Declan McCourt (OHM Group) believes the big issues to impact on sales in the coming year will be: the negative impact of measures in the coming Budget; consumer confidence in the coming years being affected by the economy and employment prospects; low interest rates making it easy to get a new car; and price harmonisation in Europe forcing car prices in Ireland to rise.
Block exemption, he believes, will result in an improvement and investment in dealer standards and premises: "This in turn will draw customers to those dealers who do make the investment and increase the pressure on those dealers to achieve a return on that investment by drawing customers into the premises and selling them cars."
OHM is also planning to introduce a used car standards scheme, in line with similar schemes from competitors such as Ford and Nissan.
According to McCourt: "It's our intention to introduce used car schemes as part of the process of improving dealer standards and increasing the range of services offered to customers."
Of the three marques distributed by the group, McCourt says that SEAT has shown the greatest growth in recent years. "With its expanded range, new models, new design philosophy and because it competes in the main volume segments, it will always have potential for greater volume growth."
He says that in the past few years, the B and C segments declined, while the larger vehicles segments held or grew in size. "We believe that the B and C segments will come back in the coming years and will represent the greatest growth potential."
As to problems for the group dealing with such a diverse portfolio of marques he says it is no problem: "Each marque is a separate company and operates independently. There are many examples in Ireland and worldwide of organisations which distribute different marques in individual markets."
Finally, 2003 will see the relocation of OHM's car division to new premises at the Baldonnel Business Park from its current premises on Walkinstown Avenue by March.
Declan McCourt is chief executive of OHM Group, distributors of Jaguar, Saab and SEAT