George Mordaunt, owner of The Mordaunt Group motor dealership in Clonmel Co. Tipperary and wesourceNEcar.com, says that the loss of the Cullen franchise only proves the inability of dealers to function without a cushion.

He believes that the industry has lost its way over the last 5 or 6 years and that...

-          Certain aspects are self inflicted because of distributor pressure in pursuit of market share through discount pricing. 

-           SIMI leadership is weak and ineffective - for example SIMI have highlighted that the 2013 number plates might bring out the superstition in people next year, which was not an issue until they highlighted this.

-          There are too many dealerships in the country for a market of 75,000 new cars per year - these figures are similar to those in the late 80s

-          The industry is forced to ignore almost 97% of their market - there is an absolute need for dealerships to increase profit margins, by taking each sale on a case by case basis and moving away from the outdating pre-registration model, as is currently the case.

George Mordaunt believes that it's time for the motor industry to wake up and be an active participant in its own recovery.  The motor industry has the ability to maintain over 10,000 jobs at any point and is one of the key industries that drives exchequer receipts given VRT and VAT payment.

The Mordaunt Group identified that people do not have the patience or time to shop around for a car, so they offered to source their next used car. They created wesourceNEcar.com which allows people to choose their own used car at a price that competes with the top 5 cheapest online. Their strategy of entering exclusively into the used car market while offering a creative alternative to selling has proven to be the saviour of the company.