In a major hammer blow for the motor trade in Galway and after serving Galway motorists for 50 years, Arch Motors management has decided to exit the Motor Trade business on Seamus Quirke Road in Westside, Galway with immediate effect.

Arch Motors informed their 12 staff member and Peugeot Ireland that they were closing the car side of their business on Friday last and the doors at the garage in the Westside of the city were closed Monday morning. Arch Motors did say that he Topaz Filling Station and shop is unaffected and will continue to trade as normal.

In a statement issued on Monday by Arch Motors they say, “We sincerely thank our many valued customers for their continued business and support which helped sustain us for all of the 50 years. We would particularly like to take this opportunity to thank our staff, both past and present, for their loyal support over the years. 

“This hugely difficult decision was arrived at after experiencing many years of difficult trading conditions, compounded by the wider challenging business issues which prevail in the motor trade.”

The statement continued.”Our decision to close was also motivated by the desire of the Directors to cease business in circumstances where we are in a position to pay all staff redundancies and our creditors in full.

“Today is a very sad occasion for us and the Board of Arch Motors extends their good wishes for the future to everyone impacted by this decision.”

The withdrawal of Arch Motor from the scene in Galway leaves another big hole in the trade and Peugeot will be anxious to fill the void left after this announcement.

Meanwhile, Peugeot Ireland will be contacting existing Peugeot owners advising them that other Peugeot dealers in the west will take up the slack, offering service and warranty backup to customers until another outlet for the brand is found. However, this is likely to take some time as there are few garages in Galway without a franchise available to Peugeot in the immediate future.