Noble Automotive has taken over the island’s Peugeot dealership.

The company has snapped up Pembroke-based Continental Motors as part of expansion plans for the firm.

Fernando Oliveira, who founded Noble in the grounds of CedarBridge Academy less than five years ago, said: “The opportunity came, which was rare and we have grown to our limits here at CedarBridge size-wise.”

Mr Oliveira, a former teacher at CedarBridge, was speaking as he prepared his latest crop of apprentices, two of them part-time and still at school, for a whirlwind trip to Canada, where they will get exposure to state-of-the-art university and college facilities, as well as huge dealerships and visits to trade shows where the latest cars and servicing equipment will be on display.

Mr Oliveira said: “Without compromising our student programme, we had to have more space. It was the next progression for us and a good opportunity to grow the apprentice programme with dealer training as well.”

He added that he hoped to expand the range of Peugeot vehicles on sale in Bermuda, on both the personal and commercial transport sides, including any replacement for the highly acclaimed RCZ two-seater sports car if the range includes a car that meets Bermuda’s regulations.

Mr Oliveira, who taught automotive engineering at CedarBridge and continues in education through a link-up with the school and the National Training Board, said he had extensive experience of working in car dealerships in North America and the Bahamas, including sales, service and as general manager.

He added: “Noble does well because we treat people the way they want to be treated. If you have good service and look after the client, people want to buy from you.”

Mr Oliveira said Noble had been importing and selling vehicles for more than a year, including electric commercial vehicles.

He added: “I didn’t expect to be at this level after only four years. Between Peugeot and here, we have 30 employees and we’re increasing our need to hire more people.”

Mr Oliveira said: “Peugeot does have a good fit for Bermuda, although, unfortunately, some of the models couldn’t be imported here in the past.”

He added: “We want to build confidence in the brand and bring in as many models as we can, including the commercial models.”

And he said that cars bought from Continental, which will be rebranded to reflect the new ownership, would have three years’ routine servicing included in the price.

He added that it was also hoped to start sea-shipping and consolidate loads of vehicles, which would help to reduce the cost of landed vehicles.

Mr Oliveira said he was committed to fostering a love of engineering in young people in Bermuda and the Noble apprentice programme was an ideal training ground for new generations of technicians.

He added that the Canada trip, due to take place next month was “invaluable” and that apprentices benefited from visiting colleges and universities whose training shops were sponsored by car giants like Ford, Toyota and Honda, who provided the latest vehicles, and the technology that goes with them, to work on.

And Mr Oliveira said: “We’re going to see if we can integrate our students into the Continental dealers programme as well as our own training.”

He added: “If industry was to be in schools, that hi-tech stuff so students can see it, it would be so much easier for them to work out what they are doing and get first-hand experience.”