Connolly’s To Bring New ORA EV To West of Ireland
Good news for the West as a total of ten new jobs are to be created in Galway with the Connolly Motor Group set to introduce the fully electric ORA ‘Funky Cat’ from Great Wall Motors (GWM); one of China’s oldest car manufacturers. The ORA has just been launched into the Irish market in recent weeks and we currently have a full review live on our DoneDeal YouTube channel.
There will be three ORA dealers in Ireland, with Connolly Motor Group covering the West of the country from a new state-of-the-art showroom in Galway. The car is now currently available to view, test drive and buy at Connolly’s in Galway. The other two dealerships will be in Cork and Dublin. Connolly Motor Group invested €0.5m in the new showroom which is housed in a previously vacant building beside its current site at Briarhill Business Park in Ballybrit, Galway.
The showrooms have space to display up to six cars. The premises also houses a customer reception and individual sales offices. The group believes it will have no issue with stock as it will be receiving a healthy supply of cars. These are stylish and high-spec cars which offer features such as facial and voice recognition, 360-degree cameras for parking, wireless phone charging, massaging and heated front seats as well as a heated steering wheel. Prices start from €33,495.
There are two models of Funky Cat – the 300 Pro which has a range of 310km and the 400 Pro+ which has a range of 420km. Both can be charged to 80% in around 48 minutes. The ORA Funky Cat also won Euro NCAP’s best-in-class 2022 award in the Small Family Car Category.
Connolly Motor Group ORA General Manager Tom Raftery says:
“The ORA Funky Cat is a game-changer for the EV market and Connolly Motor Group is thrilled to be among the first to bring it to the market in Ireland. This is a premium, quality, high tech car at an affordable price for a fully electric model that has so much character and the highest spec in terms of looks and technology.
“We are also delighted that we will soon be welcoming more team members to the Connolly Motor Group team and are proud of the further development of our Ballybrit site to accommodate the new ORA brand. We look forward to welcoming car lovers onsite from Wednesday to test drive the new Funky Cat!”
The ten new full-time staff at Connolly Motor Group will bring its total headcount to 320 across its sites in Galway, Mayo, Sligo and Donegal. It will start recruitment immediately.
