Company Report: BMW Ireland
BMW Ireland BMW

BMW is an aspirational brand: having one tells the world you have arrived, so little wonder it is doing well in the booming economy of Ireland

Until 2003 BMW cars were distributed in Ireland by an importer, as most brands still are. Even the biggest selling OEMs, Toyota for example, sell at one remove through a local agent. But in 2003 BMW made the decision to set up its own national office in Dublin. It bought out its agent since 1967, Frank Keane, and set about structuring the organisation there in its own tried and tested way. The local business is responsible for 18 dealerships covering all BMW and MINI cars and BMW motorcycles in Ireland.

Sean Green was appointed Managing Director of BMW Group Ireland in January 2006. Though he's only 35, he is an old BMW hand, having started in the UK 19 years ago as an apprentice. He held posts in aftersales, marketing and sales before taking the role of Product Lifecycle Manager for Europe in Munich, later returning to the UK as Regional Sales Manager for the Network within London. Prior to his present appointment he was responsible for UK and Ireland Sales Development, so was seen as the ideal person to head up the Ireland operation when the post fell vacant.

The newly set up subsidiary took over Frank Keane's 15-strong dealership network and added to it, Green explains. "Frank Keane had done a great job for us over the years, but when we saw the size of the opportunity in the Irish market and where that was going we wanted to take control of the operation." This was in line with company strategy, since as at about the same time subsidiaries were being set up in other smaller markets including Portugal, Greece and Denmark. Nevertheless BMW was ahead of most competitors in making this move and most vehicles sold in Ireland are still imported privately.

A committed network
Just 35 people (ten of whom are field-based) may seem a very small number to manage a

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