Road safety fears with new regimeMajor concerns have

been raised by New Zealand’s three

transport service delivery agents (TSDAs) over the latest overhaul of the vehicle inspection sector.

The industry is likely to change beyond all recognition when the new certificate of fitness (COF) regime comes in.

Details are outlined in the NZTA’s service delivery regulatory model – a 51-page document on opening up the market – and come under the Vehicle Licensing Reform (VLR) following changes

to warrants of fitness (WOFs).Key features of the new COF

regime to be introduced on July 1 include: More organisations inspecting

and repairing vehicles. Companies being able to

“bundle” servicing, repairs and COFs.

 More inspection sites and canning some site requirements.

The NZTA stresses the current system prevents other providers entering the industry, which has a

“relatively low level of competitive intensity”, but VTNZ, VINZ and the AA are unimpressed with the new COF model.

A handful of organisations have indicated they want to get into vehicle inspections as soon as possible, says Frank Willett, VINZ’s chief executive officer.

“A lot are more dubious or are awaiting more details,” he told Autofile. “Criteria for inspector and site approvals have to be confirmed, and some requirements could increase in complexity.”

[continued on page 4]

The trusted voice of the auto industry for more than 25 yearsIssue 1-2014

13 January 2014

In this issuep 10 Trade Me on buy-out

p 11 Ferraris set for record

p 12 Winning cars of 2013

p 14 Profile on VINZ chief

p 18 Energy sources shift

p 24 In-depth vehicle stats

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The delivery of new vehicles to New Zealand should be unaffected by Holden’s

decision to pull the plug on making cars in Australia in three years’ time.

Although there may be some issues with parts being supplied to this country when its two plants there close, the marque insists vehicles sold here will be supported.

However, General Motors’ (GM) decision has thrown more doubt onto the future of the automotive industry across the Tasman.

Ford Australia is due to stop production in 2016 and there are concerns Toyota may also exit the sector – and all this follows Mitsubishi closing its operations in 2008.

About 3,000 Holden workers at Elizabeth, South Australia, and in Melbourne will be affected, while the car component industry is expected to be severely hit.

At the moment, Holden New Zealand imports between 250 and 280 units per month from Australia split between four

[continued on page 7]

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editor’s note

Silly season still in full swingIt’s been the time of year to show

goodwill, but what happens now the festive season is over?

Should we display hostility to everyone, or continue exuding kindness and friendliness? It seems more appropriate to pay it forward all-year around.

The season to be jolly saw a government press release exclaim “summer is here” while promoting Bike Wise Month in February. 

Its advice included it being important for drivers and cyclists to “look out for each other and share the road safely”.

“Be prepared” by checking brakes, tyres, lights and reflectors, “ride in a straight line” and “use cycle lanes when you can”.

Other pearls of wisdom from the agency charged with implementing road-safety initiatives were “try not to hold up traffic and use lights at night”.

It’s good to see road safety being taken so seriously because a cohesive approach is what Safer Journeys is all about.

But that’s where any consistency seems to end and where government policies crash into each other head-on.

Three words: Vehicle Licensing Reform (VLR). Three more words: certificate of fitness (COF). Two words: Safer Journeys. And the cohesion between those eight words? None, it would appear.

Three words could sum up the new COF regime’s service delivery regulatory model – “what a joke” – although it’s anything but funny.

Calls by VINZ, VTNZ and the AA to retain independence in this part of the inspection industry have fallen on deaf ears or have been brushed under the carpet.

Worse still, they could result from extensive lobbying and vested interests while the transport service

delivery agents (TSDAs) work to keep the fleet safe. Or are we looking at change for change’s sake? It’s an obvious question because it’s hard to see where the cost savings will come from.

One thing is more important than money though and that’s life.

The three TSDAs – the experts, in many people’s books – have predicted a drop in vehicle safety by opening up the COF inspection market along with “bundling” it with repairs and servicing.

You don’t have to be a crackerjack to realise the in-service failure of trucks is likely to be catastrophic.

Last year, the NZTA engaged with COF providers and the industry for three rounds of reference group meetings, and it’s no wonder TSDA representatives were banned from discussing the proposals during this so-called “consultation process”.

You can add “democracy” and “predetermined outcome” to the list of words “transport officials” need to get to grips with, along with the flawed mantra of “maintain or improve safety while cutting costs”.

The NZTA’s COF model states approach principles “have been underpinned by a process that’s inclusive and informed by feedback from stakeholders”.

So what right did the VLR team have to bar VTNZ, VINZ and the AA from talking to, or answering questions from, the media during the process?

It’s worth bearing in mind it wanted its views of the COF process represented in the press.

The NZTA can email editor@autofile.co.nz if it wants to provide any answers. Why not have your say by writing in?

Darren Risby, editor

Copyright: Published twice monthly by 4Media, PO Box 6222, Dunedin 9059 All statements made, although based on information believed to be accurate and reliable, cannot be guaranteed, and no liability can be accepted for any errors or omissions. Reproduction of autofile in whole or part, without written permission, whether by xerography or any other means, is strictly forbidden. All rights reserved.

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[continued from page 1]

news

Potential service providers with financial interests in vehicles may want to inspect them, but will be barred from doing so.

“Take COF A and taxis,” explains Willett. “Vehicles that are owner-operated cannot be COF inspected by the owner-operator. Rental companies will likely be unable to ‘self-inspect and certify’ either.

“My understanding is COF A and COF B will be ‘unbundled’, so a garage carrying out WOFs may be eligible to offer COF As.”

CAPACITY IN EXISTING SYSTEMWillett objects to the NZTA describing the current system as lacking competition. He says PriceWaterhouseCoopers looked into it about three years ago and reported services were well-priced for users.

“There was also a COF service

delivery review some time back. It found inspection times to be reasonable although there was mention of associated additional costs in time and travel.”

The NZTA claims prices charged are unregulated and vary by provider and vehicle.

About $36 million is paid in fees annually, but it says this doesn’t capture the full cost to vehicle operators because around $30m in time is spent getting COFs.

It also says site requirement

changes should lower barriers for new market entrants.

“Current requirements mean TSDAs have to provide premises to a prescriptive standard,” explains Willett.

“This has resulted in facilities commanding high rents and

requiring expensive fit-outs – all effecting facility viability.

“The new model recommends some site requirements are removed. There’s some common sense to this, but what grates is

it appears previous investment wasn’t needed in the first place.

“TSDAs have had to comply and now the rules get changed. We cannot just change our facilities to the new requirements, so we’ve got to work with these changes.”

Willett disagrees with the agency’s view on a lack of competition.

“Throughout this process, I’ve maintained test lanes are empty for hours at certain times and there’s always capacity.

“We offer different rates, discounts and flexible services. For a regulated product, there’s only so much we can do. We can only compete on service and price, and are confined on what we can adjust on either.”

The NZTA recognises the TSDAs will be hit by the new regime. “Current providers will be able

Approval criteria to be set

“Current providers will be able to consider changes to business models.”

– The NZTA’s new COF service delivery model

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[continued on page 6]

news

to consider changes to business models,” it says. “They could remain inspection only or include maintenance and repairs.

“They may choose greater flexibility around site requirements to establish partnerships to provide bundled services to extend coverage.”

In regards to bundling repairs and servicing, people have chosen to become inspectors by exiting the repair industry.

“It’s not as feasible for TSDAs to change business models in such a manner as the document infers,” says Willett.

“When the changes kick in, there will be a possible uptake of inspectors by repairers, but it has to be at a pace the industry is comfortable with.

“New entrants to the inspection service arena will need staff training, technical support and other such mechanisms. These aren’t currently available.”

AGENCY AWARE OF RISKSExtra competition could threaten COF service viability in some areas, admits the NZTA.

“Providers could exit markets,” it says. “This could pose risks to coverage in lower-volume areas and result in providers raising prices.”

Certain changes, such as “enforcement arrangements by NZ Police” and “criteria for issuing pink and green stickers” were deemed as out of scope for its delivery model.

But comments have been

system has been pumped up and the future one underestimated.

“On average, the COF costs about $100 – for COF As it’s $45 and about $126 for COF Bs, plus GST,” says Walsh.

However, the NZTA claims TSDA fees are unregulated and estimates inspections average $150.

“I can see garages opting to

offer COF As and where a lot of taxis operate,” adds Walsh. “There will need to be extra NZTA enforcement.

“COF B is more complex and I don’t see many outside businesses coming in. We might see some, but there’s no aggregate of volumes to take a good chunk of the market.

“An average garage might see two or three trucks a day, but would

made there will be no budget increase for on-road enforcement.

“The NZTA recognised there would be extra risks by opening up the COF system,” says Willett.

These were “somewhat mitigated by packages promised on driver education and more enforcement”, but there seems to be no more funding.

“This is deeply concerning. People are asking ‘am I more likely to get squashed by a truck’. It could come down to that.”

STACKING UP THE COSTS“We have to see how the market responds to what the NZTA is proposing,” says Mike Walsh, chief executive of VTNZ. “It has gone off with a different view of independence for integrity and road safety.”

He describes the new COF model as “a call regulators have made” and the industry will have to adjust – “that’s what we will be doing to still provide services”.

Walsh says the key is monitoring new entrants to ensure road safety doesn’t drop.

“The NZTA is designing an approval and auditing system, and enforcement will need to target areas of risk.

“The new system will cost more to run than the current one, which will result in costs being passed onto inspection organisations and end users.”

VTNZ has raised the issue of fees with the NZTA because it’s concerned the cost of the current

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The new COF model recommends

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6 | www.autofile.co.nz

news

says. “Many heavy vehicles come for COFs through service providers.”

This means providers that fail vehicles at pre-COF inspections may be allowed to pass them in the future – with safety being compromised.

“The NZTA hasn’t been able to keep up with audits at the moment and will have to increase its

resources,” adds Stocks.“Change shouldn’t be for

change’s sake. With COFs, the value of independence must not be underestimated.”

OVERVIEW OF COF SPACEThe road-freight industry has more than 150,000 vehicles with an annual turnover of about $6 billion.

The light commercial sector has more than 55,000 units – 82 per cent are rentals and 18 per cent passenger service vehicles, such as taxis.

The COF fleet totalled 208,000 units in 2011, and 153,000 – or 73 per cent – were heavy vehicles. There were 465,000 inspections, including rechecks.

Administering the new regime will increase with more organisations, inspectors and sites to approve, but the NZTA says this will be partially offset by gains from business process improvements.

The benefit from reforming the COF B market in net present value was estimated to be $160-$460m over 30 years.

But this has gone up $330-$460m, while the benefit of the COF A package is put at $25-$45m.

The VLR changes include keeping the six-monthly default frequency for COFs, but varying them from three to 12 months depending on operators’ safety performances.

Change for change’s sake?

news[continued from page 5]

be lucky to get one or two COF Bs a day. They aren’t going to make the expenditure to do those repairs.”

COF A is a small part of VTNZ’s business, but Walsh emphasises it all comes down to how the market responds.

“These changes are NZTA driven and not because the industry is

lobbying hard. The test will be how many people apply for COF B and go into the market in 12 months’ time, and how enforcement covers risks.”

SAFETY IS MAIN ISSUE“Vehicle safety is the biggest

concern we have, particularly in COF A where the barriers to entry aren’t as high as COF B,” says Stella Stocks, the AA’s general manager of motoring services.

“Financial interests cannot be inspected and we all know people find ways to get around these things.”

Stocks is concerned the COF

process is being driven by cost efficiencies that will not deliver savings but will simply create the transferral of costs instead.

“It’s particularly complex with COF B because we aren’t dealing with vehicle owners often,” she

“Vehicle safety is the biggest concern we have.” – Stella Stocks, AA

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Opening marketThe NZTA says providers are

prevented from entering the inspection industry. With COF

As, they include service and repair businesses delivering WOFs, and heavy-vehicle organisations for COF Bs.

“There’s scope for the system to be more responsive to owners’ and operators’ needs, and enhance fleet productivity.”

The NZTA claims the changes will ensure safety is maintained or improved, while optimising the balance between “customer responsiveness” and “regulatory risks and costs”.

But inspection variations could arise from new entrants being unfamiliar with standards and commercial pressure to “under-serve”. They may also target clients or vehicle types and limit others’ access to COFs.

The NZTA concedes the WOF reforms will result in that market contracting, which may further reduce TSDA site viability.

It will consider applications from businesses with financial and professional interests in repairs if they have effective quality-assurance systems, but operators will be unable to inspect their own vehicles.

Sites will have to be approved and applications will not be affected by existing operations in the area.

Requirements with no bearing on inspection integrity will be removed. These include – but aren’t limited to – dedicated lanes, turning circles, inspection area lengths, door heights and site branding.

The NZTA will appoint qualified inspectors and develop a code of conduct, while sanctions for breaching standards will be reviewed.

It will work with the Motor Industry Training Organisation and stakeholders on qualifications and training.

From July 2012 to June 2013, the NZTA reports VTNZ held 62 per cent of the COF A market and 86 per cent of COF Bs. VINZ had 11 per cent of COF As and seven per cent of COF Bs.

The AA carried out seven per cent of COF As and four per cent of COF Bs.

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Pledge to support vehicles

vehicles – the Cruze, Commodore, VF Ute and Caprice.

“It’s business as usual over here,” says Jeff Murray, managing director of Holden NZ. “The new structure in Australia will resemble New Zealand’s as a national sales company.”

Murray says the end of making cars there will have no impact on the delivery of vehicles here.

“Australia to New Zealand takes eight to 10 days, while from Thailand to New Zealand it’s between 20 and 25 days,” he told Autofile.

“Nonetheless given our stock-holding policies, vehicle supply will remain the same. This would only be an issue if no manufacturer or distributor held stock locally.”

As a result of the plant closures, Murray says parts suppliers will need to contend with some issues, such as lower throughput and demand. 

“It’s too early to determine this but Holden will ensure vehicles are supported on an ongoing basis.”

Reports indicate the Commodore could continue past 2017, but it’s rumoured to be a rebadged Buick built in China, while GM has announced it’s planning to boost production capacity at its Chinese operations by 30 per cent over the next three years.

“I appreciate concerns consumers have about the longevity of the Commodore nameplate,” says Murray. “But there will be a large car. We will retain our position in that market and stand

by those vehicles.”Daniel Akerson, GM’s chief

executive at the time of last month’s announcement and since replaced by Mary Barra, puts Holden’s manufacturing exit down to high production costs, the Australian market’s small size and what he describes as the world’s most competitive and fragmented car market.

On top of this, the strong domestic currency makes building vehicles there almost two-thirds more expensive than a decade ago.

Mike Devereux, soon to depart GM Holden chairman, has reaffirmed GM’s support for Holden in the region while expressing concerns.

He says: “What are we going to do with the workers who make automobiles that will need other work in this economy and how will it prosper going forward? Parliament should focus on these issues.

“We have a world-class product in the VF Commodore. The American media is raving about what’s one of the finest products to ever come out of Australia.”

Murray, who was export and production planning manager for Holden Australia before taking the reins at Holden NZ, adds: “I’ve got friends in engineering affected by the cuts.

“From my personal perspective, I’ve been with the company for 20 years and it’s a disappointing period for us.

“But at the end of the day we need

to effectively rearrange our business so it’s successful in the future.

“It’s incredibly sad especially for some of our colleagues but customers need not worry.

“Holden has graced our roads for 60 years and will continue to do so. We’ll continue to provide new and upgraded variants to allow our customers even greater choice.

“Last year was one of the busiest for Holden with a

significant number of new cars launched. We’re now one of the fastest-growing automotive brands in New Zealand and our line-up is the best it’s been.”

WRITING ON THE WALLAustralia’s car-making industry has benefited from government subsidies for years.

Holden’s announcement to exit it came after Prime Minister Tony

[continued on page 8]

Holden NZ imports between 250 and 280 Cruzes, Commodores, VF Utes

and Caprices per month from Australia

[continued from page 1]

8 | www.autofile.co.nz

Subsidies and sales drop

has put “unprecedented pressure” on its ability to continue to build the Camry and Aurion there.

Steve Prangnell, Toyota NZ’s general manager of sales, describes the plant in Melbourne

Abbott warned there would be no extra money “over and above the support taxpayers have been giving the industry”.

GM has declined to comment if those comments had any effect on its decision, but Holden had reportedly negotiated subsidy arrangements with the ex-Labor government for it to carry on until the early 2020s.

But after seizing power in September, Abbott’s government pledged to slash subsidies.

Meanwhile, sales of locally made cars fell by 20 per cent in the eight months to August. Despite Australians buying more vehicles, Holden Commodore sales – for example – were down nine per cent from 2012.

Those hurting most will be the marque’s employees. More than 2,900 will lose their jobs with

many forced to retrain with few industry jobs left.

The government has announced a fund of A$100m to help create jobs in the states affected by the Holden closures.

Most of the losses will be in Elizabeth, Adelaide, which has one of the country’s highest unemployment rates at 21.3 per cent.

LAST MARQUE STANDINGSpeculation about Holden’s future has been rife since Mitsubishi closed its Adelaide plant about five years ago, while Ford Australia will cease manufacturing in 2016.

Toyota says Holden’s decision

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news[continued from page 7]

Jeff Murray, managing director of Holden NZ

A former IT manager has been awarded three months’ pay of $19,878,

$8,000 in compensation and $303 in costs after fighting claims he wasn’t eligible for redundancy.

The Employment Relations Authority (ERA) ruled on December 12 last year that Michael Stocker, who was headhunted in 2011, was unfairly dismissed from Car Giant Ltd (CGL), Lower Hutt.

CGL’s chief executive Craig Philpott told Stocker on May 2, 2012, he would be dismissed immediately and only paid up until that day because he was a contractor.

Philpott asked him to return the next day to retrain another employee in the work he did and in a letter dated May 3 said CGL was in a “precarious financial position”.

After joining the company in late 2011, Philpott implemented a plan to increase revenue and decrease costs.

He told the ERA that before he started, CGL “had been poorly

managed and run like a holiday camp”, and by April 2012 it was insolvent and unable to pay its debts.

Philpott believed he treated Stocker fairly and reasonably, given CGL’s situation.

Stocker said he had to adjust from a weekly income of about $1,656 to nothing. Shortly after being dismissed, his wife died so he cared for his two young children on his own.

He gave evidence other people who lost their jobs when he did received five weeks’ pay.

The ERA ruled Stocker was an employee, not a contractor, as reported first on www.autofile.co.nz.

Trish MacKinnon, ERA member, said he received no advance notice CGL was considering making his position redundant.

“CGL didn’t apply a fair procedure in dismissing Stocker,” she said. “Philpott embarked on a process with disregard for the requirements of natural justice and good faith.”

Sacking was ‘unfair’

www.autofile.co.nz | 9

2016, in addition to the Territory. Until then, a new Falcon XR8

variant will go on sale late this year carrying over the FPV GT’s five-litre supercharged V8 engine.

