The Gowan Group has confirmed one of the most persistent rumours in the Irish motoring industry; that it's going to take on the distributorship for Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Jeep in Ireland.
Stellantis full-house
That means that Gowan Group now has a Stellantis full house in Ireland - Gowan's was for many years the Peugeot importer in Ireland and has recently added both Opel and a returning Citroen to its ranks. Alongside DS, the arrival of Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Jeep mean that the only Stellantis Group brands that Gowan's will not represent in Ireland will be Maserati, and the US-centric Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram brands.
Quality of the product pipeline
"We are delighted to become Stellantis's import partner in Ireland for Fiat, Jeep, Alfa Romeo and Fiat Professional brands," says Michael Dwan, CEO of Gowan Group. "We have a deep understanding of the Irish motor market and a good appreciation of the Stellantis brands. We have been impressed with the quality of the product pipeline and with the significant investment commitment to power the Stellantis electrification strategy. We are committed to improving customer satisfaction and market share for each of the brands in Ireland."
Fiat, Alfa, and Jeep will be handled by Gowan's Universal Honda team, which will merge with the existing Italian operations in Ireland to form FCA-H, and which will initially operate from Universal Honda's HQ in Brown's Barn, just off the N7 near Citywest. Eventually, it's expected that all of the FCA-H operations will move into the vast new offices and warehousing facility that Gowan's is putting together in Citywest.
Advanced powertrains
According to Gowan's: "Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Jeep and Fiat Professional complement Gowan's already broad model portfolio. Leveraging the many new and advanced powertrain developments across the Stellantis Group, each of the brands in the newly acquired portfolio will benefit from a substantial investment in latest generation technology and exciting new models. Starting with five new model launches in 2022, each brand has a clearly defined strategy aimed at delivering to our customers a full suite of models meeting future market demands."
The initial launches for FCA-H will include the new, all-electric, Fiat 500e and the facelifted version of the Jeep Compass crossover.