Andrew Hamilton reports on what's happening in the motoring industry
ROUND the clock servicing could be coming soon. The idea was promoted at the opening of the Airton motor centre in Tallaght, Dublin, by Richard Murphy, a director of the €5 million project.
Other directors are Glenn White and Padraic Mooney, currently President of the Society of the Irish Motor Industry and a well-known motor retailer.
The Airton centre is a service facility for Fiat and Alfa Romeo cars and it has 30 bays. Additionally it also operates as a dealership for Fiat light commercial vehicles and is the third such appointment in Dublin.
There's a 25,000 sq ft showroom dedicated exclusively to new and used Fiat LCVs. "More and more people in business can't be off the road and often giving them a replacement vehicle when service or repairs have to be carried out, means hassle," says Richard Murphy.
"People in business will pay for convenience and if we take in their vehicle in the evening and have it ready for them the next morning, we think it could suit their needs much better. Basically, we are trying to minimise the down time for cars and commercials. I don't think anybody in the retail trade has explored the idea before."
Michael Howe, Fiat Auto Ireland , thinks the specialised Airton motor centre facility will do well. "We have estimated that there are over 24,000 Fiat and Alfa Romeo vehicles currently on Dublin city and county roads and that should provide a huge pool of potential customers. Evening or night time servicing seems like a sound proposition."
LAST week we mentioned the Shell Economy Run 2002 which is taking place this coming Saturday. It starts from the Shell East Link service station at 10am and Irish Shell organise it in conjunction with the MG Car Club.What wasn't mentioend was that any motorist can enter: no competition licence is required. Anyone interested in competing should call Colm Bermingham on 086.6026037.
DUBLIN restaurant owner Nino Salveta is organising a visit of about 100 Ferarri cars and their owners from mainland Europe to Ireland in August. He is looking for some form of sponsorsship for the event. "We think this could be a unique occasion. The Ferrari group will be in Dublin and Waterford among other places." Nino Salveta is at (086) 8100634.
FORD'S Focus was recently rated "the most reliable used car" by the German standards authroity TUV, outperforming 107 rivals. Of all the used Focus cars examined, 92 per cent had no fault whatsoever.
THE Fine Gael leader, Michael Noonan questioned on a RTE phone-in programme on Thursday admitted that Fine Gael had no plans to reduce Vehicle Registration Tax if it went into government. There were other more important priorities like hospital waiting lists, he said.