Ford NZ says the company’s plans to end manufacturing in Australia by 2016 will have little effect in this country.

About 1,200 jobs will be lost at its assembly plant at Broadmeadows near Melbourne and its Geelong engine plant.

The restructuring doesn’t extend to Ford NZ, which imports two models from Australia – the Falcon and Territory.

“The Falcon accounts for between three and four per cent of our sales,” Tom Clancy, of Ford NZ, told Autofile. “The Territory is popular and accounts for more.”

Ford NZ imports vehicles from Thailand, Belgium, Germany, Spain and Turkey and, starting this year,

as the engine supply base for the Asia-Pacific region and says it needs government support to remain viable.

Nonetheless, if the marque does exit manufacturing the Camry can be sourced from other markets.

“My personal view is every established economy with a motor industry has government support,” Prangnell told Autofile. “Melbourne provides many training opportunities and it will be a tragedy to see it go.”

Toyota wants to be competitive in every market it manufacturers in, but Prangnell stresses it’s not just up to the company – it’s up to the country too because Australia will be worse off with no car making.

Jeff Murray, of Holden NZ, believes it will be difficult for Toyota’s Australian car-making operations to survive the lion and stone’s departure.

This sentiment is echoed by an interim report released by Australia’s Productivity Commission just after Holden’s announcement.

It says the country’s assembly plants are operating well-below the scale needed to be internationally viable.

It also found global automobile production capacity exceeds demand for vehicles, leading to plant closures and rationalisation in developed countries.

For Toyota to remain viable across the Tasman, it needs to cut vehicle production costs – and a decision on the way ahead is likely to be made in the first half of this year.

The new Camry is due to be released in 2018 but Toyota Australia needs approval from Toyota in Japan to make the car, which is already built at eight other plants around the world.

Cutting costs also means reducing the wages and holidays of its 4,200 employees, who get a three-week Christmas break – the longest shutdown in the company’s global manufacturing operation.

Toyota had planned to put a list of cuts and changes to a workers’ vote, but the high court stopped it from doing so.

It’s appealing the decision and chief executive Max Yasuda says it is within Toyota’s rights to vary workplace agreements if most employees are supportive.

“The company is doing everything it can to secure the future for our employees,” he says.

Only last year, more than A$330m was spent on upgrading the factory so it could produce the AR series four-cylinder engine, which is also exported and powers the RAV4 and Camry.

FORD V8 TO BE CANNEDFord Australia has confirmed its V8 ute will be discontinued next year when its Ford Performance Vehicles (FPV) division is killed off.

The FPV range – including the Falcon GT – will be shelved in late 2014 when the final updated Falcon hits the market.

The marque has, however, confirmed it will revive the XR8 sedan until Falcon production ends in 2016, but the V8-powered FPV GS ute will not be superseded by an XR8 variant.

Performance variants will continue only in XR6 and XR6 Turbo form and the decision to retire the V8 ute comes on the back of low demand.

The Mustang returns when the Falcon range is wound back in

news

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“It will be a tragedy to see it go.”

– Steve Prangnell, of Toyota NZ, if the marque exits car making in Australia

Aussie iconThe lion-and-stone marque dates

back to 1856 when James Alexander Holden started a

saddlery business in Adelaide.

In 1948, the FX sedan was the first

Holden to come off the production lines.

By 1990, the marque had sold five

million vehicles. Toyota overtook Holden as Australia’s top-selling

brand in 2003, a position it has held ever since.

India with the new EcoSport.The company is aiming to

strengthen its line-up with a 30 per cent increase in new vehicles offered across Australasia by 2016.

The Holden decision was first reported on www.autofile.co.nz

Log on for breaking news

Sacking was ‘unfair’

10 | www.autofile.co.nz

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Traders to benefit from dealTrade Me is aiming to

provide the automotive industry with more benefits

following its cash-funded $19.5 million acquisition of MotorWeb.

The Auckland-based company, which is an agent for the NZTA, packages and sells vehicle information and reports to finance companies, insurers, dealers and the public.

It’s recognised as a one-stop shop for the industry with its suite of more than a dozen products and services.

Jon Macdonald, chief executive officer of Trade Me, describes MotorWeb as a “good strategic fit” because of its reputation and expertise in data, and that will bring added value to the company and its customers.

He told Autofile: “Through Trade Me Motors, MotorWeb can help us with its expertise in

As far as the two companies are concerned, Macdonald says “it’s very much business as usual” and there are no plans to change MotorWeb’s name or for it to share offices with Trade Me Motors staff in Auckland, although that may be considered in the longer term.

“The people at MotorWeb are experts and do a great job. We had the option to bring them on-board. The vast majority of the team of 12 are coming across to Trade Me with a couple of exceptions.

“The business will give us the chance to broaden and deepen

products and data we provide. It’s exciting to have them on-board.”

For any business, Macdonald says there are generally three ways to expand – start new ventures from scratch, work with partners or make acquisitions.

“We’ve had a long-standing

business partner relationship with MotorWeb for many years and we know it runs an excellent business,” he says.

“By working with the people there, we have its vehicle reports on Trade Me, for example.”

Creating a new venture along

dealing with data to benefit the whole of our business and, from an economics point of view, this is an acceptable deal for us.

“We’re going from zero in this area to having something substantial and a meaningful addition to the motors part of our company.

“With Trade Me Motors, we will be able to offer more benefits and offer car dealers a fuller suite of products with more end-to-end services.

“We will be working to make things more convenient from the industry’s point of view. There will be nothing that’s disruptive to services.”

“We will be able to offer car dealers a fuller suite of products with more end-to-end services.” – Jon Macdonald, Trade Me

WE TRANSPORT

• MOTOR VEHICLES

• FARM TRACTORS

• MACHINERY

• AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT

• CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT

• PLEASURE CRAFT

• CONTAINERS

OTHER SERVICES

• VEHICLE STORAGE

• VEHICLE DISTRIBUTION MANAGEMENT

• HANDLING OF RARE AND RACE CARS

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• M.A.F & CUSTOMS FACILITIES

• SECURITY & CONFIDENTIALITY

p: 0800 4 JEFFSe: vehicles: service@jeffs.co.nz pleasure craft: boats@jeffs.co.nzw: www.jeffs.co.nz

The Commerce Commission has issued a warning to businesses

– it’s ready to enforce the Fair Trading Amendment Act 2013, which includes hefty fines.

Chairman Dr Mark Berry says there are major changes businesses and consumers need to get to grips with them.

He says some sanctions for breaching the Fair Trading Act (FTA) have tripled, while the commission has enhanced powers to investigate and enforce the law.

Penalties for misleading and deceptive conduct, false representations, unfair practices and product safety breaches have increased from $60,000 to $200,000 for individuals and from $200,000 to $600,000 for companies.

In the past, FTA breaches have included car dealers failing to comply with consumer information notice rules and shill bidding on Trade Me.

Individuals who repeatedly break the law will face orders

that can see them banned from trading for up to 10 years.

The commission will also be able to issue infringement notices for more straightforward offences.

All of these provisions are in place now. Others will be implemented this winter, while legislation banning unfair contract terms will come into force 14 months from now.

Rules on substantiation are included in provisions coming into effect in five months’ time. These make it an offence for traders to issue unsubstantiated representations without reasonable grounds.

With online transactions, car dealers who sell over the internet will have to make it clear they are traders, while buyers’ rights under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) will include auctions and tenders.

With extended warranties, disclosure will be required of the buyer’s CGA rights and a comparison of the product’s benefits.

Fines triple in size

www.autofile.co.nz | 11

the lines of MotorWeb would have meant gaining all of the value and control, but a huge amount of work would be needed to get there.

“When you acquire another business, you part with the money upfront,” says Macdonald.

“The deal’s done quickly and you already have all of the skills, systems and relationships in place.

“Trade Me is good at some things but the company isn’t good at all things, and that was a key consideration for us.

“We have the expertise to create a business such as MotorWeb because we have lots of people and computers and the know-how.

“But we were already very busy and acutely aware that we’re quite thinly spread – and it would take a lot of resources to create something like MotorWeb.”

Chris Knight, managing director of MotorWeb, says both companies understand the power of providing people with transparent and accurate data to

1997 and started trading in 2000.Its clients are registered dealers,

insurance and finance companies, and organisations dealing with vehicles on a daily basis.

Services include risk-management tools when buying and financing cars, simplified Motor Vehicle Sales Act compliance and online NZTA transactions.

The company supplies documents, instant recall to transactions and documentation generation, and point-of-sale material, which includes user branding and contact information.

Online documents include valuation certificates, appraisal and loan forms, sale and purchase agreements, and warrant of fitness reminders.

Other services include mechanical breakdown insurance, Personal Property Securities Register verifications and checks to ensure buyers are legally allowed to drive.

empower purchasing decisions.“We’ve known the Trade Me

team for a long time,” he says. “This is great news for our clients on both sides of the Tasman and our staff.

“It’s another exciting chapter in the life of MotorWeb and we’re looking forward to seeing it continue to grow as part of a great Kiwi company.”

INDUSTRY’S ONE-STOP SHOP MotorWeb was founded by chief executive officer Patrick Costigan in

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Checking the numbersAbout MotorWeb$3.7m: Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the 2013 financial year based on year to March 31.

$4.1m: EBITDA forecast for the 2014 financial year based on year to March 31.

$2.3m: Net profit after tax (NPAT) for the 2013 financial year based on year to March 31.

12: Staff as at December 12.

900: Clients on the same date.

About the transaction$19.5m: Purchase price.

5.3: The EBITDA multiple for the 2013 financial year.

4.8: EBITDA multiple forecast for 2014 based on year to March 31.

8.3: The NPAT multiple.Log onto www.autofile.co.nz for MotorWeb news over the years

Chris Knight, managing director of MotorWeb

Petrolheads are gearing up for the largest gathering of Ferrari road and race cars in

New Zealand when more than 130 converge on Hampton Downs.

Organisers of the NZ Festival of Motor Racing are aiming to break the existing record of prancing horses, which stands at 76.

The event runs over two weekends – January 17-19 and January 24-26 – with cars lining up on the Waikato grid at noon on the 19th.

Three Formula One Ferraris will head the line-up, along with other competition machines and more than 120 vehicles belonging to members of the

Ferrari Owners’ Club of NZ.Most of the brand’s great cars

will be represented, including the 250 GTO, 288 GTO, F40, F50 and Enzo Supercar models, and the 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza from Southward Car Museum in Paraparaumu will be there on the second weekend.

At least nine cars will race including two 1,500hp 1985 Formula Ones from Australia.

It will be the first time single-seater Ferraris have competed here since the days of the Tasman race series when McLaren, Hulme and Amon locked horns.

Another rare racer on show is a 308 GTB Challenge coming from the UK with motorsport

personality and racer Frank Lyons.The festival is this country’s

biggest event of its kind, and also features Formula 5,000, Formula Ford and historic muscle cars.

Prancing horse power

A 1962 Ferrari 250GT

new cars

12 | www.autofile.co.nz

Golf drives to awards doubleVolkswagen netted a

brace by winning the AMI Insurance NZ Autocar’s

car of the year award to follow up its AA and NZ Motoring Writers’ Guild gong.

But the Golf didn’t have it all its own way in 2013, with the Range Rover being named the National Business Review (NBR) supreme car of the year.

The AMI winner was decided by NZ Autocar and Fairfax writers, and involved a day of testing the finalists.

The class winners were the Golf on 479 points, Mazda6 with 475, Range Rover on 470, BMW M135i with 469, Ford Fiesta ST on 463 and Ford Kuga with 456. The motorbike winner was BMW’s R 1200 GS.

Each finalist was assessed out of 100 points for aspects, such as design, performance, safety, practicality, specification and

value, with the scoring weighted so cars could be compared.

The Range Rover scooped the NBR award for being “one of the most capable off-road vehicles, yet also one of the most luxurious passenger cars”.

The judges say: “In supercharged form, it even lays claim to super-sports performance. No other premium model can claim to be so many things to so many, yet still feel so special.”

The NBR’s small car was Mercedes-Benz’s A Class, while the Mazda6 won the business class and Subaru’s Forester the crossover title. Ford’s Fiesta ST and Jaguar’s F Type took out other classes.

WINNERS ACROSS THE DITCHThe Mazda6 Sport beat Holden’s VF Commodore and Toyota’s first locally produced hybrid – the Camry – to win Drive’s car of the year title run by Fairfax with imported cars taking out the other 12 categories.

It’s the first time an Australian-made car has failed to win one of the 13 categories.

Class winners included the Mitsubishi Mirage ES, Focus Trend, Mazda6 and CX-5 Maxx Sport diesel, Kia Sorento SLi diesel and Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo CRD. 

Others were the Honda Odyssey, Golf Cabriolet, Mazda BT-50 XTR, Toyota 86 GT, Porsche Cayman S, Lexus IS300h and Mercedes-Benz E300 Bluetec Hybrid.

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Representatives of the automotive industry are delighted with how 2013

panned out and are predicting a happy new year.

The Motor Industry Association describes the increase in new vehicle registrations during last year as “significant”.

With 113,117 sales up by 12.2 per cent compared to 2012, chief executive officer David Crawford says 2013’s total was the best since 1984.

“SUVs continue to dominate, accounting for 27 per cent of the market with 30,478 registrations,” he says.

Meanwhile, 107,284 used passenger cars crossed the border last year, up from 72,837 in 2012. Even importers of used commercials had a good year, with 5,196 units coming in compared to 3,428 the year before.

David Vinsen, of the Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association, says consumer confidence was up, imports were boosted by the

exchange rate and the supply side wasn’t “that bad”. He believes there will be growth in the market in 2014.

The Motor Trade Association (MTA) points out records were set in some segments and others recorded their best performances for years, while used imported cars outsold new by more than 16,500 units.

Spokesman Ian Stronach says: “The performance of the industry set the pace for overall economic recovery. This seems to be repeated overseas.”

On-road motorcycles sales rounded off the industry’s good year on 7,024, says the MTA. That was 1,259, or 22 per cent, up on 2012 making 2013 the strongest year for registrations since 2008.

Sales of units less than 60cc were up 28 per cent over 2012, with bikes of more than 60cc jumping by 19 per cent.

Bring on the new year

The all-new Range Rover was the NBR’s car of the year

For in-depth coverage of industry statistics, go to the “news” section of www.autofile.co.nz

www.autofile.co.nz | 13

on the shortlist for this year’s European Car of the Year, with seven models vying for the prize.

Tesla’s Model S and the BMW i3 will fly the flag, with the i3 also available with a range-extending two-cylinder petrol engine. If one wins, it will join Nissan’s Leaf and Opel’s Ampera on the list of EVs victors.

The other five finalists are the Citroen C4 Picasso, Mazda3, Mercedes-Benz S-Class, Peugeot 308 and Skoda Octavia.

Judges from 23 countries will

decide on the winner, which will be announced in the lead-up to the Geneva Motor Show in March. The Golf won last year.

General Motors dominates the finals of the North American Car of the Year with two of the three spots.

Journalists from the US and Canada voted the Cadillac CTS, Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Mazda3 as finalists for this year’s award.

The Acura MDX, Chevrolet Silverado and Jeep Cherokee are in the truck/ute final.

Australia’s Best Cars judges’ choice was the Mazda6 Touring, which also won best medium car costing less than $50,000.

There was no winner in its people mover category, which was the first time in the 13 years an award has been withheld.

JAPAN LOSES OUT TO GERMANYVW’s Golf polled strongly from the outset at the Japanese Car of the Year awards, with the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show hosting the ceremony.

It ended up with 504 votes from 60 jurors. Honda’s Fit/Jazz came second with 373 and Volvo’s V40 placed third with 167.

Three awards were introduced this year. Mitsubishi’s plug-in Outlander PHEV picked up the innovation award. The Mazda Atenza / Mazda6 won the “emotional” award.

The jointly developed Suzuki Spacia and Mazda Flair Wagon mini-cars captured the small mobility award.

SHIFTING INTO TOP GEARWhen it comes to silliness tempered with a dash of reality, it’s hard to overlook England’s Top Gear team – the Fiesta ST took out its top title and was hot hatch of the year.

The McLaren P1 was Jeremy Clarkson’s car of the year, while James May’s was Ferrari’s 458 Speciale. Richard Hammond opted for Porsche’s 911 GT3.

Some of the other winners were Hyundai’s i10 as bargain of the year, while BMW’s i3 took the green title.

Rolls-Royce’s Wraith was voted “rather splendid” car of the year, Mercedes-Benz’s SLS AMG Black the most “lairy” and the Honda Mean Mower was the best “thing”.

What Car? Magazine plumped for Audi’s A3 Sportback because “it mixes refinement and accomplished driving with fine cabin quality”.

As for the official UK Car of the Year, contenders are being shortlisted with an announcement coming in March.

BEST IN THE WORLD AWARDThe Golf was last year’s world champion following in its siblings’ footsteps – the VW Up! won in 2012, Polo in 2010 and Golf VI in 2009.

The other finalists were the Mercedes-Benz A-Class, Porsche Boxster / Cayman, and the combined entry of Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ and Toyota 86 and GT 86.

The award is starting to gain more prominence despite its newcomer status.

Its 11th event will culminate at the New York Auto Show in April when winners in the world, performance, design and green categories, plus a new luxury section, will be unveiled.

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Tesla’s Model S and BMW i3’s will fly the electric-vehicle flag for the European Car of the Year title

The McLaren P1 was Jeremy Clarkson’s hypercar of the year. James May’s supercar vote went to the Ferrari 458 Speciale. Richard Hammond chose the Porsche 911 GT3

new cars

14 | www.autofile.co.nz

Chocks away and into carsTrains, planes and

automobiles top most teenagers’ wish-lists, but

Frank Willett managed to knock off two by the time he reached 20.

And some folk may think it’s a bit bonkers giving up aircraft for cars – unless you’re a petrolhead, of course.

Willett is known to many in the automotive sector as the big cheese at Vehicle Inspection New Zealand Ltd (VINZ) and North Island vice-chairman of the Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (IMVIA).

Last year, he went to Japan for the first time. He visited the offices of Yokohama-based JEVIC – VINZ’s parent company – as general manager of the transport service delivery agent (TSDA) and flew home as its chief executive officer.

Willett’s new title essentially reflects the focus on high-level issues he now oversees.

“More internal matters are dealt with by operations manager Bob Hart, but a lot of my former general manager’s role has continued.”

That comes as reassuring news to many in the industry, but what about his formative years?

Willett attended St Kentigern College in Auckland and was geared up to become an apprentice engineer for Air New Zealand during his senior years of 1981-82.

But Air NZ’s intake at the time dropped so the air force beckoned and it was chocks away for two years’ basic training as an aircraft engineer.

A few years later, Willett decided aeroplanes didn’t

“enthuse” him that much, so he completed his automotive apprenticeship while serving.

“After all, you cannot work on an aircraft and then go for a quick test drive,” he quips.

