Ciarán McMahon, originally fom Salthill in Galway has been appointed Managing Director of Henry Ford and Son Limited, effective 1st January 2015.

Mr McMahon has been with Ford since joining the company as a graduate trainee in 1987, occupying a variety of positions both in Ireland and abroad, most recently as National Sales Director based in Cork. He replaces Eddie Murphy, who has taken the decision to retire at the end of the year, having completed 35 years' service with Ford, the last 14 as Chairman and Managing Director.

Commenting on his new role, Mr McMahon said: "I am obviously very happy to take over as Managing Director, and am looking forward immensely to the challenges that lie ahead.

"These are hugely exciting times for Ford as we head into the new year with an all new Mondeo and new Focus in our ranks," Mr McMahon said. "These two new additions complete what I feel is our strongest ever line-up of cars, while our range of commercial vehicles continues to dominate the market.

"The resurgence in the car market is another reason for optimism and we hope that sales next year will continue to grow back to their normal volume," the incoming Ford Ireland chief added. "The motor industry was one of the sectors worst affected by the recession, so, long may the recovery continue."

Ciaràn McMahon graduated from NUIG (formerly UCG) with a B. Comm (Hons) in 1986 and joined Ford Credit as a trainee in 1987. He moved to the company's Cork headquarters in 1999, working in aftersales, fleet and rental, before taking up a position with Ford of Europe's pricing team in the UK.

In 2004, Mr McMahon moved to Ford of Europe headquarters in Cologne where he was responsible for European sales planning and volume analysis, before returning to Ireland as Fleet and Dealer Operations manager.

In 2012, he took up the position of Commercial Vehicles Sales Manager and was quickly promoted to the role of Marketing Manager and subsequently Marketing Director for both cars and commercial vehicles.  In June 2014, he was appointed Sales Director.

Born in Salthill, Galway, Mr McMahon is a keen golfer and supporter of Irish soccer, who has coached under-age teams in Cork for the past number of years. He is married to Berni and the couple have 3 children - Chloe (21), Ross (18) and Brona (10).