Joe Duffy Group, one of the State’s biggest car dealers, has called on the Government to continue to support the market for electric vehicles (EVs) in Ireland through tax breaks amid a slump in revenues and profits last year.
Despite the dip, the group paid a €40 million dividend to shareholders in 2024, recently filed consolidated accounts for JDM Automotive reveal.
In a report attached to the accounts, the directors said that 2024 was a “particularly tough year” for the industry.
Consequently, Joe Duffy Group “fell short” of its “budget and the achievements of the previous year, against a backdrop of “significant inflationary cost pressures due to rising energy costs, overall overheads and increased wage expenses”.
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New car sales across the market in the Republic were down by 1 per cent last year, the directors said.
These market conditions contributed to a 7.5 per cent dip in group revenues to €539.8 million in 2024, with profits after tax dropping from €33.2 million in 2023 to almost €26 million in 2024.
Still, the directors said they were satisfied with the results overall, hailing 2024 as the third most profitable year in the Joe Duffy Group’s more than 50 years in business.
The group plans to expand its finance leasing business in 2025, and is forecasting that the unit will be “a significant contributor” to the group’s profitability in the future, they added.
Meanwhile, the directors said that a 24 per cent slump in EV sales volumes last year in the Republic – which was “even more significant in Dublin” – was “disappointing”.
“Over the next few years, it is forecast that most of the necessary emissions reductions from the transport sector will need to come from the switch to electric vehicles,” they said.
EV sales have recovered dramatically in 2025, according to recent figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
SIMI said last week that some 1,737 new EVs were registered in the Republic last month, an increase of 73.2 per cent from September 2024.
In the first nine months of 2025, 22,382 new electric vehicles (EVs) have been registered, 28.8 per cent ahead of the same period last year, SIMI said.
Registrations were also 3 per cent ahead of the same nine-month period in 2023, when the previous Government slashed the maximum grant available for purchasing an electric vehicle from €5,000 to €3,500, a move that precipitated a sharp decline in EV sales.
“Therefore, it is crucial that the government continues to provide support both financially and through the tax system for private individuals, corporate customers and automotive retailers to meet their future emissions targets.”
JDM Automotive, which is controlled by chief executive Gavin Hydes through another entity, paid dividends amounting to €40 million in the year to shareholders, according to the accounts.
The Joe Duffy Group has been synonymous with the motor industry in Ireland since 1972 when Joe Duffy acquired the first BMW Dealership in Ireland, opening with just four staff.
JDM Automotive employed some 591 people, according to the latest accounts. It represents an extensive franchise portfolio across its 22 locations nationwide, including BMW, Mini, Audi, Mazda, Volkswagen, Ford, Land Rover, Jaguar, Volvo, Porsche, Lotus & Kia.