The job took him on two trips away from New Zealand, but he was mainly based at Woodbourne in Blenheim and then Te Rapa, Hamilton, where the shopping mall is where the

airbase was, which is why it’s called The Base. Then it was Hobsonville and Whenuapai in Auckland.

In 1994, some close friends left the air force and one joined VINZ. Over some beers, they chatted about the company.

“Being a vehicle inspector sounded interesting,” recalls Willett. “VINZ seemed to be peppered with ex-armed forces people then, well most of the Auckland contingent.”

He remained with VINZ for about three years and had a variety of jobs in the transport industry eventually before touching

down with the IMVIA in 2004.“There are historical links

between the IMVIA and VINZ. Being its technical services manager until 2008 put me into contact with VINZ staff and clients.

“A lot of VINZ’s board were also IMVIA members. I was relatively well-known to the board and management having previously worked for VINZ.

“It was a dramatic shift from essentially a non-profit and support organisation to working for a commercial operation. It was a completely different role, a sideways move with pros and cons.”

Willett, who’s thankful to everyone who has helped him get through different parts of the industry, had almost gone full circle and, in doing so, followed his favourite phase – “what goes around, comes around”.

“I try my best to treat people how I’d like to be treated. It’s a good philosophy to have in life.

And you never know, the person who you are berating today might be your boss tomorrow.”

LOOKING INTO OPERATIONSTalking of bosses, the main focus of Willett’s recent trip to Japan was to see JEVIC’s operation in action, meet the management and find out about its services.

“It was my first trip there and a few people are surprised by this,” he says. “The used import business had taken to me Singapore and China, but I hadn’t managed to get to Japan.

“I was impressed by the scale of JEVIC’s operation, and its range of products and clients.

“It was fascinating to see how it operates and if its modus operandi could provide future opportunities here. You never know where the rules and changes due to the Vehicle Licensing Reform [VLR] will lead us.

“It was also interesting to see clients’ vehicles going through processes at the start of their journeys to New Zealand.”

Willett spent a day in Nagoya, which included a trip to the USS auction house. He was impressed by the bullet train, rail network and how services run on time, while the size of population seems – comparatively – to put Auckland on the scale of nearby Pokeno.

“Despite millions of people, there’s a feeling of openness and space with warm welcomes.

“Everyone in Japan is so calm compared to Aucklanders – friendly

industry profile

“You cannot work on an aircraft and then go for a quick test drive.”

– Frank Willett

Willett during his circuit-racing beginnings with a team-mate Willett spent several years in a Chinese rally team and often worked there

www.autofile.co.nz | 15

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being approached in 2009 by its executive with an open invitation to attend.

“Due to time constraints, this hasn’t been as often as I would like. But it’s important for me and VINZ to back the federation and what it stands for – and support motoring enthusiasts across the country.”

WHAT’S IN A NAME?Willett’s proud of his heritage. When asked if there’s anything else he’d like to talk about he replies, “yes, a lot of

people are unsure of my ethnicity”.He’s three-quarters English

and one-quarter Burmese, and he used to struggle with this a bit when younger. It was in the 1960s, when his father retired from British Airways, that his family migrated to New Zealand.

and accommodating – and there’s no road rage. I only heard one car horn, which was sounded by a driver telling someone a vehicle they were waiting for had arrived.”

KEEPING EYES WIDE OPENThe VLR signals well-documented issues for the inspection business and TSDAs, but what about the overall picture?

“I believe the VLR contains some of the biggest changes the industry has faced as they are cultural and ideological,” says Willett.

“The key focus for the regulators, until now, has been on mitigating conflicts of interest through approvals and system structures.

“But the VLR direction appears to be pushing certificates of fitness into the ‘free market’ and that’s a radical change.

“The focus seems to be more about risk management through education, enforcement and audit rather than what we currently have.

“That’s a fundamental shift and it could lead to major changes to infrastructure.”

He sees his role as looking at how VINZ can evolve to follow that direction and seek opportunities while embracing the free-market concept, so “it’s a case of eyes wide open”.

LIVING FOR THE INDUSTRYWillett also works for the industry through his involvement with the IMVIA. He wasn’t on its executive when he moved to VINZ but after a few years, when a VINZ board member left, he put himself forward and was appointed.

Being branch vice-chairman

creates some time-constraint issues, but its executive says what he brings to the table is highly valued by the used import industry and IMVIA members.

“There’s my broader understanding of compliance issues from the point of view of a TSDA. I’m passionate about the industry and have held many roles in it. It fascinates me.”

Being car crazy may have something to do with that. Willett’s “hobby” is a convertible six-speed 2006 Mazda MX-5 RS, with the company supplying a grown-up’s vehicle – a Holden Captiva.

Aged 16, his first set of wheels was a 1974 Australian-assembled Morris Marina TC Coupe with a 1750cc engine.

“The favourite car I’ve owned is a Ford Capri Mark 3 with a Rover 3.5-litre V8 and the loudest body kit I could find, while I’d love to have an Aston Martin DBS convertible today.”

Willett’s fascination with cars extends to being technical adviser of the Federation of Motoring Clubs NZ, a position he’s held since

“Now I think it’s great and I’ve even taken advantage of it at times. In California, some people think I’m Mexican. In New Caledonia, I’m mistaken for being French.

“If you saw the rest of my family in England, they’re pretty pale. But they don’t get much sun over there.”

There’s more. Willett isn’t officially Frank because his first name is Grenville and his middle name is Francis, which was shortened to Frank when he joined the air force.

“Some people in the forces can only remember names with one syllable,” he muses.

As he gets older, Willett’s philosophy on life changes. “I focus on maintaining energy to deal with things because everything seems to move faster.

“With VINZ, the challenge is to succeed and attract the next generation to our industry.

“The unknown is what direction the signalled changes will continue down, or if a change in government will see that path change again.”

industry profile

Willett’s Pro7 race car

Willett compares the used imports trade’s early days as battling through the jungle

16 | www.autofile.co.nz

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side made from a single-piece aluminium pressing.

The ductile metal has low density and corrosion resistance. Structural components made from it and its alloys are vital in the aerospace industry. Its most useful compounds – on a weight basis – are the oxides and sulphates.

To deliver assured, progressive handling in line with its

404kW output, the range-topping R has a bespoke suspension set-up and dynamic technologies.

These include an electronic active differential (EAD) and torque vectoring, which work together for immediacy of response.

The EAD system redistributes torque between the rear wheels to ensure on-the-limit control, while the vectoring applies

precise braking force to

The all-new seven-seat Pathfinder large SUV has arrived and pricing starts

from $54,990. The Kiwi models are the first

right-hand Nissans to be sold outside of the US where it’s made, with previous models built in Spain.

The three models have a 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine mated to a continuously variable transmission.

Available in two and four-wheel-drive (4WD), it’s able to go off-road “but with the comfort and technology buyers expect in this segment”.

The entry-level Pathfinder ST is 2WD. The mid-range ST costs $59,990 and the flagship Ti is $65,990, both coming with 4WD.

The 3.5-litre V6 produces 193kW and 32Nm of torque for fuel consumption of 9.9l/100km for the 2WD ST, and 10.2l for

the 4WD ST and Ti. Their emissions output is rated at 233 and 240g/km.

All three sit on 18-inch alloys with tyre-pressure monitoring. MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspensions are used.

There’s speed-sensitive power steering with an 11.8m turning circle. The four-wheel disc brakes have an anti-lock system with electronic brake-force distribution, and vehicle dynamic and traction control. The 4WDs have hill-start assist.

It includes the marque’s “clever” seating system, with a 60-40 split second-row seat and 50-50 split third row for different seating and cargo combinations.

Losing weight with bodyshellJaguar says its all-aluminium

F-TYPE Coupé is the most dynamically capable,

performance-focused sports car it has produced.

The range-topping R Coupé is powered by a five-litre supercharged V8 engine with 404kW of power and 680Nm of torque that delivers acceleration to 100kph in 4.2 seconds and an electronically limited top speed of 300kph.

The F-TYPE S Coupé and F-TYPE Coupé are powered by three-litre V6s in 280kW/460Nm and 250Kw/450Nm forms respectively for 0-100kph in 4.9 and 5.3 seconds and top speeds of 275 and 260kph.

Its aluminium technology has enabled lightweight and strong bodyshells, with torsional rigidity of 33,000Nm/degree, with the Coupé’s body

First from the States

Jaguar’s F-TYPE Coupé R

inner wheels during cornering. Sports suspension with

adaptive dynamics damping and configurable dynamic mode enhance the R’s response.

The R and S models have optional carbon ceramic matrix brakes for fade resistance and an unsprung weight saving of 21kg.

Every model has Jaguar’s eight-speed close-ratio quick-shift transmission, with full manual sequential control from the central sport-shift selector or steering wheel-mounted paddles.

The F-TYPE Coupé will be on sale in

New Zealand from the third quarter of this year, with

specification and pricing to

be decided.

The flagship Pathfinder Ti

new cars

www.autofile.co.nz | 17

December s t a t i s t i c s

*in December on Trade Me Motors

Most popular car makes searched*

1 Toyota 2 Nissan 3 Ford4 Holden 5 Mazda

Most popular car models searched*1 Corolla 2 Civic3 Golf 4 Legacy5 Skyline

Most popular body styles searched* 1 RV/SUV 2 Ute 3 Sedan 4 Station wagon5 Hatchback

Most popular makes of motorbike searched*1 Honda 2 Harley-Davidson 3 Suzuki 4 Yamaha5 Kawasaki

The seller of a Harley-Davidson Super Glide FX, a Wellie-G Factory boatail, jokes he is looking for Lotto winners or Kim Dotcom to stump up the $60,000 asking price. The 1972 and 1,200cc model has clocked up 62,329km.

Last week I found myself in front of my laptop searching for somewhere to go for

dinner with friends.I had a list of all the local places I

could think of scribbled down next to me – and I was subconsciously ranking them based on their websites and menus.

If a restaurant didn’t have a site or its menu displayed on it, it was instantly crossed off the list without so much as a second thought.

I couldn’t help but wonder how many other types of businesses suffer the same fate and don’t get a look-in because they aren’t online.

There’s nothing I can think of that I don’t look at online first. Even when I want to buy in-store, I look at my options online before heading into town to save going from shop to shop. It’s fast, easy and a natural instinct for most people.

But it doesn’t stop there. Not only do businesses need websites, they need to be great.

They should be fast to load, user-friendly and easy to navigate, and have good content, relevant information, plenty of decent photos, clear company branding and easy-to-find contact details.

It isn’t hard to create a great website. The key is to put yourself in users’ shoes, and think about sites you’ve been on and things

you liked or disliked about them because you want to keep visitors engaged and on your site as long as possible.

These people are there to buy from you, so create the site from the buyer’s perspective – not the seller’s.

Do the hard work for them because they don’t want to search for basic information. They want you to tell them everything they could ever want to know about an item.

When creating your website, think about issues such as colours. Extensive web analytics have been collected on background colours and how they affect visitor session times. Here are some tips: Make your website visually

appealing so visitors want to stay.

 Have something on your home page to act as a hook to draw them further into the site.

 You don’t want the layout to be cluttered and busy – it pays to keep the focus clear.

With your website, you also have the option to sell yourself as a business – and bear in mind consumers are reputation conscious and want to feel secure with the business they’re dealing with.

If you’re constantly delighting customers, tell people by creating a testimonials page so buyers can read for themselves what it is that makes your company great to buy from.

The next step to think about

is how to get your website seen. You can have a fantastic site but if customers don’t know it’s there, it can’t produce the results it’s capable of.

A great way to increase visibility and exposure is to link your website up to your Trade Me listings to give all those unique browsers an easy and one-click hyperlink to your site.

We live in a mobile society where the world is at our fingertips 24/7, literally within a couple of taps, and there’s nothing we can’t find out without reaching into our pockets or handbags.

This is why your website needs to works on mobiles, so don’t miss out on sales because you have an excellent site that doesn’t work on these devices.

While a great website shouldn’t cost the earth, it’s a very important part of company branding so an online presence does require thought and care.

If you would like to learn more about how to make your site work for you, contact your account manager for all the information you need.

Whether it’s a full build, an upgrade to your current site, a mobile website or a Trade Me site link, we have a full range of web-based features and products to

help your business be seen.

Quality online presence adds value for dealers

by Natalie Beckham dealer support manager natalie.beckham@trademe.co.nz

Toyota’s Corolla, the Honda Civic and VW’s Golf made up the top three most viewed models on Trade Me Motors last month

18 | www.autofile.co.nz

The paradigm is now shifting

The IMVIA Technical Report is proudly brought to you by leading certifi cation service provider, VINZ

from the trade and for the trade

a paradigm shift.The used Japanese

vehicles we will be buying over the next few years will see increasing numbers of hybrids on New Zealand’s roads.

The top-selling cars in Japan, the Toyota Prius and Aqua, are hybrids. Most production of the next best seller, Honda’s Jazz, is hybrid while many other popular models are available in hybrid and conventional options.

We will see more of the popular model vehicles, such as the Corolla, being produced as hybrids to take advantage of the eco-friendly incentives in Japan, which has the downstream

Reporting on the 43rd Tokyo Motor Show in the previous issue of

Autofile, I wrote: “The impression I’ve gained is our vehicle fleet is going to change.

“At the moment the biggest users of hybrid cars in New Zealand are taxi fleets, green corporates and people who have greyer hair than I have. This is going to change and the hybrid will become mainstream.”

In mid-December, the chairman of Japan Automobile Manufacturers’ Association released a statement.

Akio Toyoda says: “As part of its tax revision initiatives for the fiscal year from April 1, 2014, to March 31, 2015, the Japanese government has decided to reduce automobile acquisition tax and expand tax breaks on eco-friendly vehicles among other measures designed to mitigate Japan’s heavy tax burden on automobile owners.”

He adds: “On the other hand, we find it regrettable the ruling parties have also taken the decision to raise taxes on motorcycles and mini-vehicles, although in the latter case the scope of vehicles targeted for increases will be limited.”

From what I saw at the motor show and Toyoda’s statement, I’m firmly of the opinion we’re on the cusp of

MALCOLM YORSTONIMVIA Membership and

Technical Services Manager

tech report

Then there are diesel-electric engines. I can recall one of the Lyttelton to Wellington ferries used to have these to generate electricity to power the propellers or thrust units.

A number of US Coast Guard icebreakers deployed in Antarctic waters have used this type of hybrid system as well.

And internal combustion-hydraulic hybrid is when a petrol or diesel-power unit is connected to a hydraulic pump.

This supplies high-pressure hydraulic oil to traction motors and is more commonly seen these days in earthmoving equipment, although this technology is also being developed for the automotive industry.

Fuel-cell vehicles, which use hydrogen as the source, are also being advanced with different types of power units.

Mazda, for example, has been developing a rotary engine to run on hydrogen, while other marques are using hydrogen to generate electricity for use in hybrid systems.

In Europe, many manufacturers, including those

of supercars, are supplying hybrids to the market.

The paradigm is shifting. You will be driving a

hybrid or alternative-energy vehicle within the next 10 years and the uptake of hybrid

technology here will be supply-driven, not consumer-driven.

Japan’s top-selling cars – Toyota’s Prius and Aqua – are hybrids

effect of narrowing our choices of motive power in the future.

So, we are all likely to be driving hybrids in the future. This makes me wonder about what types we will see on Kiwi roads?

We all understand the convention of hybrid, petrol and electric vehicles with battery packs supplying electricity to power the traction motors under light loading.

Petrol engines supplement the battery power when needed for acceleration or heavier loading, such as climbing hills, or to top up batteries these vehicles use regenerative braking for recharging.

There are many more variations of hybrid and plug-in hybrid, such as LPG-electric in the case of Toyota’s Jpn Taxi concept.

JEVIC NZ 09 966 1779 www.jevic.co.nzNew Zealand

Japan

Singaporenngnngin

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www.autofile.co.nz | 19

Everyone at Protecta Insurance

wishes you all a happy, busy and profitable new year.

With 2013 now gone, we again start to provide our customers with great service and products to help motor traders to become more profitable in 2014.

Last year was a good year for Protecta, and we thank all of our customers for entrusting us as their preferred insurance provider.

We take the privilege of looking after your customers’ insurance needs seriously and also believe we provide the best support throughout New Zealand.

Our experienced claims team was very busy during 2013 and – as you can see by the numbers below – why would you use another insurance provider?

We received 7,454 claims and accepted 99.97 per cent of them.

Does your current insurance provider accept as many claims as we do?

At Protecta, we understand and pride ourselves with a high level of customer service.

We know many of our motor traders have a high service ethic, so we want to ensure your clients receive the same experience.

In 2013, all of our staff went through a world-class Dale Carnegie customer service training programme.

This investment in our people was taken seriously so we can continue to provide our motor dealers with excellent customer service.

Our sales team has been with Protecta and servicing motor

vehicle traders for the past 26 years, providing mechanical breakdown and other insurance products, point-of-sale marketing, training and customer support.

All of this helps you to increase your profits and sell the best insurance products to your customer.

Earlier this year we employed Erin Mills, who adds a new dimension to our team by concentrating on training and results analysis, all of which is designed to help your bottom line.

We have seen an increase in our customers’ finance and insurance profitability, better engagement from motor vehicle sales staff

and a higher turnover rate to the business manager.

We’re also continuing our business manager breakfasts in 2014 and the feedback we received from these last year was very encouraging.

As you are aware, Protecta has a payment protection plan (PPP) policy, but PPP also stands for people, products and passion to drive your profits.

Protecta wants your business to grow and become more profitable – and we have the products, people, systems and the passion to help you grow your business.

We anticipate 2014 will be another great year. Once again, thank you for your continued support and we look forward to working with you this year.

And contact us to find out who the local sales person is in your area to find out if you qualify to become a Protecta preferred customer.

RAY MehARgNational sales manager

Freephone: 0800 435 7868 contact@protecta.co.nz • www.protecta.co.nz

Committed to Adding

Value to Your Business

Training staff to world-class level

f & i stats

18%  

12%  

13%  

10%  

31%  

23%  

22%  

13%  

41%  

0% 5% 10% 15% 20% 25% 30% 35% 40% 45% 50% 55%

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New  

Used  

Best result $1,485Worst result $420

PROTECTA Nationwide F & I resultsDecember 2013

“PPP also stands for people, products and passion to drive your profits.”

To adverTise here, conTacT:

Vehicles wanted

Ph 021 455 775 advertising@autofile.co.nz

dealers Buying now NewS in briefDisputes tribunals’ threshold limit set to doubleThe monetary threshold for disputes tribunals is to be increased so they can deal with claims of up $30,000. Currently, consumers can lodge civil claims for less than $15,000 – or up to $20,000 if all parties agree.

Other changes include new referees having appropriate qualifications or training. Hearings will be made open to the public and media, except when a referee is mediating an agreement or privacy is needed, and most disputes will only be allowed to be reheard once.

