Renault sells Irish operations to owners of Nissan Ireland

Renault Group has agreed the sale of its Irish operations to the owners of Nissan Ireland.

From November, and if approved by the competition authorities, Cedar Ireland Automotive Ltd will take control of the importation and distribution activities of the Renault and Dacia brands here, including passenger cars, light commercial vehicles and spare parts.

It is also set to add Renault Group’s Alpine sports car brand to its portfolio, which is to become a fully electric brand.

Cedar Ireland Automotive Ltd is owned by the Kuwaiti-based Al Babtain family, who also own Nissan Ireland and the retail group Windsor Motors Limited.

With this sale, Renault Group said it aims at further strengthening its position locally “thanks to an efficient business model supporting both commercial ambitions and customer satisfaction requirements”.

Renault Group added that it selected Cedar for its “strong expertise in automotive distribution”, with an “in-depth knowledge” of the Irish market.

“They will capitalise on the skills of the local teams and the strong partnership with the dealer network,” Renault Group said in a statement.

“In terms of brands partnerships, Cedar is a long-standing partner of the Alliance Group, both as dealer for Renault Group and also as Nissan Importer in Ireland.”, said Philippe Buros, senior vice-president, sales & marketing and services of Renault Group.

James McCarthy, chief executive of Cedar added: “Cedar is proud to become the official Importer of Renault and Dacia for the distribution of the existing product range (including a rich line-up of high-tech electric vehicles) in Ireland.

“We will continue the successful path of the Renault distribution organisation and add our long-standing expertise in this country. We are looking forward to further developing the business together with the local distribution network.”