to take on its franchise in north Dublin.
A new dealership is being built to house the brand in the Finglas area, near the firm’s current facilities, with a provisional completion date of March 2011.
In the meantime the Audi franchise will temporarily operate from premises in the area from the middle of next month. There will be full sales and aftersales service on offer from that date.
The firm’s investment in the new franchise is estimated to be in the order of €12 million.
Gavin Hydes, group managing director of JDM Automotive, the parent company for the Joe Duffy Motor Group said: “We intend to begin development of a new Audi terminal-style facility next year, which will be the first in the Irish market.
“This new operation for our group is expected to create up to 60 jobs over a two-year period,” he said.
It’s the latest investment by JDM Automotive in new dealerships.
It already holds franchises for BMW, Opel and Mazda in the north Dublin area and is currently the biggest BMW dealership in Ireland.
“Each of our dealerships operate completely independent of each other and there will be no crossover between the BMW or Audi operations,” said Hydes.
“While the economic climate is very challenging, we believe that the opportunity to represent such a premium franchise is excellent news for our growing group.”