A bill for the proposed changes, which also covers the Motor Vehicles Disputes Tribunal, will be introduced this year. It will be referred to a select committee for submissions to be made.

Marque predicts 482km range for fuel-cell vehicleHonda is set to launch a new fuel-cell electric vehicle (FCEV) next year. It will run on hydrogen gas and oxygen, which an on-board stack converts into electricity.

The marque says it will be the first FCEV with the powertrain contained in the engine bay to maximise space. Improved technology has increased output to more than 100kW with extra power coming from a smaller fuel-cell stack to give a range of more than 482km.

Honda is also developing home energy stations to extract hydrogen from natural gas and work off solar power. The technology could be extended to hot-water heating and electricity in homes.

Motorbike licence option based on riders’ skillsA licensing option to improve motorcyclists’ safety – the NZTA’s competency-based training and assessment (CBTA) regime – will be launched on March 1.

Instead of taking practical tests at each licence stage, bikers can have riding skills assessed and the system will have competency-based time reduction.

People can choose between the existing regime and CBTA, or a combination, to gain restricted or full bike licences. Visit www.autofile.co.nz for the full story.

Concept car built from ‘advanced materials’ Hyundai will unveil its Intrado concept at this year’s Geneva Motor Show.

It’s built around a super-lightweight structure and is joined using a technique the marque claims has the potential to change the way cars are built.

The car has a hydrogen drivetrain smaller and lighter than the ix35 Fuel Cell’s.

More industry news online at www.autofile.co.nzVehicle logistics company AUTOHUB has shifted its Auckland base to Kumeu from Waimauku. Managing director John Davies says: “The offices are five times bigger and we have lots of space for the future.”

The Citroen dealership in Greenlane, Auckland, has been officially opened after Sime Darby Automobiles took on distributing the marque. The model line-up has since been cut from 22 to 12.

A new global crash-testing standard has been agreed by the UN World Forum. The global technical regulation sets performance criteria for cars and light commercial vehicles in pole-side impact tests.

An auto cluster is being built at Kapiti Landing. Dealership HMC Kapiti and mechanics A Grade Automotive are expected to be operating from the site by May.

ALWAYS BUYING GOOD NZ NEW VEHICLES

Call Guy Walker 021 992 048

VEHICLES WANTED

Simon O’Reilly 021 31 9992 simon.oreilly@armstrongs.co.nz www.armstrongprestige.com I I I

ALL PORSCHE, LAND ROVERS, RANGE ROVERS, JAGUARS AND VOLVO MODELS

Mitsubishi • Mercedes Benz • Honda Hyundai • Isuzu Utes

SsangYong • Great WallWe purchase NZ new cars & commercials.

All makes & models. Anywhere in NZ.Karl Briggs 0274 721 551 karl.briggs@inghamgroup.co.nz

www.inghamdriven.com

Contact Gareth 021660180 gareth@southcitymotors.co.nz www.317.co.nz

Buying: Vans, Utes, Light Trucks. Nationwide.

Brett Harris 029 293 1232 Brett@FarmerAutoVillage.co.nz www.farmerautovillage.co.nz

VWAudi

WE PURCHASE NZ NEW CARS AND COMMERCIALS FOR ALL OUR FRANCHISES

miles motor groupPAUL CURIN 0274 333 303 pcurin@miles.co.nz

Mercedes BenzVolkswagen

BMWAudi

LexusKia

ToyotaNissanChryslerJeep Dodge

Vehicles wanted

We are always looking to purchase late model NZ NEW CARS AND COMMERCIALS

www.autofile.co.nz | 21

new cars

Galloping pony gets faceliftThere are about 2,000

Mustangs of all ages on Kiwi roads and more than

700 members of seven clubs, which hold annual drive days attracting around 150 to 200 cars.

Ford hopes its all-new model will excite enthusiasts and a wider range of buyers because its design – inspired by 50 years of heritage – is combined with power, performance and technology.

The Mustang will be sold in New Zealand with a choice of engines with manual or automatic transmissions.

It’s being released globally in coupé and convertible form with five-litre V8, 3.7l V6 and 2.3l EcoBoost engines, but the V6 won’t be available here.

Ford NZ will be talking to Mustang enthusiasts, some of whom have imported left-hand-drives, and FPV owners about its model mix.

“We’ll be doing research around younger and older people, who are perhaps driving European cars now,” says managing director Corey Holter.

The design of the new model includes a lower stance with a reduction in roof height and the return of the fastback. There are three-dimensional, tri-bar tail-lamps, a shark-nose front fascia and trapezoidal grille.

The Mustang has new front and rear suspension systems. A front perimeter sub-frame stiffens the structure while reducing mass for better wheel control.

There’s also an integral-link independent rear suspension.

SLICE OF AMERICAN PIEThe Mustang was based

on the second-generation Falcon when it was introduced in the US in April 1964.

It created the pony class – sports car-like coupés with long hoods and short rear decks – and gave rise to competitors such as the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac’s Firebird.

It’s also credited for inspiring the design of coupés, such as Toyota’s Celica and the Ford Capri.

Executive stylist John Najjar

The geometry, springs, dampers and bushings have been modified for high performance.

The driver can tap toggle switches on the console to adjust steering effort, engine response, transmission and electronic stability control.

The intake manifold and turbocharger housing are optimised for better breathing and higher output with a projected 227kW at 5,550rpm and 407Nm of torque from 2,500-4,500rpm. The GT has a top speed of 249kph.

The 2.3l EcoBoost has direct fuel injection and twin independent variable camshaft timing, while the low-inertia twin-scroll turbocharger provides quicker boost response with lower emissions and better efficiency.

The V8 has larger intake and exhaust valves, revised intake and exhaust camshafts, stiffer valve springs and new cylinder-head casting to generate more than 313kW at 6,500rpm and 529Nm of torque at 4,250rpm.

The Mustangs are being released in North America later this year and in Europe in early 2015. Australasia will follow, with Ford here saying prices “will be competitive and

people pleasantly surprised”.

Ferzely, a fan of the World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane, is credited for the name.

The car has its own star on Hollywood Boulevard after appearing in more than 3,000 films.

A 1968 GT390 Fastback was driven by Steve McQueen in Bullitt and Farrah Fawcett was behind the wheel of a 1968 Mustang Cobra II in Charlie’s Angels.

Each 2015 model celebrates the car’s 50th birthday with a badge on the instrument panel. It includes the logo and “Mustang – since 1964.”

The new Ford Mustang

The 227kW 2.3l EcoBoost engine

22 | www.autofile.co.nz

BackgroundChristopher Munn bought a 1990 Nissan Terrano from Popular Cars Ltd on June 8, 2012.

He applied to the tribunal to reject it under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) after it failed a WOF because of rust.

Mr L Powell, director of Popular Cars, says the car was checked over by Munn’s mechanic soon after he bought it and the dealer paid to have the faults found then repaired.

The vehicle was driven 6,000km over a five-month period by Munn.

Given its age, mileage and use of Christchurch’s roads, he said the faults were wear-and-tear items any reasonable consumer would expect with a 22-year-old car.

The dealer was prepared to supply missing bolts for the torsion bar as a gesture of goodwill.

However, that offer was rejected by Munn and Popular Cars considered it had no obligation to the purchaser.

The case Munn agreed to buy the car for $7,990 after a short test drive. In its Trade Me advert, Popular Cars described it as being well-looked after and a great example of a low-mileage SUV.

The vehicle leaked oil soon after it was supplied and Munn took it to Avonhead Automotive Ltd, which assessed it on June 15, 2012, and found seven faults.

Munn purported to reject the SUV claiming it had serious faults and it had been misrepresented.

The trader had the faults fixed by Vantage Automotive & Auto Electrical, which installed fuel, oil and air filters for $613.

The vehicle was returned to

Munn, who drove it for 5,795km until November.

Munn took the car to On The Go (NZ) Ltd for a WOF on November 22, but it failed for five reasons. These were: Unable to open the left-front

door from outside. Exhaust leak and handbrake

improvement needed. Bolts missing from front torsion

bar mounts. Rear front-inner tie rod and

end-of-drag link to be repaired.

The next day, without contacting Popular Cars, Munn had Haines & Son Tyres carry out this work for $449.

On December 16, he took the vehicle for another WOF. It failed because of rusty side plates, the inner sway-bar bushes needed replacing, a crack in the chassis and a new tyre was needed.

Munn emailed Popular Cars on December 17 listing faults from both WOF inspections.

He informed the trader the vehicle was unable to pass a WOF, he had paid $634 on repairs to date and other work would cost more than $2,000.

His email asked how Popular Cars proposed to remedy the situation. It replied on December 20 saying these were maintenance items that a vehicle older than 20 years would need and they should be expected given the state of Christchurch’s roads.

The dealer offered to replace missing bolts from the torsion bar as a gesture of goodwill.

Munn told Popular Cars its response was unacceptable and on March 21, 2013, he filed an application with the tribunal.

At the tribunal’s request, Munn

had a WOF completed by VTNZ on May 10 at 146,445km.

The faults listed on the check sheet included a worn-out tyre, left-hand lower outer ball joint, both running-board mounts rusty, crack in the gearbox mount to the chassis, a headlight alignment was needed and a tyre had a puncture.

Munn produced a quote from Shepherd & Kime 2008 Ltd for $1,213 to repair some of the items – and one from Pit Stop for a new tyre, a puncture repair and headlight adjustment for $471.

He also produced a quotation of $771 from Pit Stop dated February 5, 2013, for a throttle body and gasket.

The findingThe tribunal accepted on the basis of the first invoice from Avonhead Motors in June 2012 that the vehicle wasn’t free from minor faults or as durable as a reasonable consumer would regard as acceptable, even for a car sold for $7,990 with 140,000km on its odometer.

But it was satisfied Popular Cars paid to repair those faults at Vantage Automotive.

Munn used the vehicle for five months and drove 5,795km before it failed a WOF when inspected by On The Go (NZ) Ltd in November 2012.

The tribunal ruled no faults identified on that check sheet were serious and Munn paid to repair them.

On The Go’s check sheet made no mention of the surface rust underneath the vehicle.

The tribunal accepted, on the basis of VTNZ’s WOF, that the car needed rust treatment and other

The case: The buyer of a second-hand Nissan Terrano rejected it after it leaked oil, but

the dealer fixed the problem. After

driving it another 5,000km, the purchaser attempted to reject the

car again after it failed a warrant

of fitness (WOF).

The decision: The tribunal

ruled the defects were to be expected by a reasonable buyer

considering the age and mileage

of the vehicle.

At: The Motor Vehicle Disputes

Tribunal, Christchurch.

minor repairs carried out. But it didn’t think a reasonable

consumer would regard the presence of underbody rust as unusual or unexpected in a 22-year-old vehicle of this mileage.

It also said the vehicle failed to comply with the guarantee of acceptable quality because of the discovery of rust.

Munn claimed Popular Cars’ advert on Trade Me was misleading, but the tribunal found it was nothing more than sales puffery.

There was no evidence the statement he complained of – namely “great example, low kilometres, well-looked after, drives well and won’t last long” – misled Munn because he test drove the car before buying it.

The tribunal found that the vehicle wasn’t of acceptable quality at the time of supply.

But its faults were repaired by Popular Cars promptly at the trader’s cost and the car was then driven for another five months and 5,795km by the buyer.

It was ruled the defects found in this old vehicle were of a kind to be expected by a reasonable buyer, and the tribunal said they reflected the age and mileage of the car and not a lack of durability.

OrderThe application was dismissed.

Tribunal rules faults as acceptable for age of car buyer applied to reject

disputes

5500  

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8000  

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9500  

10000  

Jan   Feb   Mar   Apr   May   Jun   Jul   Aug   Sep   Oct   Nov   Dec  

2013  

2012  

17%  

12%  

13%  

9%  

41%  

14%  

22%  

16%  

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Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua Gisborne Napier New Plymouth Wanganui Palmerston North Masterton Wellington Nelson Blenheim Greymouth Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua Gisborne

Napier New Plymouth Wanganui Palmerston North Masterton Wellington Nelson Blenheim Greymouth Westport Christchurch Timaru Oamaru Dunedin

Invercargill Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua Gisborne Napier New Plymouth

Wanganui Palmerston North Masterton Wellington Nelson Blenheim Greymouth Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua

Ar

ou

n d t h e c ou nt

ry

20 | www.autofile.co.nz

0800 7000 44autoport.netwww.

UK, Japanese and local vehicles.Finance available.

The TRUSTED online wholesale trading site.

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Port Calls Hoegh Xiamen V20

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Osaka 20 Oct 30 Oct 15 Nov 29 Nov Nagoya 21 Oct 31 Oct 16 Nov 30 Nov Yokohama 22 Oct 1 Nov 17 Nov 1 Dec Auckland 7 Nov 17 Nov 4 Dec 19 Dec Wellington 13 Nov 23 Nov 11 Dec 26 Dec Lyttelton 16 Nov 29 Nov 11 Dec 29 Dec

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Biggest increases/Decreases By town year-on-year

(OctOber 2013 vs OctOber 2012)

Biggest increases new Used

westport  100.0% Blenheim  95.5% thames  51.2% nelson  64.9% napier  34.1% rotorua  52.0%

Biggest decreases new Used

wanganui  27.7% westport  41.7% gisborne  26.8% Masterton  20.0% timaru  23.7% timaru  12.4%

7000

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North Island

South Island

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Oct

‘13

Used

New7962

8545

1805

6740

Used Vehicle RegistRatiOnsNorth IslaNd versus south IslaNd

PassengeR Vehicle RegistRatiOnsNew versus used

Vehi

cles

sol

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0

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Auckland

Wellington

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Hamilton

Tauranga

Palmerston Nth

DunedinChristchurch

4320

495

1185

290

729

229

216

aucklaNd, wellINgtoN, chrIstchurch hamIltoN, tauraNga, duNedIN, PalmerstoN North

Used imPORt PassengeR Vehicle RegistRatiOns by city

october 2013

autoport.net

The TRUSTED online wholesale trading site.

26 | www.autofile.co.nz

www.autofile.co.nz | 27

Annual high for stockpileThe amount of stock held

by used car dealers during

October was the highest

monthly total of the year.

There were 10,374 units

imported last month with a

variance of 1,829 on 8,545 sales.

The number of cars in stock

amounted to 9,323 compared to

7,494 in September.

There have been two other

major increases during 2013 – with

variances between imports and sales

of 3,121 in April and 2,507 in May.

Graeme Macdonald, chairman

of the North Island branch of the

Imported Motor Vehicle Industry

Association, says the current

stockpile should correct itself – as it

normally does.“If the monthly stockpile was

10,000 on a regular basis it means

there are solid holding numbers,”

he told Autofile. “North of that

and we would be looking at an

oversupply issue.

“There was good buying in Japan

in March, and we saw high arrival

numbers in April, May and June.

“The stockpile occurs more at

certain times of the year. Since

I came back into the industry in

1996, it has ebbed and flowed.”

Used car stock levels are

traditionally based on what’s

happening in Japan and what

consumers are buying here.

Conditions there have improved

recently and the exchange rate

has gone up.“October and November are

normally difficult for the industry,

so the stockpile tends to go

up,” says Macdonald. “But trade

swings up over Christmas and the

holidays, so it goes down.

“December and January are

good months for sales because

people take time off work, the kids

are off school and people may have

Christmas bonuses or holiday pay.

“It’s a time when Kiwis tend to

make financial decisions, so dealers

need to have plenty of stock to

match demand.“When the market’s down in

Japan, stock is hard to get. When

it’s buoyant, you tend to buy what

you can because you don’t know

what will be available next time.

“Dealers also need to bear in

mind it takes four to six weeks to

get stock from Japan.”

Larger operations, of say 300

units, are more static with their

holding not changing too much.

A drop of 50 units may not be

too drastic. But stock can vary

enormously by proportion on yards

with 30 to 40 cars.

“They can suddenly be selling

without having bought for a few

weeks and being 10-15 units down

makes them more susceptible,”

says Macdonald.

“Dealers then jump online to

buy more from Japan, but that’s

always been the way.

“You can oversupply when

buying conditions are good, but

the marketplace normally corrects

itself by pulling back from Japan or

selling down. The numbers might

drop for a month or two before

trundling up again.

“There’s no magic supply-chain

miracle. When it’s slow, it tends to be

slow for everybody. If you can get

good supply with a good exchange

rate, everyone benefits.”

did come down after the global

financial crisis [GFC].

“Stocking levels then increased

again and they respond to the

number of new vehicles sold and

the rate at which they are sold.

“They basically go up when

sales go up, but I’m not so sure

about the days stock is held for

being longer and can’t explain that.

“Average sales per day came

down during the GFC and before

that they were much higher.”

If 80,000 vehicles are sold one

year and 100,000 are sold the

following year, the average sales

per day should be higher – and

the MIA is expecting more new

vehicles to be sold this year than

during 2012.There were 54,404 sales in 2009,

62,029 in 2010, 64,019 in 2011

and 76,871 in 2012, and the MIA is

predicting about 82,000 passenger

vehicle and SUV sales this year.

“We’re looking at about 30,600

light commercials and we’re on

track for 112,000 or 113,000 new

vehicle sales overall.”

Business confidence being

high and strong regional

economies in Auckland and

Christchurch are boosting sales.

“Trades people are upgrading

their vehicles,” says Crawford.

“Although passenger cars aren’t so

hot, SUVs are.“People in the housing market

are refinancing their mortgages

to buy big-ticket items especially

when they are confident about

keeping their jobs.”

All that said, some of the

regional centres, such as Hawke’s

Bay and Palmerston North, aren’t

showing as much growth as

other centres.“But 80 per cent of New Zealand’s

population is in Auckland and

Christchurch. “If you add in Dunedin and

Wellington, these centres cover a

large proportion of the population

and all have strong economies.”

Year to date, 77,438 new cars

have been imported and 68,612

have been registered to give a

variance of 8,826 so far this year.

Days with stock at hand has

been steadily increasing from 78 in

January to 131 in October.

Last year 90,754 units were

imported and there were 76,871

sales for a variance of 13,883.

Stock levels of new cars have

increased every month

except one this year, with

October’s total of 29,509 being the

highest of 2013.There were 7,962 sales last

month, also this year’s biggest

amount, while the variance was

1,400 with 9,362 units imported –

the second highest amount after

11,065 imports in August.

The total stock figure at the

end of December was 20,683 and

that dropped to this year’s low of

18,653 in January.

David Crawford, chief executive

officer of the Motor Industry

Association (MIA), says current

models aren’t sitting around in

stock for too long.

“The industry tends to manage

stock levels quite well and does this

day in, day out,” he told Autofile.

