OFFICIAL OPENING
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A FANTASTIC DAY AS RENAULT TRUCKS IRELAND OFFICIALLY OPENS NEW DUBLIN HQ A new state of the art facility that has been home to Renault Trucks Ireland since March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic struck has been finally and officially opened at Setanta House at Ballycoolin in Dublin. Export & Freight was able to join in the celebrations on what was described as ‘a fantastic day’ and also got to talk to President of Renault Trucks Global Bruno Blin and Setanta’s Managing Director Harry Nash.
“It was a nice problem to have,” says Harry Nash, “so we decided to expand and develop this new additional site in North Dublin – and today we are already running at nearly full capacity once more.”
Other VIPs there included Managing Director, Renault Trucks UK & Ireland Carlos Rodrigues – and the Irish Minister of State at the Department of Transport Hildegarde Naughton, who performed the official tape cutting opening ceremony. She commented: “I would like to congratulate Renault for their decision in making this investment, given how important suppliers are to the freight, transport, distribution and logistics sector here in Ireland.”
The new model line-up he was referring to, of course, was the Range T, C, K and D which has been hugely instrumental in consolidating Renault Trucks’ share of the market in Ireland. Earlier this year, the range was further upgraded, bringing major improvements in terms of driving comfort, on-board comfort, safety and productivity.
“This new facility is really impressive,” Bruno Blin told us. “There’s excellent attention to detail everywhere you look; the needs and demands of our customers will be very well looked after here. Harry Nash
and his team have done a truly great job.” He added: “This new dealership HQ compares very favourably with dealerships across the UK and in our home country of France. The standards employed here are very high and that’s not only good for the brand but for our customers here in Ireland.” The new facility was certainly needed to meet the growing success of Renault Trucks in Ireland. When the manufacturer introduced its totally new model line-up in 2014, it proved to be a shot in the arm for the business with workshop capacity soon at full stretch.
“In its day, the Renault Magnum and Premium were a great success for us, but this new lineup has given us a huge boost,” said Bruno Blin. “Our new flagship Range T High, for example, has been very popular with operators across the UK and here in Ireland, with many favourable responses from drivers and operators. “When first designing the new range we listened to what our customers wanted and took note of their feedback. We made major improvements to give the trucks a ‘car-like’ performance, plus a better working environment that is both spacious and comfortable. With driver shortages an ongoing challenge, we feel that being able to give drivers what they want from a truck should go some way to helping to retain drivers and attract much needed new recruits to the industry.”
Going Electric Turning to electrification, Bruno Blin told us that Renault Trucks were aiming to have at least 10% of its sales being
The new Dublin North premises.
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