In what's believed to be a first here, a Ford dealership has opened a new premises in an area served by an existing Ford dealer and by two other established main-dealer outlets nearby, selling the same brand.
And the next few months could prompt much more of this type of activity, especially if British motor groups decide to enter the Irish market, according to Pearse Flannery of Galway-based Pragmatica Business Solutions.
The ability to locate a dealership wherever the owner wishes is made possible by the phasing out of an EU Competition Law clause, the location clause, which up to recently gave car makers and their distributors a say in where dealerships in their franchise networks could be located.
The expiry of the location clause in October is an attempt to further loosen the control car makers have over their dealers and to create more competition in the market for new car sales.
From October 1st, a dealer with a franchise may locate any number of outlets wherever he chooses in his home country or in the EU. South Dublin Fords managing director Cormac Hughes believes the opening of his new Tallaght premises is the first expression for Ford Ireland, and potentially across all franchise networks here of the removal of the location clause.
His new Ford main dealers' in Cookstown, Tallaght, is in the same catchment as competitors' Tallaght Ford Centre and in part, Lillis O'Donnell on the Naas Road, and just one mile from Hughes's existing Ford dealership in Rathfarnham.
The South Dublin Ford Rathfarnham outlet is being retained for the moment, pending planning permission for property development. If this is secured, Hughes says he will replace it with a new outlet in the Rathfarnham/Dundrum area.
It's been rumoured that an Irish estate agent has been retained by at least one British dealership group to source a site here.
Big British PLC dealerships like Regvardy, Lookers and Pendragon are always looking to expand and Ireland would represent a new opportunity, probably at the margin, says Professor Garel Rhys of Cardiff Business School, who believes Irish dealerships will be tempted go into Northern Ireland and Great Britain for its size.
In 2003, new car sales here averaged 203 per dealer, compared to 491 for the UK where fleet business is huge, and 420 in Italy where most are bought for personal use.
If any foreign dealers decide to enter the Irish market, their strategy would be similar to that of Tesco: take out a vulnerable outlet, if any, selling volume or mid-range cars with a good market share, believes Dr Tom Donnelly, director of the Motor Industry Observatory at Coventry Business School.
The major urban centres are the most attractive for dealership groups. The recent moves in Tallaght are helped by the fact that the area has a population of about 100,000, as well as several industries and business parks on its doorstep.
Buyers in less-densely populated and rural areas are not so lucky. Main dealers across a number of marques in marginal locations have given up their franchises where sales volumes may have been too low to recoup the investment required to meet car makers' new standards.
South Dublin Ford's new €8 million, 2,700sq metre Tallaght premises includes passenger and commercial vehicle showrooms and is one of the biggest in the country. The new outlet at the Cookstown Luas stop also incorporates a service centre.