Groupe Renault UK has issued a series of special awards to celebrate 115 years of franchised representation from South West car retailers City Motors, SJ Cook & Sons and AKS Yeovil.

The French manufacturer brand’s senior management team, led by network operations director Louise O’Sullivan, ventured to the South West of the UK to hand special awards to the long standing partner businesses this week.

Bristol-based dealerships City Motors and SJ Cook & Sons have represented Renault for 50 and 40 years, respectively, and AKS Yeovil has represented the manufacturer for 25 years.

All three dealerships are family owned and attribute their longevity and continued success to their unwavering focus on customer service and the broad Renault and Dacia model ranges.

O’Sullivan said: “We’re delighted to join our franchise partners in celebrating such significant anniversaries.

“They are fantastic ambassadors for our brands and their commitment to customers and the Groupe Renault franchise is exceptional, delivering high customer satisfaction levels and retaining a loyal customer base throughout the years.

“Over the years they have seen and adapted to how the automotive industry has evolved, and, with the increasing adoption of electric vehicles, there’s set to be even greater change.

“Having franchise partners like SJ Cook & Sons, City Motors and AKS Yeovil on-board, we know that we have the very best dealers to help customers make the transition to EVs.

“As Europe’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer and a driving force in EV technology, that’s incredibly important to us.”

Robin Cook, Managing Director of the Carco Group, which operates SJ Cook & Sons and City Motors, said: ‘’Renault and Dacia are a substantial part of our business and together with our experienced and dedicated workforce we are a formidable partnership.

“Our territory performance and longevity of representation speaks volumes for how much our customers value the Renault and Dacia brands and we are delighted to be part of Groupe Renault and all that it has to offer.’’

Anton K Szulc, managing director of AKS Yeovil, said: “Quite simply, there’s no other brand that we would wish to represent or area that we would like to serve.

“With Renault, it feels like we’re part of a family, which is especially rewarding as we’re a solus dealership, and it’s nice that the support and enthusiasm we have for the brand is appreciated and reciprocated.

“We’re proud to have represented Groupe Renault UK for 25 years and are very much looking forward to building on our success, delivering a level of service that exceeds customers’ expectations and providing them with an excellent range of vehicles.”

Louise O’Sullivan spoke to AM in her role as head of Dacia for the UK, Ireland, Malta and Cyprus before moving to her role with Renault in January this year.

Year-to-date to the end of August Dacia was one of Europe’s most successful volume growth stories in a declining market as sales grew 33.2% to 21,044 in the UK.

Renault’s UK registrations declined by 8.9% to 36,172 in the same period.