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Briain Kelly, 27 Jan
Western Motors Ltd in Galway city has been named the best dealership in
the county for electric vehicles in a national competition.
The 24 county winners in the second annual EV Dealership of the Year
awards have been announced today.
These awards recognise and reward excellence in the promotion and sales of
electric vehicles (EV) in Ireland.
The county winners announced today go on to the regional awards, which
will be announced at this year’s Society of the Irish Motor Industry
(SIMI) Annual Dinner taking place next month.
The four regional winners will then be on the shortlist for the overall
national winner award which will be announced at the SEAI Energy Show
taking place in the RDS, Dublin on March 30.
Minister for Transport Eamon Ryan said that there were record sales of
electric vehicles in Ireland last year, adding that it was an exciting
time to be in this industry.
“The dealer awards commend the hard work of the car dealers supporting
their clients making the switch to electric and celebrates the growing
shift towards sustainable clean transport.”
“As the sales of EVs continue to grow, it is the award winners of today
who are setting the standards and demonstrating the expertise needed in
this industry in future.”
In total, 124 car dealerships from 24 counties participated in the 2023
ZEVI EV Dealership of the Year Awards, representing a 6% increase in
entries from 2022.
The awards are run by Zero Vehicles Emissions Ireland (ZEVI), a dedicated
office within the Department of Transport, and the Sustainable Energy
Authority of Ireland (SEAI).
Car dealers competed through a mystery shopping exercise where they were
scored on a number of factors.
These include how visible EVs were in the showroom, how knowledgeable
their salespeople were on EVs, and their sales approach. Other evaluation
areas included EV training, sales trends and the dealership’s website.