“My data suggests this is a

cyclical thing and levels were no

higher in previous years, but they

Industry manages levels well

Dealer stock of new cars in New Zealand - Oct 2013

2012 Imported NeW CArS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

MIA stock estimate as at end of December 2011 12,984

Jan ‘12 5,026 7,499 (2,473) 10,511 242 43

Feb ‘12 7,368 5,633 1,735 12,246 223 55

Mar ‘12 7,228 6,499 729 12,975 218 59

Apr ‘12 6,285 5,430 855 13,830 209 66

May ‘12 7,742 5,942 1,800 15,630 205 76

Jun ‘12 8,870 7,142 1,728 17,358 211 82

Jul ‘12 7,894 6,208 1,686 19,044 209 91

Aug ‘12 8,589 5,959 2,630 21,674 207 105

Sep ‘12 6,828 6,637 191 21,865 209 105

Oct ‘12 8,155 7,336 819 22,684 211 107

Nov ‘12 8,953 6,484 2,469 25,153 212 119

Dec ‘12 7,816 6,102 1,714 26,867 211 128

ytd total 90,754 76,871 13,883

2013 Imported NeW CArS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

Total stock at the end of December 2012 26,867

Jan ‘13 5,355 7,385 (2,030) 24,837 238 104

Feb ‘13 7,027 5,799 1,228 26,065 223 117

Mar ‘13 6,329 6,800 (471) 25,594 222 115

Apr ‘13 7,391 5,908 1,483 27,077 216 125

May ‘13 7,429 6,347 1,082 28,159 214 132

Jun ‘13 8,051 7,542 509 28,668 220 130

Jul ‘13 8,423 6,769 1,654 30,322 220 138

Aug ‘13 11,065 6,828 4,237 34,559 220 157

Sep ‘13 7,006 7,272 (266) 34,293 222 154

Oct ‘13 9,362 7,962 1,400 35,693 226 158

Nov ‘13 - - - - - -

Dec ‘13 - - - - - -

ytd total 77,438 68,612 8,826

2013 predicted sales 82,380

Dealer stock of used car imports in New Zealand - Oct 2013

2012 Imported USed ImportS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

Total stock at the end of December 2011 8,579

Jan ‘12 3,191 6,375 (3,184) 5,395 206 26

Feb ‘12 4,920 6,000 (1,080) 4,315 210 21

Mar ‘12 6,504 6,429 75 4,390 209 21

Apr ‘12 6,613 5,877 736 5,126 206 25

May ‘12 7,693 6,793 900 6,026 208 29

Jun ‘12 6,947 6,184 763 6,789 208 33

Jul ‘12 5,335 6,641 (1,306) 5,483 209 26

Aug ‘12 5,540 6,621 (1,081) 4,402 210 21

Sep ‘12 5,506 6,222 (716) 3,686 209 18

Oct ‘12 5,688 6,867 (1,179) 2,507 211 12

Nov ‘12 8,486 7,183 1,303 3,810 213 18

Dec ‘12 6,414 7,119 (705) 3,105 215 14

ytd total 72,837 78,311 (5,474)

2013 Imported USed ImportS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

Total stock at the end of December 2012 3105

Jan ‘13 4,468 7,397 (2,929) 176 239 0.7

Feb ‘13 8,247 6,922 1,325 1,501 243 6

Mar ‘13 8,852 7,581 1,271 2,772 243 11

Apr ‘13 10,539 7,418 3,121 5,893 244 24

May ‘13 10,967 8,460 2,507 8,400 250 34

Jun ‘13 8,089 7,862 227 8,627 252 34

Jul ‘13 8,623 9,629 (1,006) 7,621 261 29

Aug ‘13 8,635 8,648 (13) 7,608 263 29

Sep ‘13 7,501 7,615 (114) 7,494 262 29

Oct ‘13 10,374 8,545 1,829 9,323 263 35

Nov ‘13 - - - - - -

Dec ‘13 - - - - - -

ytd total 86,295 80,077 6,218

2013 predicted sales 96,145

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Days stock in nZ - UseD import cars

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New Passenger Vehicle Sales by Make - November 2013Make Nov '13 Nov '12 +/- % Nov '13

Mkt Share 2013 total 2013 Mkt ShareToyota 1746 1190 46.7 23.4% 14670 19.3%Holden 685 673 1.8 9.2% 8102 10.7%Ford 618 596 3.7 8.3% 6519 8.6%Hyundai 572 624 -8.3 7.7% 6695 8.8%Mazda 512 485 5.6 6.9% 5447 7.2%Nissan 382 281 35.9 5.1% 3342 4.4%Suzuki 376 405 -7.2 5.0% 4436 5.8%Mitsubishi 351 272 29.0 4.7% 3661 4.8%Honda 310 312 -0.6 4.2% 2994 3.9%Volkswagen 288 261 10.3 3.9% 3527 4.6%Kia 202 240 -15.8 2.7% 2563 3.4%BMw 172 178 -3.4 2.3% 1861 2.4%Subaru 165 153 7.8 2.2% 1645 2.2%Audi 163 150 8.7 2.2% 1748 2.3%Mercedes-Benz 128 82 56.1 1.7% 1398 1.8%Peugeot 108 60 80.0 1.4% 1001 1.3%Jeep 92 65 41.5 1.2% 775 1.0%Ssangyong 86 49 75.5 1.2% 724 1.0%Dodge 64 46 39.1 0.9% 478 0.6%Skoda 63 56 12.5 0.8% 654 0.9%Lexus 54 44 22.7 0.7% 508 0.7%Land Rover 51 22 131.8 0.7% 443 0.6%Mini 44 43 2.3 0.6% 474 0.6%Chery 34 21 61.9 0.5% 351 0.5%Alfa Romeo 24 31 -22.6 0.3% 182 0.2%Great wall 23 38 -39.5 0.3% 211 0.3%Fiat 21 2 950.0 0.3% 142 0.2%Renault 21 8 162.5 0.3% 98 0.1%Volvo 18 19 -5.3 0.2% 229 0.3%Porsche 13 11 18.2 0.2% 182 0.2%Citroen 12 16 -25.0 0.2% 286 0.4%Jaguar 12 5 140.0 0.2% 128 0.2%Chrysler 10 13 -23.1 0.1% 120 0.2%Can-Am 9 6 50.0 0.1% 75 0.1%Daihatsu 6 19 -68.4 0.1% 258 0.3%Aston Martin 4 1 300.0 0.1% 25 0.0%Maserati 4 2 100.0 0.1% 14 0.0%Mahindra 3 - - 0.0% 6 0.0%MG 2 0 200.0 0.0% 12 0.0%Chrysler Jeep 1 - - 0.0% 1 0.0%Mclaren 1 0 100.0 0.0% 6 0.0%Others 3 5 -40.0 0.0% 71 0.1%total 7453 6484 14.9 100.0% 76062 100.0%

New Passenger Vehicle Sales by Model - November 2013Make Model Nov '13 Nov '12 +/- % Nov Mkt

Share2013

total2013 Mkt

ShareToyota Corolla 626 462 35.5 8.4% 5283 6.9%Toyota RAV4 289 80 261.3 3.9% 2521 3.3%Holden Commodore 260 171 52.0 3.5% 2399 3.2%Mazda Cx-5 239 141 69.5 3.2% 1989 2.6%Toyota yaris 227 267 -15.0 3.0% 2235 2.9%Suzuki Swift 218 254 -14.2 2.9% 2750 3.6%Ford Mondeo 184 98 87.8 2.5% 1201 1.6%Hyundai ix35 168 81 107.4 2.3% 1338 1.8%Mitsubishi Lancer 168 84 100.0 2.3% 894 1.2%Toyota Camry 168 131 28.2 2.3% 1270 1.7%Holden Captiva 135 319 -57.7 1.8% 2039 2.7%Volkswagen Golf 134 103 30.1 1.8% 1469 1.9%Toyota Highlander 118 79 49.4 1.6% 1092 1.4%Ford Focus 114 212 -46.2 1.5% 1429 1.9%Honda Jazz 113 76 48.7 1.5% 922 1.2%Ford Kuga 112 18 522.2 1.5% 952 1.3%Mazda Mazda3 109 151 -27.8 1.5% 1537 2.0%Toyota Aurion 107 23 365.2 1.4% 447 0.6%Holden Cruze 106 80 32.5 1.4% 1925 2.5%Hyundai Santa Fe 103 261 -60.5 1.4% 1847 2.4%Honda Civic 100 115 -13.0 1.3% 852 1.1%Mitsubishi Outlander 97 118 -17.8 1.3% 1258 1.7%Hyundai i30 95 103 -7.8 1.3% 1255 1.6%Nissan Qashqai 93 106 -12.3 1.2% 884 1.2%Toyota Landcruiser Prado 87 38 128.9 1.2% 557 0.7%Nissan x-Trail 86 52 65.4 1.2% 779 1.0%Ford Territory 83 137 -39.4 1.1% 1188 1.6%Volkswagen Tiguan 78 53 47.2 1.0% 689 0.9%Hyundai Accent 77 29 165.5 1.0% 572 0.8%Honda CRV 71 82 -13.4 1.0% 793 1.0%Mazda Mazda6 70 82 -14.6 0.9% 960 1.3%Mazda Mazda2 66 77 -14.3 0.9% 712 0.9%Ford Falcon 65 45 44.4 0.9% 835 1.1%Nissan Pathfinder 65 7 828.6 0.9% 191 0.3%Dodge Journey 64 46 39.1 0.9% 476 0.6%Jeep Grand Cherokee 64 39 64.1 0.9% 502 0.7%Ssangyong Korando 63 36 75.0 0.8% 480 0.6%Ford Fiesta 60 85 -29.4 0.8% 892 1.2%Bmw 116i 59 13 353.8 0.8% 378 0.5%Holden Malibu 58 - - 0.8% 334 0.4%Others2254 2130 5.8 30.2% 25936 34.1%total7453 6484 14.9 100.0% 76062 100.0%

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850 wds

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New Passenger registrations - 2012-2013

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BackgroundTanaya Stack purchased a 2005 Toyota RAV4 sight unseen from Greg Weeks Motors Ltd for $15,990 on June 18, 2013.

She rejected it under the Consumer Guarantees Act (CGA) because the motor seized when she first drove it.

The buyer wanted to recover the purchase price and salvage costs of $182.

The trader said the engine seized because it was starved of oil due to insufficient oil pressure.

It claimed Stack should have stopped driving when the warning light came to avoid the damage being cause.

The caseStack, of Christchurch, agreed to buy the car without having it inspected when its odometer was on 116,280. The price included delivery and she received it on June 28.

She had another vehicle and didn’t drive the RAV4 until 2am on July 5 when she went to work. After starting it, the oil warning light flickered on and off.

Stack checked the oil level, which was correct, drove to a service station and told the attendant about the light.

The attendant checked its level, which was satisfactory, and told her the light was probably caused by a faulty oil sensor unit or lamp.

Stack drove to Timaru. When she reached Dunsandle, about 40km from Christchurch, the engine stopped and warning lights came on.

She called Mr K Weeks, the trader’s director, and he told her to have the car towed to Christchurch.

Miles Toyota took it to its

workshop. It removed the rocker cover and reported “the engine had been run with low oil causing exhaust camshaft failure and seizing”.

It noted: “Engine has a bad oil sludge build-up consistent with a lack of servicing.”

Mr Monk, service manager, told the tribunal the build-up was inconsistent with the car having only missed one or two services.

He believed it had been driven for thousands of kilometres without being serviced.

Although the engine hadn’t been stripped to diagnose the failure, he thought the car lacked oil pressure causing one of the cams to seize.

Monk said it was almost impossible to remove oil sludge build-up from an engine.

Even if the sump is removed and water-blasted or petrol-flushed, particles are “stirred up” and get into the engine to contaminate critical components, such as the oil galleries, pump and pick-up.

Miles Toyota estimated $5,724 to supply and fit a second-hand engine.

Monk sent some photos of the engine to the tribunal shortly after the hearing. Copies of them, which were sent to the trader, showed it been affected by sludge indicating a lack of servicing.

The assessor considered the photos showed an engine that suffered a significant lack of oil and filter changes over a long period evidenced by a build-up of contamination of upper-engine parts.

There was varnishing of the camshaft lobes and camshaft journal bolts were largely obscured with sludge.

The trader believed Stack failed to exercise the care of a reasonable

consumer by driving after the oil light lit up. If she had called when it came on, the damage could have been avoided.

Weeks offered to replace the engine if Stack paid the labour, but she wanted the trader to pay the full cost.

He produced an unsigned letter from England Automotive, of Auckland, which apparently hadn’t seen the engine.

It claimed sludge alone wouldn’t make an engine seize and the car should have been stopped when the oil light came on.

The problem might have been an easy fix by flushing the oil, cleaning the pick-up and filling up.

Under the Motor Vehicle Sales Act, the tribunal can accept evidence or information whether or not it would normally be admissible in a court of law.

But it was unwilling to accept as evidence an unsigned letter from a mechanic who hadn’t seen the extent of the build-up.

The rulingIn deciding if the car complied with the CGA’s guarantee of acceptable quality, the tribunal considered its age, mileage and price.

It also took into account that the engine failed on the first day the buyer used it and it seized within about 90km of supply.

The tribunal considered no reasonable consumer would regard the car as fit for purpose, free of minor defects or durable.

It had to consider if the car was driven in a way consistent with the use of it by a reasonable consumer.

The trader’s defence was the buyer used the car in an unreasonable way by driving it

The case: A second-hand car

was bought sight unseen before

its engine seized on the first day it

was driven by the buyer. The trader

claimed the purchaser should have

stopped when a warning light came

on to avoid damage being caused.

The decision: The rejection

was upheld. The tribunal ruled the

failure was of substantial character

and the vehicle wasn’t fit for purpose.

At: The Motor Vehicle Disputes

Tribunal, Auckland.

after the oil warning light came on. The tribunal thought if the

buyer hadn’t checked the oil level and taken it to a service station, there would be grounds for misuse.

Stack’s evidence was accepted because she appeared to be a credible witness.

In the assessor’s experience, the failure of an oil sender unit occurs more frequently than an oil-pressure issue caused by sludge build-up.

The tribunal ruled the vehicle failed to comply with the guarantee of acceptable quality.

Its defect and lack of durability caused the engine to seize, which was a failure of substantial character.

Stack emailed the trader on July 9 rejecting the vehicle and her grounds for doing so within 11 days of supply, which was well within a reasonable time.

The trader had to refund Stack the purchase price and pay her $182 for the car to be salvaged.

The vehicle couldn’t be returned without major cost to the buyer, so the trader had to collect it from Miles Toyota in Christchurch at its expense.

OrdersThe rejection was upheld. The trader was ordered pay the buyer $16,172 and collect the car from Miles Toyota.

engine seized on vehicle’s first day of use after being bought sight unseen

disputes

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Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua Gisborne Napier New Plymouth Wanganui Palmerston North Masterton Wellington Nelson Blenheim Greymouth Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua Gisborne

Napier New Plymouth Wanganui Palmerston North Masterton Wellington Nelson Blenheim Greymouth Westport Christchurch Timaru Oamaru Dunedin

Invercargill Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua Gisborne Napier New Plymouth

Wanganui Palmerston North Masterton Wellington Nelson Blenheim Greymouth Whangarei Auckland Hamilton Thames Tauranga Rotorua

Ar

ou

n d t h e c ou nt

ry

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Biggest increases/Decreases By town year-on-year

(OctOber 2013 vs OctOber 2012)

Biggest increases new Used

westport  100.0% Blenheim  95.5% thames  51.2% nelson  64.9% napier  34.1% rotorua  52.0%

Biggest decreases new Used

wanganui  27.7% westport  41.7% gisborne  26.8% Masterton  20.0% timaru  23.7% timaru  12.4%

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Used Vehicle RegistRatiOnsNorth IslaNd versus south IslaNd

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Used imPORt PassengeR Vehicle RegistRatiOns by city

october 2013

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Annual high for stockpileThe amount of stock held

by used car dealers during

October was the highest

monthly total of the year.

There were 10,374 units

imported last month with a

variance of 1,829 on 8,545 sales.

The number of cars in stock

amounted to 9,323 compared to

7,494 in September.

There have been two other

major increases during 2013 – with

variances between imports and sales

of 3,121 in April and 2,507 in May.

Graeme Macdonald, chairman

of the North Island branch of the

Imported Motor Vehicle Industry

Association, says the current

stockpile should correct itself – as it

normally does.“If the monthly stockpile was

10,000 on a regular basis it means

there are solid holding numbers,”

he told Autofile. “North of that

and we would be looking at an

oversupply issue.

“There was good buying in Japan

in March, and we saw high arrival

numbers in April, May and June.

“The stockpile occurs more at

certain times of the year. Since

I came back into the industry in

1996, it has ebbed and flowed.”

Used car stock levels are

traditionally based on what’s

happening in Japan and what

consumers are buying here.

Conditions there have improved

recently and the exchange rate

has gone up.“October and November are

normally difficult for the industry,

so the stockpile tends to go

up,” says Macdonald. “But trade

swings up over Christmas and the

holidays, so it goes down.

“December and January are

good months for sales because

people take time off work, the kids

are off school and people may have

Christmas bonuses or holiday pay.

“It’s a time when Kiwis tend to

make financial decisions, so dealers

need to have plenty of stock to

match demand.“When the market’s down in

Japan, stock is hard to get. When

it’s buoyant, you tend to buy what

you can because you don’t know

what will be available next time.

“Dealers also need to bear in

mind it takes four to six weeks to

get stock from Japan.”

Larger operations, of say 300

units, are more static with their

holding not changing too much.

A drop of 50 units may not be

too drastic. But stock can vary

enormously by proportion on yards

with 30 to 40 cars.

“They can suddenly be selling

without having bought for a few

weeks and being 10-15 units down

makes them more susceptible,”

says Macdonald.

“Dealers then jump online to

buy more from Japan, but that’s

always been the way.

“You can oversupply when

buying conditions are good, but

the marketplace normally corrects

itself by pulling back from Japan or

selling down. The numbers might

drop for a month or two before

trundling up again.

“There’s no magic supply-chain

miracle. When it’s slow, it tends to be

slow for everybody. If you can get

good supply with a good exchange

rate, everyone benefits.”

did come down after the global

financial crisis [GFC].

“Stocking levels then increased

again and they respond to the

number of new vehicles sold and

the rate at which they are sold.

“They basically go up when

sales go up, but I’m not so sure

about the days stock is held for

being longer and can’t explain that.

“Average sales per day came

down during the GFC and before

that they were much higher.”

If 80,000 vehicles are sold one

year and 100,000 are sold the

following year, the average sales

per day should be higher – and

the MIA is expecting more new

vehicles to be sold this year than

during 2012.There were 54,404 sales in 2009,

62,029 in 2010, 64,019 in 2011

and 76,871 in 2012, and the MIA is

predicting about 82,000 passenger

vehicle and SUV sales this year.

“We’re looking at about 30,600

light commercials and we’re on

track for 112,000 or 113,000 new

vehicle sales overall.”

Business confidence being

high and strong regional

economies in Auckland and

Christchurch are boosting sales.

“Trades people are upgrading

their vehicles,” says Crawford.

