Donnelly Group, Northern Ireland’s largest privately owned vehicle retailer faced up to challenging times in 2025 posting pre-tax profits down -9.9% to £4.4m on turnover down -4.2% to £316m.
The directors pointed to the continued weakness in retail and Motability segments down 6.4% and 20.5%, respectively.
The retail market was down 30% compared to pre-COVID levels but the commercial vehicle market grew by 4.6% and the used vehicles by 5.9%, taking it above the pre-COVID market for the first time.
Donnelly MD David Sheeram, pictured with franchise director Paul Compton, executive chairman Terence Donnelly, director Emma Donnelly and finance director Malcolm Kerr, said the group had proven its resilience.
“We are pleased with the resilience our business has demonstrated in what continues to be a challenging and evolving market.
“Our ability to outperform wider industry trends reflects the strength of our partnerships, the commitment of our people, and our continued focus on delivering for customers across Northern Ireland.
“The automotive sector is undergoing significant and ongoing transformation, particularly as grapples with the challenges of both the zero-emission vehicle mandate and the Northern Ireland specific challenges of Windsor Framework Type Approval regulations.
“Our performance broadly tracked the new market sectors, but we outperformed the market with used vehicle sales up by 8% and solid growth in our Aftersales operations.”
In 2025, Donnelly Group had the additional challenge of managing the disruption of major redevelopments at its Dungannon and Ballymena locations as part of a group-wide £8m investment into its facilities following the award of responsibility for the Volkswagen, Skoda, Cupra and SEAT brands outside Belfast.
In addition to this major expansion, early 2026 has seen the introduction of a new partnership with BYD in Dungannon and Ballymena.
