| Due to literature and perhaps the influence of mass | | | | the second-top-selling car in Northern Ireland for that |
| media, some people have romantic notions of going to | | | | year, while the Ford Fiesta made it to the rank of |
| Ireland and perhaps relocating there completely. And | | | | fifth-top-selling car for the area. This has allowed Ford |
| along with the concept of relocation comes the idea of | | | | to snare up to 12% of this UK Province's market share |
| buying a new car. But before you pack your bags and | | | | for itself as of 2005. Incidentally, Ford Motor Company |
| head to "Ireland" you must know some basic facts | | | | is celebrating its 90 th year of service and presence in |
| first. | | | | Ireland as a whole this 2007. |
| First, when you speak of Ireland, there are actually two | | | | Despite Ford's market leadership of Northern Ireland |
| of them. One is the Republic of Ireland which is an | | | | though, Toyota may not be far behind as the Toyota |
| independent and sovereign state that is NOT part of | | | | Aygo was able to snare the award of AXA Northern |
| the United Kingdom. The other Ireland would be the | | | | Ireland Car of the Year 2006/2007 given out by the |
| part commonly referred to as Northern Ireland. The | | | | Ulster Motoring Writers Association (under sponsorship |
| history of these two Irelands is bloody and long and | | | | of insurance company AXA.) |
| you would need a long time to completely digest why | | | | Most activity in the Northern Ireland automotive industry |
| there are now two Irelands existing in Europe. For now, | | | | supply chain can be found in the vicinity of Belfast |
| this is sufficient. | | | | County/Antrim area. However, Northern Ireland itself |
| Northern Ireland is the Ireland which is still relatively | | | | lacks volume vehicle manufacturers of any sort. |
| under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. Thus | | | | Despite this lack, Northern Ireland does have the |
| people who were born in Northern Ireland may carry | | | | Queens University Belfast where mechanical |
| both Irish and British citizenship at the same time. Still, | | | | engineering first- and post-graduate degrees are |
| there is still interaction between the Republic of Ireland | | | | offered, with emphasis on internal combustion engines. |
| and Northern Ireland - one example is that much of the | | | | There are also some other colleges where disciplines |
| fuel bought in the Republic of Ireland is actually meant | | | | linked in some way to automobiles are offered. So |
| for consumption in Northern Ireland. | | | | when you are scouting for a UK new cars dealer in |
| As of 2005 (according to data from the Society of | | | | Northern Ireland, you may want to casually ask where |
| Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Ford), Ford remains | | | | he or the dealership salespeople and/or mechanics got |
| the top UK new cars manufacturer in Northern Ireland | | | | their training (which is a good indicator of how well |
| since there were more Ford cars bought in that year | | | | they know the inner workings of the cars they sell.) |
| in Northern Ireland than any other car made by other | | | | Hopefully, all these facts gleaned for you may help you |
| manufacturers. Of special notice is the Blue Oval | | | | in your plans to look for the right UK new cars dealers |
| model which contributed to Ford's dominance of the | | | | and dealerships in Northern Ireland - and of course the |
| Northern Ireland market. The Ford Focus was named | | | | perfect UK new cars from which to choose from. |