“Although passenger cars aren’t so

hot, SUVs are.“People in the housing market

are refinancing their mortgages

to buy big-ticket items especially

when they are confident about

keeping their jobs.”

All that said, some of the

regional centres, such as Hawke’s

Bay and Palmerston North, aren’t

showing as much growth as

other centres.“But 80 per cent of New Zealand’s

population is in Auckland and

Christchurch. “If you add in Dunedin and

Wellington, these centres cover a

large proportion of the population

and all have strong economies.”

Year to date, 77,438 new cars

have been imported and 68,612

have been registered to give a

variance of 8,826 so far this year.

Days with stock at hand has

been steadily increasing from 78 in

January to 131 in October.

Last year 90,754 units were

imported and there were 76,871

sales for a variance of 13,883.

Stock levels of new cars have

increased every month

except one this year, with

October’s total of 29,509 being the

highest of 2013.There were 7,962 sales last

month, also this year’s biggest

amount, while the variance was

1,400 with 9,362 units imported –

the second highest amount after

11,065 imports in August.

The total stock figure at the

end of December was 20,683 and

that dropped to this year’s low of

18,653 in January.

David Crawford, chief executive

officer of the Motor Industry

Association (MIA), says current

models aren’t sitting around in

stock for too long.

“The industry tends to manage

stock levels quite well and does this

day in, day out,” he told Autofile.

“My data suggests this is a

cyclical thing and levels were no

higher in previous years, but they

Industry manages levels well

Dealer stock of new cars in New Zealand - Oct 2013

2012 Imported NeW CArS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

MIA stock estimate as at end of December 2011 12,984

Jan ‘12 5,026 7,499 (2,473) 10,511 242 43

Feb ‘12 7,368 5,633 1,735 12,246 223 55

Mar ‘12 7,228 6,499 729 12,975 218 59

Apr ‘12 6,285 5,430 855 13,830 209 66

May ‘12 7,742 5,942 1,800 15,630 205 76

Jun ‘12 8,870 7,142 1,728 17,358 211 82

Jul ‘12 7,894 6,208 1,686 19,044 209 91

Aug ‘12 8,589 5,959 2,630 21,674 207 105

Sep ‘12 6,828 6,637 191 21,865 209 105

Oct ‘12 8,155 7,336 819 22,684 211 107

Nov ‘12 8,953 6,484 2,469 25,153 212 119

Dec ‘12 7,816 6,102 1,714 26,867 211 128

ytd total 90,754 76,871 13,883

2013 Imported NeW CArS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

Total stock at the end of December 2012 26,867

Jan ‘13 5,355 7,385 (2,030) 24,837 238 104

Feb ‘13 7,027 5,799 1,228 26,065 223 117

Mar ‘13 6,329 6,800 (471) 25,594 222 115

Apr ‘13 7,391 5,908 1,483 27,077 216 125

May ‘13 7,429 6,347 1,082 28,159 214 132

Jun ‘13 8,051 7,542 509 28,668 220 130

Jul ‘13 8,423 6,769 1,654 30,322 220 138

Aug ‘13 11,065 6,828 4,237 34,559 220 157

Sep ‘13 7,006 7,272 (266) 34,293 222 154

Oct ‘13 9,362 7,962 1,400 35,693 226 158

Nov ‘13 - - - - - -

Dec ‘13 - - - - - -

ytd total 77,438 68,612 8,826

2013 predicted sales 82,380

Dealer stock of used car imports in New Zealand - Oct 2013

2012 Imported USed ImportS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

Total stock at the end of December 2011 8,579

Jan ‘12 3,191 6,375 (3,184) 5,395 206 26

Feb ‘12 4,920 6,000 (1,080) 4,315 210 21

Mar ‘12 6,504 6,429 75 4,390 209 21

Apr ‘12 6,613 5,877 736 5,126 206 25

May ‘12 7,693 6,793 900 6,026 208 29

Jun ‘12 6,947 6,184 763 6,789 208 33

Jul ‘12 5,335 6,641 (1,306) 5,483 209 26

Aug ‘12 5,540 6,621 (1,081) 4,402 210 21

Sep ‘12 5,506 6,222 (716) 3,686 209 18

Oct ‘12 5,688 6,867 (1,179) 2,507 211 12

Nov ‘12 8,486 7,183 1,303 3,810 213 18

Dec ‘12 6,414 7,119 (705) 3,105 215 14

ytd total 72,837 78,311 (5,474)

2013 Imported USed ImportS SoLd VArIANCe StoCk

AVerAge SALeS per dAy - ytd

dAyS StoCk

At hANd

Total stock at the end of December 2012 3105

Jan ‘13 4,468 7,397 (2,929) 176 239 0.7

Feb ‘13 8,247 6,922 1,325 1,501 243 6

Mar ‘13 8,852 7,581 1,271 2,772 243 11

Apr ‘13 10,539 7,418 3,121 5,893 244 24

May ‘13 10,967 8,460 2,507 8,400 250 34

Jun ‘13 8,089 7,862 227 8,627 252 34

Jul ‘13 8,623 9,629 (1,006) 7,621 261 29

Aug ‘13 8,635 8,648 (13) 7,608 263 29

Sep ‘13 7,501 7,615 (114) 7,494 262 29

Oct ‘13 10,374 8,545 1,829 9,323 263 35

Nov ‘13 - - - - - -

Dec ‘13 - - - - - -

ytd total 86,295 80,077 6,218

2013 predicted sales 96,145

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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SPONSORSHIP OF THE NEW AND USED COMMERCIAL STATISTICS

PAGES IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR BUSINESSTARGETED ADVERTISING SPACE

SHOULDN’T WE BE LOOKING AT YOUR BUSINESS? For all enquiries contact Brian on 021 455 775 or email brian@autofi le.co.nz

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New Passenger Vehicle Sales by Make - November 2013Make Nov '13 Nov '12 +/- % Nov '13

Mkt Share 2013 total 2013 Mkt ShareToyota 1746 1190 46.7 23.4% 14670 19.3%Holden 685 673 1.8 9.2% 8102 10.7%Ford 618 596 3.7 8.3% 6519 8.6%Hyundai 572 624 -8.3 7.7% 6695 8.8%Mazda 512 485 5.6 6.9% 5447 7.2%Nissan 382 281 35.9 5.1% 3342 4.4%Suzuki 376 405 -7.2 5.0% 4436 5.8%Mitsubishi 351 272 29.0 4.7% 3661 4.8%Honda 310 312 -0.6 4.2% 2994 3.9%Volkswagen 288 261 10.3 3.9% 3527 4.6%Kia 202 240 -15.8 2.7% 2563 3.4%BMw 172 178 -3.4 2.3% 1861 2.4%Subaru 165 153 7.8 2.2% 1645 2.2%Audi 163 150 8.7 2.2% 1748 2.3%Mercedes-Benz 128 82 56.1 1.7% 1398 1.8%Peugeot 108 60 80.0 1.4% 1001 1.3%Jeep 92 65 41.5 1.2% 775 1.0%Ssangyong 86 49 75.5 1.2% 724 1.0%Dodge 64 46 39.1 0.9% 478 0.6%Skoda 63 56 12.5 0.8% 654 0.9%Lexus 54 44 22.7 0.7% 508 0.7%Land Rover 51 22 131.8 0.7% 443 0.6%Mini 44 43 2.3 0.6% 474 0.6%Chery 34 21 61.9 0.5% 351 0.5%Alfa Romeo 24 31 -22.6 0.3% 182 0.2%Great wall 23 38 -39.5 0.3% 211 0.3%Fiat 21 2 950.0 0.3% 142 0.2%Renault 21 8 162.5 0.3% 98 0.1%Volvo 18 19 -5.3 0.2% 229 0.3%Porsche 13 11 18.2 0.2% 182 0.2%Citroen 12 16 -25.0 0.2% 286 0.4%Jaguar 12 5 140.0 0.2% 128 0.2%Chrysler 10 13 -23.1 0.1% 120 0.2%Can-Am 9 6 50.0 0.1% 75 0.1%Daihatsu 6 19 -68.4 0.1% 258 0.3%Aston Martin 4 1 300.0 0.1% 25 0.0%Maserati 4 2 100.0 0.1% 14 0.0%Mahindra 3 - - 0.0% 6 0.0%MG 2 0 200.0 0.0% 12 0.0%Chrysler Jeep 1 - - 0.0% 1 0.0%Mclaren 1 0 100.0 0.0% 6 0.0%Others 3 5 -40.0 0.0% 71 0.1%total 7453 6484 14.9 100.0% 76062 100.0%

New Passenger Vehicle Sales by Model - November 2013Make Model Nov '13 Nov '12 +/- % Nov Mkt

Share2013

total2013 Mkt

ShareToyota Corolla 626 462 35.5 8.4% 5283 6.9%Toyota RAV4 289 80 261.3 3.9% 2521 3.3%Holden Commodore 260 171 52.0 3.5% 2399 3.2%Mazda Cx-5 239 141 69.5 3.2% 1989 2.6%Toyota yaris 227 267 -15.0 3.0% 2235 2.9%Suzuki Swift 218 254 -14.2 2.9% 2750 3.6%Ford Mondeo 184 98 87.8 2.5% 1201 1.6%Hyundai ix35 168 81 107.4 2.3% 1338 1.8%Mitsubishi Lancer 168 84 100.0 2.3% 894 1.2%Toyota Camry 168 131 28.2 2.3% 1270 1.7%Holden Captiva 135 319 -57.7 1.8% 2039 2.7%Volkswagen Golf 134 103 30.1 1.8% 1469 1.9%Toyota Highlander 118 79 49.4 1.6% 1092 1.4%Ford Focus 114 212 -46.2 1.5% 1429 1.9%Honda Jazz 113 76 48.7 1.5% 922 1.2%Ford Kuga 112 18 522.2 1.5% 952 1.3%Mazda Mazda3 109 151 -27.8 1.5% 1537 2.0%Toyota Aurion 107 23 365.2 1.4% 447 0.6%Holden Cruze 106 80 32.5 1.4% 1925 2.5%Hyundai Santa Fe 103 261 -60.5 1.4% 1847 2.4%Honda Civic 100 115 -13.0 1.3% 852 1.1%Mitsubishi Outlander 97 118 -17.8 1.3% 1258 1.7%Hyundai i30 95 103 -7.8 1.3% 1255 1.6%Nissan Qashqai 93 106 -12.3 1.2% 884 1.2%Toyota Landcruiser Prado 87 38 128.9 1.2% 557 0.7%Nissan x-Trail 86 52 65.4 1.2% 779 1.0%Ford Territory 83 137 -39.4 1.1% 1188 1.6%Volkswagen Tiguan 78 53 47.2 1.0% 689 0.9%Hyundai Accent 77 29 165.5 1.0% 572 0.8%Honda CRV 71 82 -13.4 1.0% 793 1.0%Mazda Mazda6 70 82 -14.6 0.9% 960 1.3%Mazda Mazda2 66 77 -14.3 0.9% 712 0.9%Ford Falcon 65 45 44.4 0.9% 835 1.1%Nissan Pathfinder 65 7 828.6 0.9% 191 0.3%Dodge Journey 64 46 39.1 0.9% 476 0.6%Jeep Grand Cherokee 64 39 64.1 0.9% 502 0.7%Ssangyong Korando 63 36 75.0 0.8% 480 0.6%Ford Fiesta 60 85 -29.4 0.8% 892 1.2%Bmw 116i 59 13 353.8 0.8% 378 0.5%Holden Malibu 58 - - 0.8% 334 0.4%Others2254 2130 5.8 30.2% 25936 34.1%total7453 6484 14.9 100.0% 76062 100.0%

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New Passenger registrations - 2012-2013

AUTOFILE.CO.NZ - made for dealers Register now at www.autofi le.co.nz for INSIGHT EXTENDED INDUSTRY ANALYSIS ONLINE

Total New Cars 63712012: 6102  4.4%

Total Used Cars 95342012: 7119  33.9%

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YOUR FIRST CHOICE IN SHIPPING

TWO SAILINGS PER MONTH JAPAN TO NZ

Port CallsMorning Miracle

V6Liberty

V2Sepang Express

V11Morning Miracle

V7

Osaka 28 Dec 16 Jan 29 Jan 16 Feb

Nagoya 29 Dec 17 Jan 30 Jan 17 Feb

Yokohama 30 Dec 18 Jan 31 Jan 18 Feb

Auckland 16 Jan 5 Feb 17 Feb 8 Mar

Wellington 23 Jan 9 Feb 24 Feb 15 Mar

Lyttelton 7 Feb 7 Feb 22 Feb 22 Mar

LATEST SCHEDULE

PORT TO DOOR SERVICEINCLUDING:

MPI Border inspection Odometer certifi cation Digital Photography for prior sales in NZ NZ Customs clearance Delivery Nationwide Insurance

GENEROUS REWARDS PROGRAMMEShip your motor vehicles on Armacup vessels and you can earn seamiles points for air travel (only applicable to used imports)

ThamesNEW: 56 2012: 29  93.1%USED: 53 2012: 33  60.6%

TaurangaNEW: 229 2012: 180  27.2%USED: 319 2012: 284  12.3%

GisborneNEW: 22 2012: 34  35.3%USED: 54 2012: 34  58.8%

MastertonNEW: 42 2012: 29  44.8%USED: 42 2012: 30  40.0%

BlenheimNEW: 55 2012: 39  41.0%USED: 37 2012: 27  37.0%

TimaruNEW: 50 2012: 44  13.6%USED: 73 2012: 64  14.1%

DunedinNEW: 161 2012: 140  15.0%USED: 250 2012: 174  43.7%

RotoruaNEW: 51 2012: 46  10.9%USED: 80 2012: 61  31.1%

NapierNEW: 126 2012: 118  6.8%USED: 162 2012: 120  35.0%

WellingtonNEW: 465 2012: 429  8.4%USED: 757 2012: 537  41.0%

ChristchurchNEW: 1213 2012: 1396  13.1%USED: 1399 2012: 1025  36.5%

OamaruNEW: 13 2012: 14  7.1%USED: 15 2012: 15  0%

InvercargillNEW: 79 2012: 64  23.4%USED: 92 2012: 74  24.3%

WhangareiNEW: 122 2012: 91  34.1%

USED: 175 2012: 92  90.2%

WanganuiNEW: 37 2012: 63  41.3%

USED: 71 2012: 39  82.1%

HamiltonNEW: 323 2012: 265  21.9%USED: 585 2012: 386  51.6%

NelsonNEW: 75 2012: 60  25.0%

USED: 163 2012: 104  56.7%

AucklandNEW: 2981 2012: 2705  10.2%

USED: 4767 2012: 3729  27.8%

Palmerston NorthNEW: 158 2012: 243  35.0%

USED: 247 2012: 146  69.2%

New PlymouthNEW: 99 2012: 96  3.1%

USED: 162 2012: 123  31.7%

WestportNEW: 2 2012: 3  33.3%

USED: 3 2012: 2  50.0%

GreymouthNEW: 12 2012: 14  14.3%

USED: 28 2012: 20  40.0%

www.autofile.co.nz | 25

PHONE 0800 ARMACUP (276 2287) or 09 303 3314EMAIL enquiries@armacup.com

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YOUR FIRST CHOICE IN SHIPPING

TWO SAILINGS PER MONTH JAPAN TO NZ

Port CallsMorning Miracle

V6Liberty

V2Sepang Express

V11Morning Miracle

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Osaka 28 Dec 16 Jan 29 Jan 16 Feb

Nagoya 29 Dec 17 Jan 30 Jan 17 Feb

Yokohama 30 Dec 18 Jan 31 Jan 18 Feb

Auckland 16 Jan 5 Feb 17 Feb 8 Mar

Wellington 23 Jan 9 Feb 24 Feb 15 Mar

Lyttelton 7 Feb 7 Feb 22 Feb 22 Mar

LATEST SCHEDULE

PORT TO DOOR SERVICEINCLUDING:

MPI Border inspection Odometer certifi cation Digital Photography for prior sales in NZ NZ Customs clearance Delivery Nationwide Insurance

GENEROUS REWARDS PROGRAMMEShip your motor vehicles on Armacup vessels and you can earn seamiles points for air travel (only applicable to used imports)

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Imported Passenger Vehicle Sales by Make - December 2013

MAKe DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC '13 MKT SHARe 2013 TOTAL 2013 MKT

SHARe

Toyota 2261 1853 22.0 23.7% 24450 24.7%

Nissan 1925 1550 24.2 20.2% 17923 18.1%

Mazda 1712 1143 49.8 18.0% 16990 17.2%

Honda 890 679 31.1 9.3% 10141 10.2%

Suzuki 493 312 58.0 5.2% 5354 5.4%

Subaru 372 326 14.1 3.9% 4347 4.4%

Mitsubishi 358 289 23.9 3.8% 4371 4.4%

Volkswagen 327 209 56.5 3.4% 3348 3.4%

BMW 282 164 72.0 3.0% 3109 3.1%

Audi 205 129 58.9 2.2% 1962 2.0%

Mercedes-Benz 146 66 121.2 1.5% 1525 1.5%

Ford 137 80 71.3 1.4% 1257 1.3%

Chevrolet 62 46 34.8 0.7% 676 0.7%

Volvo 57 17 235.3 0.6% 543 0.5%

Land Rover 30 33 -9.1 0.3% 347 0.4%

Lexus 29 10 190.0 0.3% 199 0.2%

Holden 28 17 64.7 0.3% 209 0.2%

Jaguar 24 25 -4.0 0.3% 325 0.3%

Mini 24 17 41.2 0.3% 186 0.2%

Daihatsu 18 16 12.5 0.2% 188 0.2%

Hyundai 18 19 -5.3 0.2% 174 0.2%

Dodge 16 9 77.8 0.2% 125 0.1%

Morgan 15 1 1400.0 0.2% 16 0.0%

Peugeot 9 8 12.5 0.1% 129 0.1%

Porsche 8 14 -42.9 0.1% 136 0.1%

Jeep 6 3 100.0 0.1% 65 0.1%

Renault 6 7 -14.3 0.1% 82 0.1%

Chrysler 5 8 -37.5 0.1% 79 0.1%

Maserati 5 2 150.0 0.1% 23 0.0%

Bentley 4 17 -76.5 0.0% 50 0.1%

Citroen 4 2 100.0 0.0% 27 0.0%

Ferrari 4 3 33.3 0.0% 28 0.0%

Smart 4 1 300.0 0.0% 23 0.0%

Alfa Romeo 3 4 -25.0 0.0% 35 0.0%

Cadillac 3 2 50.0 0.0% 34 0.0%

Others 44 38 15.8 0.5% 495 0.5%

Total 9534 7119 33.9 100.0% 98971 100.0%

Imported Passenger Vehicle Sales by Model - December 2013

MAKe MODeL DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC MKT SHARe

2013 TOTAL

2013 MKT SHARe

Nissan Tiida 546 554 -1.4 5.7% 4651 4.7%

Mazda Demio 499 294 69.7 5.2% 4751 4.8%

Suzuki Swift 428 257 66.5 4.5% 4497 4.5%

Mazda Axela 405 294 37.8 4.2% 4310 4.4%

Honda Fit 291 154 89.0 3.1% 3261 3.3%

Mazda Atenza 254 190 33.7 2.7% 2741 2.8%

Toyota Wish 253 171 48.0 2.7% 2428 2.5%

Toyota Corolla 249 259 -3.9 2.6% 3246 3.3%

Mazda MPV 236 167 41.3 2.5% 2291 2.3%

Toyota Vitz 227 179 26.8 2.4% 2486 2.5%

Subaru Legacy 212 206 2.9 2.2% 2619 2.6%

Volkswagen Golf 199 123 61.8 2.1% 1928 1.9%

Nissan March 192 110 74.5 2.0% 1760 1.8%

Nissan Note 185 137 35.0 1.9% 1575 1.6%

Toyota Estima 170 177 -4.0 1.8% 1537 1.6%

Honda Odyssey 155 137 13.1 1.6% 1597 1.6%

Mitsubishi Outlander 137 96 42.7 1.4% 1650 1.7%

Nissan Presage 134 96 39.6 1.4% 1085 1.1%

Mazda Premacy 133 89 49.4 1.4% 1222 1.2%

Nissan Bluebird 132 118 11.9 1.4% 1695 1.7%

Toyota Ist 131 121 8.3 1.4% 1834 1.9%

Nissan Teana 127 91 39.6 1.3% 1124 1.1%

Toyota Avensis 109 73 49.3 1.1% 1102 1.1%

Honda Accord 98 89 10.1 1.0% 1233 1.2%

Honda Stream 98 74 32.4 1.0% 1058 1.1%

Mitsubishi Colt 98 89 10.1 1.0% 1251 1.3%

Toyota Caldina 93 86 8.1 1.0% 955 1.0%

Toyota Blade 90 57 57.9 0.9% 736 0.7%

Nissan Murano 89 30 196.7 0.9% 669 0.7%

Toyota Auris 84 71 18.3 0.9% 1030 1.0%

Toyota Passo 82 37 121.6 0.9% 615 0.6%

Nissan Wingroad 79 90 -12.2 0.8% 1073 1.1%

Mazda Verisa 78 41 90.2 0.8% 656 0.7%

Toyota Ipsum 71 96 -26.0 0.7% 966 1.0%

Subaru Outback 70 45 55.6 0.7% 663 0.7%

Others 3100 2221 39.6 32.5% 32676 33.0%

Total 9534 7119 33.9 100.0% 98971 100.0%

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www.autofile.co.nz | 27

Small cars take out top threeOnly 441 sales separated

the four most popular used imported passenger

vehicles in 2013, with three being in the small segment.

Mazda’s Demio came top of the podium with 4,751 units and a market share of 4.8 per cent – 100 ahead of the Nissan Tiida, which took 4.7 per cent of the total.

Suzuki’s Swift was third on 4,497 and 4.5 per cent with Mazda’s Axela securing 4.4 per cent with 4,310 sales.

There were 98,971 used passenger imports sold in 2013, up by 20,660 units – or 26 per cent – on 2012.

And last year finished with a flurry of activity. There were 9,534 sales in December, up by 34 per cent on 7,199 units in the same month of 2012.

Rod Milner, of Rod Milner Motors in the Greenlane, Auckland, says business has been strong across all segments but trade-ins are down with some buyers handing their vehicles onto family members.

“We’re not being rushed off our feet, weekends are quiet and during the week it’s steady.”

Milner is looking forward to a strong 2014 and is experiencing no problems sourcing stock locally or from Japan.

“I think it could be bigger because there has been such a vacuum to fill with people having to replace their cars and more confidence in the market.

“They haven’t been spending, they have been saving with people paying with cheques.”

He says buyers are smiling again and there’s a more positive sentiment in the air.

“The only thing that could shift the market is increasing interest rates. The interest rate I had to pay when I first started this business was 35 per cent and

I couldn’t afford to do that now.” Milner says many people have

been increasing their mortgages to buy vehicles, but if interest rates go up he believes they will hold back from doing this.

The strong New Zealand dollar also means the quality of used vehicles being imported is improving.

“We’re buying cars we normally might not be able to. Instead of buying a 2004 model, we might be able to buy a 2006 or 2007 – and we know they will sell quicker.”

As far as issues facing the industry are concerned, Milner doesn’t support the mandatory

introduction of electronic stability control (ESC) on used imports.

He believes this will distort the market and force some buyers to stay in their older and more unsafe vehicles, instead of upgrading to a vehicle with ESC because they are out of their price ranges.

Allan Patterson, of Derwent Car Sales in Oamaru, says trade during 2013 was patchy.

“You have a good run and you think everything is going well, but then it stops again,” he says. “It’s just the way the market is.”

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Stock that has been selling well includes the Tiida and Nissan’s luxury mid-size Teana.

“We keep a fair mixture, not so much commercial stuff though,” says Patterson. “You are best to concentrate at what your best at doing. Ford and General Motors have the commercial market covered down here.

“When the yen was low, cars were dearer to buy. The yen’s now in our favour and stock’s easy to get.

“You’ve got to bid on the right stuff though. You might bid on quite a few cars before you get what you want. There’s no sense in

bidding on something because it’s cheap, you buy to suit your market.”

Patterson says there has been talk about 2014 being a great year on the currency front and “there are a lot of cars on the roads – they have to wear out sooner than later”.

Many sheep farmers around the Oamaru region have been making the conversion to dairy.

“The dairy industry started here about 10 years ago and there are new conversions going on all over the place,” he says.

“Our local economy is usually

fairly steady and Oamaru is quite a positive town.”

Patterson put in the hard yards over Christmas because the town gets a bit quiet after the festive season. “I like working through that period because people are a bit more relaxed.”

Martin Harcourt, of Value Cars Warehouse in the Garden City, says: “We’re not buying at the moment because we stocked up for Christmas.

“We had a good year in 2013. Christchurch is going well and the whole country is in a pretty good state.”

The dealership had been buying a number of used vehicles from Japan, which Harcourt says have been selling well.

It also purchased about 18 utes from Ireland and only had one left when Autofile called.

Andrew McKendry, of McKendry Motors in Blenheim, told Autofile: “The used market in 2013 was an improvement on previous years but it hasn’t recovered as quickly as the new car market.”

He says finding late-model New Zealand-new stock has been a challenge. “People have held off buying and are looking at new vehicles.”

There has been minor growth in finance but “not as good as I’d like”, with the banks offering competitive rates. 

More used imported Toyotas were sold than any other marque in 2013 with a total of 24,450 sales. Its market share was 24.7 per cent.

Nissan was second on 17,923 and an 18.1 per cent share of the market. Mazda came third on 16,990 and 17.2 per cent.

Fourth spot went to Honda on 10,141 units and 10.2 per cent. Suzuki was fifth on 5,354 and 5.4 per cent.

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Used Import Passenger Registrations - 2012-2013

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Promising year ahead beckonsThe chief executive of the

Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (IMVIA)

believes the signs for growth are in place for this year to improve on the boom witnessed in 2013.

“Last year went very well for the trade,” David Vinsen told Autofile. “What we experienced was better than expected with more than 100,000 units imported.

“That represented about a 30 per cent increase on 2012 and part of that was due to coming out of the latest part of the exhaust emissions rule.”

A total of 107,284 used passenger cars crossed the border last year, up from 72,837 in 2012.

Vinsen adds: “There was more consumer confidence in this country, used imports have been assisted by the strong exchange

rate and the supply side hasn’t been that bad.

“We are aware of the car park of unsold stock and we’re monitoring it. There has been an upsurge but that should be self-correcting in the first quarter of next year.

“A self-levelling exercise will take place, with stock sold through price reductions.

“I believe 2014 will be even stronger because of increased confidence, it being an election year and there are no political interventions on the horizon. These are all signs for continued growth.

“We are now in a good position to have a good look at what the industry wants in regards to services.”

Talks are continuing between the association and government on end-of-life product stewardship schemes, electronic stability

control (ESC) and the exiting older vehicles from the fleet.

Vinsen says the IMVIA has come out of four years of “hunkering down” and can now pay more attention to investing in services for members rather than being concerned about costs.

The number of used imports last year included 100,784 from Japan, up from 67,442 in 2012 for a market share of 93.2 per cent, as first reported by www.autofile.co.nz.

The UK was second with 2,908 units compared to 2,730 in 2012, while Australia’s total jumped from 1,199 to 1,990.

Arrivals from the US last year came in at 1,205 compared to 976. The figures for Singapore were slightly down from 154 in 2012 to 146 in 2013.

Meanwhile, the numbers of

used commercial vehicles being imported are tracking upwards – last year’s 5,196-unit total compares with 3,428 in 2012.

The vast majority – 4,688 – were imported from Japan during 2013. Next was the UK with 221 with Australia third on 117.

The numbers of used commercial vehicles crossing the border are steadily rising after dropping off in recent years because of the emissions rules.

Last year, the total was 5,200 but this was still behind 2007’s by 3,488 units, according to statistics published by NZ Customs.

In 2007, the total was 8,688 but plummeted to 3,639 in 2008, reaching their lowest levels in 2009 and 2010 – 1,924 and 1,932 respectively.

But the totals then climbed in 2011 and 2012 to 3,017 and 3,428.

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Used Import Passenger Vehicles By Country Of Export COUNTRy Of exPORT

2013 2012JAN ’13 feB ’13 MAR ’13 APR ’13 MAy ’13 JUN ’13 JUL ’13 AUG ’13 SeP ’13 OCT ’13 NOV ’13 DeC ’13 2013 TOTAL MONTHLy

MRKT SHARe 2012

TOTALMARKeT

SHARe

Australia 109 122 154 175 171 118 189 166 148 191 205 242 1990 2.4% 1199 1.6%

Great Britain 281 191 192 219 297 200 240 262 235 238 283 270 2908 2.7% 2730 3.7%

Japan 3939 7809 8400 10001 10380 7488 8042 8074 6956 9797 10516 9382 100784 93.2% 67442 92.6%

Singapore 11 14 6 8 9 9 17 14 10 9 22 17 146 0.2% 154 0.2%

USA 94 89 83 106 63 79 96 98 113 115 132 137 1205 1.4% 976 1.3%

Other countries 33 21 11 22 25 17 26 18 19 14 26 19 251 0.2% 336 0.5%

Total 4467 8246 8846 10531 10945 7911 8610 8632 7481 10364 11184 10067 107284 100.0% 72837 100.0%

2012

USED IMPOrt PaSSEngEr VEhIClES arrIValS

Reece McKerrowPh: 021 988 727

Greg Bardsley Ph: 0279 363 595

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2013

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festive cheer with high sales

SECOnDhanD Car SalES - December 2013

DeALeR-TO-PUBLIC PUBLIC-TO-PUBLIC PUBLIC-TO-DeALeRDeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % MARKeT SHARe DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- %

Whangarei 549 474 15.8 3.26 1636 1478 10.7 240 211 13.7

Auckland 5394 5155 4.6 32.05 13017 12560 3.6 4216 3790 11.2

Hamilton 1321 1295 2.0 7.85 2886 2761 4.5 1035 981 5.5

Thames 185 178 3.9 1.10 428 438 -2.3 90 72 25.0

Tauranga 812 741 9.6 4.83 1776 1636 8.6 533 494 7.9

Rotorua 272 237 14.8 1.62 645 647 -0.3 129 139 -7.2

Gisborne 192 145 32.4 1.14 375 284 32.0 126 108 16.7

Napier 566 452 25.2 3.36 1213 1173 3.4 381 364 4.7

New Plymouth 468 358 30.7 2.78 920 866 6.2 250 238 5.0

Wanganui 148 185 -20.0 0.88 410 394 4.1 127 96 32.3

Palmerston North 765 666 14.9 4.55 1430 1359 5.2 584 580 0.7

Masterton 164 153 7.2 0.97 317 291 8.9 94 81 16.0

Wellington 1449 1307 10.9 8.61 2619 2623 -0.2 1053 999 5.4

Nelson 292 324 -9.9 1.74 926 774 19.6 199 222 -10.4

Blenheim 202 135 49.6 1.20 331 304 8.9 143 116 23.3

Greymouth 88 78 12.8 0.52 198 189 4.8 41 40 2.5

Westport 23 28 -17.9 0.14 105 83 26.5 3 0 300.0

Christchurch 2471 2191 12.8 14.68 4681 4344 7.8 1734 1410 23.0

Timaru 261 208 25.5 1.55 520 457 13.8 142 136 4.4

Oamaru 70 67 4.5 0.42 198 157 26.1 26 23 13.0

Dunedin 665 606 9.7 3.95 1486 1459 1.9 455 440 3.4

Invercargill 472 363 30.0 2.80 875 783 11.7 373 308 21.1

NZ total 16829 15346 9.7 100.00 36992 35060 5.5 11974 10848 10.4

Consumer Guarantees Act 1993 Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003 Sale of Goods Act 1908 Fair Trading Act 1986 Energy Efficiency and Conservation Act 2000

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Proud to sPonsor the secondhand car sales statistics

Sales of second-hand cars last month ensured there were seasonal celebrations among

some dealers.There were 16,829 trade-to-

public sales in December – up by 9.7 per cent from 15,346 units, in the same month of 2012.

The trade-in market also returned brisk trade, with 11,974 sales compared to 10,848 for a 10.4 per cent rise, while private sales increased by 5.5 per cent from 35,060 to 36,992.

Martin Harcourt, of Value Cars Warehouse, believes that compared to anywhere else in the country, Christchurch is the place to be with millions being invested in the rebuild following the earthquakes.

The Garden City recorded a 12.8 per cent increase in dealer-to-public sales last month to 2,471

units from 2,191 in December 2012. It also saw a 23 per cent jump in

trade-ins from 1,410 to 1,734 over the same period.

“We’re lucky because the town has come to us,” Harcourt told Autofile. “All of the new developments are right where we are and just a stone’s throw away.

“We can spend all day buying and we’ve got a staff of 18 people because the more hooks you put out, the more you can catch.

“We don’t worry about what other competitors are doing because we just focus on what we have been doing well for the past 22 years.”

John Paddy, of Mainly Cars – a Palmerston North dealership specialising in stock priced less than $8,000 – has seen the effects of the exhaust emissions legislation

driving up some vehicles’ prices.“Take 1994 RAV4s – they were

$3,990,” he says. “Now you can’t buy one for less than $4,990.

“The big 1995-96 Pajeros with 200,000-300,000km on the clock that no one has ever wanted to know about in the past are going for $12,000.”

Paddy stresses Palmerston North is diverse enough to weather storms – if one sector starts to struggle other parts of the market will fill the gap, so overall sales there tend to stay consistent.

The city saw a 14.9 per cent rise in dealer sales in December to 765 units from 666 in the same month of the year before.

John Clough, dealer principal of Rotorua Kia, says there has always been good demand for good clean utes in the city.

“They tend to have hard lives,” he adds. “Most tend to have higher kilometres as well.”

The Bay of Plenty centre recorded a modest rise of 1.62 per cent in dealer-to-public transactions last month and a 7.2 per cent drop in trade-ins.

Blenheim reported the largest percentage rise in dealer sales last month compared to December 2012 for areas with in excess of 10 transactions. The total went up by 49.6 per cent from 135 to 202 units.

Transactions in New Plymouth went up from 358 to 468, or 30.7 per cent, to claim second spot. Invercargill was third on 30 per cent from 363 to 472.

Wanganui had the highest rise in trade-ins on 32.3 per cent – up from 96 to 127.

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new Passenger Vehicle Sales by Make - December 2013

MAKe DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC '13 MKT SHARe 2013 TOTAL 2013 MKT

SHARe

Toyota 1512 2202 -31.3 23.7% 16182 19.6%

Holden 979 467 109.6 15.4% 9081 11.0%

Ford 621 534 16.3 9.7% 7140 8.7%

Hyundai 491 377 30.2 7.7% 7186 8.7%

Mazda 383 344 11.3 6.0% 5830 7.1%

Mitsubishi 327 188 73.9 5.1% 3988 4.8%

Nissan 303 337 -10.1 4.8% 3645 4.4%

Suzuki 296 411 -28.0 4.6% 4732 5.7%

Volkswagen 242 176 37.5 3.8% 3769 4.6%

Kia 192 170 12.9 3.0% 2755 3.3%

Honda 136 134 1.5 2.1% 3130 3.8%

Subaru 104 126 -17.5 1.6% 1749 2.1%

Peugeot 92 67 37.3 1.4% 1093 1.3%

SsangYong 88 59 49.2 1.4% 812 1.0%

Mercedes-Benz 84 68 23.5 1.3% 1482 1.8%

Audi 73 53 37.7 1.1% 1821 2.2%

Jeep 70 51 37.3 1.1% 845 1.0%

Dodge 63 40 57.5 1.0% 541 0.7%

BMW 49 72 -31.9 0.8% 1910 2.3%

Lexus 44 37 18.9 0.7% 552 0.7%

Skoda 36 39 -7.7 0.6% 690 0.8%

Renault 33 1 3200.0 0.5% 131 0.2%

Fiat 31 7 342.9 0.5% 173 0.2%

Chery 19 35 -45.7 0.3% 370 0.4%

Land Rover 17 14 21.4 0.3% 460 0.6%

Citroen 16 3 433.3 0.3% 302 0.4%

Mini 16 23 -30.4 0.3% 490 0.6%

Alfa Romeo 13 6 116.7 0.2% 195 0.2%

Porsche 7 5 40.0 0.1% 189 0.2%

Great Wall 6 4 50.0 0.1% 217 0.3%

Chrysler 5 9 -44.4 0.1% 125 0.2%

Mahindra 5 - - 0.1% 11 0.0%

Volvo 5 3 66.7 0.1% 234 0.3%

Can-Am 3 8 -62.5 0.0% 78 0.1%

Daihatsu 3 26 -88.5 0.0% 261 0.3%

Jaguar 2 1 100.0 0.0% 130 0.2%

Lotus 2 - - 0.0% 6 0.0%

Chrysler Jeep 1 - - 0.0% 2 0.0%

Ferrari 1 1 0.0 0.0% 20 0.0%

Morgan 1 - - 0.0% 6 0.0%

Others 0 4 -100.0 0.0% 100 0.1%

Total 6371 6102 4.4 100.0% 82433 100.0%

new Passenger Vehicle Sales by Model - December 2013

MAKe MODeL DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC MKT SHARe

2013 TOTAL

2013 MKT SHARe

Toyota Corolla 712 1125 -36.7 11.2% 5995 7.3%

Holden Commodore 364 140 160.0 5.7% 2763 3.4%

Holden Captiva 226 178 27.0 3.5% 2265 2.7%

Suzuki Swift 222 245 -9.4 3.5% 2972 3.6%

Toyota RAV4 222 99 124.2 3.5% 2743 3.3%

Mazda Cx-5 202 118 71.2 3.2% 2191 2.7%

Toyota Highlander 185 184 0.5 2.9% 1277 1.5%

Ford Focus 173 131 32.1 2.7% 1602 1.9%

Holden Cruze 169 90 87.8 2.7% 2094 2.5%

Mitsubishi Lancer 159 43 269.8 2.5% 1053 1.3%

Toyota Yaris 149 226 -34.1 2.3% 2384 2.9%

Hyundai ix35 145 43 237.2 2.3% 1483 1.8%

Volkswagen Golf 133 72 84.7 2.1% 1602 1.9%

Ford Mondeo 132 200 -34.0 2.1% 1333 1.6%

Ford Kuga 123 16 668.8 1.9% 1075 1.3%

Holden Barina 98 30 226.7 1.5% 692 0.8%

Ford Territory 95 62 53.2 1.5% 1283 1.6%

Nissan Qashqai 94 139 -32.4 1.5% 978 1.2%

Hyundai Santa Fe 88 115 -23.5 1.4% 1935 2.3%

Mitsubishi Outlander 87 82 6.1 1.4% 1345 1.6%

Toyota Camry 82 266 -69.2 1.3% 1352 1.6%

Kia Sportage 73 21 247.6 1.1% 751 0.9%

Mazda Mazda3 72 100 -28.0 1.1% 1609 2.0%

Toyota Land Cruiser Prado 72 32 125.0 1.1% 629 0.8%

SsangYong Korando 68 42 61.9 1.1% 548 0.7%

Dodge Journey 63 40 57.5 1.0% 539 0.7%

Ford Falcon 61 31 96.8 1.0% 896 1.1%

Nissan x-Trail 60 52 15.4 0.9% 839 1.0%

Holden Trax 54 - - 0.8% 198 0.2%

Nissan Pulsar 54 - - 0.8% 618 0.7%

Volkswagen Tiguan 52 23 126.1 0.8% 741 0.9%

Hyundai i30 45 49 -8.2 0.7% 1300 1.6%

Jeep Grand Cherokee 45 32 40.6 0.7% 547 0.7%

Mazda Mazda2 44 39 12.8 0.7% 756 0.9%

Toyota Prius 44 75 -41.3 0.7% 549 0.7%

Honda Jazz 42 24 75.0 0.7% 964 1.2%

Hyundai Accent 42 29 44.8 0.7% 614 0.7%

Mazda Mazda6 41 69 -40.6 0.6% 1001 1.2%

Holden Barina Spark 40 4 900.0 0.6% 347 0.4%

Hyundai Elantra 40 59 -32.2 0.6% 273 0.3%

Others 1499 1777 -15.6 23.5% 28297 34.3%

Total 6371 6102 4.4 100.0% 82433 100.0%

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“There’s more certainty here and a lot of money from construction floating around.

“Last year was challenging for used cars and it’s a struggle to get good vehicles. The price of new cars has become a factor – we’re selling a new Peugeot for $21,990.”

Most of the dealership’s used stock comes from trade-ins. The market at the cheaper end is going well “but the stock isn’t there”.

Ken Williams is the dealer principal of Ignition Motor Group, which was Guthrie Motors when he bought it in 2012. It’s a franchise for Holden, Mitsubishi and Kia.

“Trade has its highs and lows,

and it’s quite a volatile market,” he told Autofile. “The business is there, but it can be difficult to push it over the line.

“People want a wide selection of choice. I can’t keep every car in stock in a small town such as Wanganui and there are 60-odd models on the market. I think there would be the same difficulties right across New Zealand.”

Williams says a surge in Mitsubishi sales meant he ran out of Lancer GSR stock in

December, but he notes he’s “very conservative” with his outlook.

Sales of the Outlander have been a bit slow with other SUVs, such as the Kia Sportage and Holden’s Captiva, proving more popular on the local market.

After a two-year withdrawal from the town, Williams has brought Mitsubishi back to Wanganui – four different dealerships had the franchise in the 10 years prior to its departure.

“It’s a good Japanese brand and gives me a wide range,” he says. “It’s good for my workshop because there are lots of Mitsubishis in the car park.”

Williams says the market for used cars in Wanganui is for stock priced below $20,000.

“We’ve found that the light commercial vehicles have been generally good. It’s a farming-induced industry and manufacturing is still in the city down at the port end.

“There have been people out there buying commercial property. Things are happening and it’s busier. But for me it’s just getting people to push across the line and stay there.”

With Palmerston North only an hour away, he adds it’s very important to back local businesses and support the local economy.

Toyota dominated the new vehicle market last month by taking 23.7 per cent – or 1,512 units – of passenger car registrations.

Holden secured second place with 979 sales – and 15.4 per cent market share – followed by Ford on 621, or 9.7 per cent.

Toyota topped the overall market for the 26th consecutive year with combined total registrations of 23,705 – 16,172 passenger cars and 7,533 commercials.

Some people might remember 2013 as the year when the economy finally made the first

steps on the path to recovery.Setbacks in recent years have

included the 2008/09 global financial crisis, while two natural disasters in 2011 – the floods in Thailand and Japan’s tsunami – limited the supply of new vehicles to New Zealand.

But brisk business during December resulted in 113,117 overall sales during 2013 – the highest total since 1984.

Last year’s figure was up by 12,322 new vehicles – or 12.2 per cent – on 2012’s, while 6,371 new passenger car registrations was the highest December total since 1976.

Autofile contacted some franchises to get a take on how businesses fared last year and to look into crystal balls for 2014.

Shaun Moses, dealer principal of Manukau Hyundai, says 2013 was the best year the franchise has ever had.

“We try to differentiate ourselves by focusing on selling vehicles around people and matching them to buyers. We’ve been doing a lot of referral business and the trust is really there.

“Someone has got to be the one who stops the discounting to focus on the customer instead.”

Moses describes Hyundai’s range as “desirable”, and one of the most comprehensive with its compacts and SUV. “The i35 and the i30 have been going exceptionally.”

He says the Kiwi market is becoming more like Australia with consumers preferring new cars.

“When you’re buying a vehicle, you could get a $20,000 used car. But for $30,000 you can purchase a new Hyundai, which will keep its value for longer.

“New cars will become more

Strong finish to great yearprevalent and 70 per cent of our sales are new vehicles.”

Moses believes the Auckland property market is driving people south, especially working-class families.

“You can buy a beautiful home for $500,000 in Papakura. The traditional idea of the family living close to the city centre is going away. People are more prepared to travel.”

He says the SUV and compact segments have been driving demand.

“We’ve written more finance this year, but margins aren’t as good, and we’re focusing more on the back-end of the dealership.

“We roster sales people to welcome customers and engage in conversation with them. We also offer valet parking – everybody gets it and customers love it.

“We love giving them surprises, such as a packet of mints or even a USB drive with music loaded onto it.”

Steve Hammond, general sales manager of Armstrong Motor Group in Christchurch, says: “There are more mum-and-dad buyers in the market and fleet has been busy.

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Toyota ends year with record salesThe writing was on the

wall almost from the start of 2013 and there was

simply no stopping Toyota from topping the chart for new vehicle sales in New Zealand.

The Corolla finished the year as the country’s most popular car, the Hilux took out the light commercials title and the marque had five vehicles in the top 10.

“The Corolla’s success comes on the back of a full year,” says Steve Prangnell, general manager of sales at Toyota NZ.

“We’re the only brand in double digits and we have increased our private share.

“We are seeing growing sales in the lease market and the Corolla is also strong in the government segment.”

Prangnell puts the growth in business sales during the final months of 2013 down to seasonal reasons.

“We’ve pulled forward a huge number of rental cars, in-bound tourism is up and it’s all counted as business fleet,” he told Autofile.

“The economy’s booming and the fact of the matter is there’s a lot going on.”

Motor Industry Association (MIA) statistics show that last month Toyota sold 1,512 passenger cars, including SUVs, and of those 1,253 – or 82.9 per cent – were business sales.

Holden, which came second in December, had a more even split. Out of 984 registrations, 403 – or 41 per cent – were private.

But Ford, third on 618 units, had an almost identical split as Toyota. Business sales made up 512 units, or 82.8 per cent, of its total.

Hyundai was fourth on 491 sales with Mazda fifth on 383 – their business registrations amounted to 74.7 and 67.6 per cent respectively.

The strong finish to the year resulted in 6,364 passenger cars and SUVs being sold in December and 3,942 – or 61.9 per cent – were business, according to MIA figures.

Prangnell says Toyota doesn’t target one part of the market – private or business – over the other.

“We’ve got a strategy for the whole market. The strategy is to be number one in every channel when you’re a volume distributor.We don’t look at it segment by segment, we look at it by what the customer wants.”

Overall, the manufacturer notched itself up a record in 2013, with new car sales up by 8.9 per cent on 2012 – it sold 24,262 Toyota and Lexus vehicles.

The Corolla has been the country’s favourite passenger car in its segment for 16 out of the past 26 years, and its line-up is being boosted this year with an all-new sedan.

As for the RAV4, Prangnell puts its success last year down to it being a new model, and its design and packaging.

He’s predicting strong growth in the SUV segment next year with a new Highlander, Prado and Land Cruiser to be released, and describes this part of the new vehicle market as “going nuts”.

“We were predicting 104,900 sales for last year and the overall market hit 112,000. If the growth continues, we will be heading for a 120,000 new car market this year.”

Passenger Car Sales by Private/Business split - MIa statistics

MAKe PRIVATe % PRIVATe BUSINeSS % BUSINeSS TOTAL

Alfa Romeo 3 23.1 10 76.9 13

Audi 51 69.9 22 30.1 73

BMW 34 69.4 15 30.6 49

Chery 18 94.7 1 5.3 19

Chrysler 3 60.0 2 40.0 5

Citroen 8 50.0 8 50.0 16

Daihatsu 1 33.3 2 66.7 3

Dodge 42 66.7 21 33.3 63

Ferrari 1 100.0 0 0.0 1

Fiat 13 41.9 18 58.1 31

Ford 106 17.2 512 82.8 618

Great Wall 6 100.0 0 0.0 6

Holden 403 41.0 581 59.0 984

Honda 99 72.8 37 27.2 136

Hyundai 124 25.3 367 74.7 491

Jaguar 1 50.0 1 50.0 2

Jeep 34 48.6 36 51.4 70

Kia 123 64.4 68 35.6 191

Land Rover 9 52.9 8 47.1 17

Lexus 27 61.4 17 38.6 44

Lotus 1 50.0 1 50.0 2

Mazda 124 32.4 259 67.6 383

Mercedes-Benz 46 55.4 37 44.6 83

Mini 12 75.0 4 25.0 16

Mitsubishi 183 56.0 144 44.0 327

Nissan 211 69.6 92 30.4 303

Peugeot 61 66.3 31 33.7 92

Porsche 4 57.1 3 42.9 7

Renault 5 15.2 28 84.8 33

Skoda 15 41.7 21 58.3 36

SsangYong 21 23.9 67 76.1 88

Subaru 39 37.5 65 62.5 104

Suzuki 189 63.9 107 36.1 296

Toyota 259 17.1 1253 82.9 1512

Volkswagen 143 59.6 97 40.4 240

Volvo 2 40.0 3 60.0 5

Other 1 20.0 4 80.0 5

Total 2422 38.1 3942 61.9 6364

*Business sales include rental and government sales, and the totals include passenger cars and SUVs. SOURCE: MIA

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nEW VEhIClE MarKEt SEgMEntatIOn - December 2013

DeC '13 DeC '12 MTH% DIff 2013 yTD 2012 yTD % yTD

Passenger 3,932 4,266 -7.8 51,621 50,384 2.5

SUV 2,432 1,820 33.6 30,478 26,011 17.2

Light Commercial 2,131 1,415 50.6 26,975 20,778 29.8

Heavy Commercial 249 203 22.7 3,594 2,873 25.1

Other 32 41 -22.0 509 529 -3.8

Total market 8,776 7,745 13.3 113,177 100,575 12.5

Light 1,001 1,009 -0.8 14,722 13,903 5.9

Small 1,795 1,997 -10.1 21,511 21,070 2.1

Medium 471 731 -35.6 7,852 7,760 1.2

Large 476 325 46.5 5,064 5,209 -2.8

Upper Large 12 17 -29.4 265 252 5.2

People Movers 116 102 13.7 1,037 987 5.1

Sports 61 85 -28.2 1,170 1,203 -2.7

SUV Small 564 464 21.6 6,869 5,609 22.5

SUV Medium 1,020 560 82.1 12,603 9,140 37.9

SUV Large 824 773 6.6 10,569 10,902 -3.1

SUV Upper Large 24 23 4.3 437 360 21.4

Light Buses 37 22 68.2 478 433 10.4

Vans 367 300 22.3 5,261 4,722 11.4

Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x2 617 383 61.1 7,897 5,324 48.3

Pick Up/Chassis Cab 4x4 1,110 710 56.3 13,339 10,299 29.5

Heavy Commercial 249 203 22.7 3,594 2,873 25.1

Other 32 41 -22.0 509 529 -3.8

Total market 8,776 7,745 13.3 113,177 100,575 12.5

nEW VEhIClE SalES BY BUYEr tYPE - December 2013

DeC '13 DeC '12 MTH % 2013 yTD 2012 yTD % yTD

Passenger 3,932 4,266 -7.8 51,621 50,384 2.5

Private 1,490 1,065 39.9 18,864 17,061 10.6

Business 1,269 1,493 -15.0 22,388 22,832 -1.9

Gov’t 105 131 -19.8 2,250 2,815 -20.1

Rental 1,068 1,577 -32.3 8,119 7,676 5.8

SUV 2,432 1,820 33.6 30,478 26,011 17.2

Private 932 654 42.5 11,239 9,009 24.8

Business 1,001 871 14.9 16,042 14,003 14.6

Gov’t 31 51 -39.2 590 652 -9.5

Rental 468 244 91.8 2,607 2,347 11.1

Light Commercial 2,131 1,415 50.6 26,975 20,778 29.8

Private 484 274 76.6 5,686 4,005 42.0

Business 1,460 1,014 44.0 19,080 14,709 29.7

Gov’t 96 90 6.7 1,344 1,500 -10.4

Rental 91 37 145.9 865 564 53.4

Sub Total 8,495 7,501 13.3 109,074 97,173 12.2

Private 2,906 1,993 45.8 35,789 30,075 19.0

Business 3,730 3,378 10.4 57,510 51,544 11.6

Gov’t 232 272 -14.7 4,184 4,967 -15.8

Rental 1,627 1,858 -12.4 11,591 10,587 9.5

heavy Commercial 249 203 22.7 3,594 2,873 25.1

Other 32 41 -22.0 509 529 -3.8

Total 8,776 7,745 13.3 113,177 100,575 12.5

Last year’s new commercial vehicle registrations of 30,862 broke all records

since the industry started to collect data on the market in 1981.

The strongest segments included two-wheel-drive utes – which were 48 per cent ahead of 2012 – and four-wheel-drive utes, up by 30 per cent.

When it came to models, Toyota’s Hilux retained its 30-plus year reign as Kiwis’ most popular ute with 5,046 sales compared to Ford Ranger’s on 4,928.

That was a difference of just 118 units, according to NZTA statistics.

SUVs accounted for 27 per cent of the new vehicle market in 2013 with 30,478 registrations.

The other top-selling segments were small cars on 21,511 and pick-

Motors in Blenheim, says the CX-5 had an impressive year, the Jazz was by far the most popular Honda and the Mazda 6 was the leader in its class.

“We’re 20 per cent ahead on new car sales,” he told Autofile. “The local economy is moving ahead nicely and the commercial sector is spending.

“We’re selling more commercial stock and people are moving from larger passenger cars into utes. They’re finding they are better propositions and utes now feel more like cars.”

McKendry predicts more growth in passenger cars this year. He’s looking forward to the new Mazda 3 and Mazda 6 being released, which he believes will push up sales.

Steve Hammond, of Armstrong Motor Group in Christchurch,

Commercials set benchmarkups and chassis cabs on 21,236.

“The market last year was probably not as buoyant as 2012,” says Richard Brown, chief executive officer of Rangiora, Kaiapoi and Ashburton Toyota, who has owned the business since 1986.

“The volume was there, but 2013 was more challenging with competition from other marques.

“The Hilux is our most popular vehicle with builders and business people in a lot of different areas, so it’s not just a farmer’s ute.

“There are now more people living in Rangiora, but they’re still Christchurch people at heart and tend to do business in the city. They seem to spend more time in Christchurch than at home.”

Andrew McKendry, of McKendry

says there can still a bit of brand snobbery around the city.

But sales of SsangYong’s Actyon Sports WorkMate show the ute is a popular choice among price-conscious commercial buyers.

“Members of the public prefer to buy from dealers they trust,” he says, adding the workshop was fully booked towards to end of last year while and people have a bit more money in their pockets.

“The distributors have ramped up our targets, so there’s no sign of a slowdown here.”

Toyota completed the one-two in 2013’s models chart with 5,995 Corollas followed by the Hilux. Ford came third with the Ranger.

Visit www.autofile.co.nz for in-depth industry statistics

34 | www.autofile.co.nz

new Commercial Sales by Make - December 2013

MAKe DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC '13 MKT SHARe

2013 fULL yeAR

2013 MKT SHARe

Ford 619 177 249.7 25.7% 5709 18.5%

Toyota 603 500 20.6 25.1% 7541 24.4%

Holden 171 116 47.4 7.1% 2656 8.6%

Volkswagen 138 71 94.4 5.7% 1456 4.7%

Nissan 133 187 -28.9 5.5% 2768 9.0%

Mitsubishi 110 158 -30.4 4.6% 2026 6.6%

Isuzu 108 47 129.8 4.5% 1545 5.0%

Mazda 89 69 29.0 3.7% 1279 4.1%

Great Wall 64 64 0.0 2.7% 810 2.6%

Mercedes-Benz 61 38 60.5 2.5% 568 1.8%

Mitsubishi Fuso 51 70 -27.1 2.1% 526 1.7%

Hino 36 39 -7.7 1.5% 500 1.6%

SsangYong 35 13 169.2 1.5% 448 1.5%

Fiat 25 14 78.6 1.0% 282 0.9%

Hyundai 25 16 56.3 1.0% 583 1.9%

MAN 23 - - 1.0% 120 0.4%

UD Trucks 18 5 260.0 0.7% 187 0.6%

LDV 10 - - 0.4% 45 0.1%

DAF 9 5 80.0 0.4% 212 0.7%

Foton 8 - - 0.3% 154 0.5%

Others 69 60 15.0 2.9% 1447 4.7%

Total 2405 1649 45.8 100.0% 30862 100.0%

new Commercial Sales by Model - December 2013

MAKe MODeL DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC '13 MKT SHARe

2013 fULL yeAR

2013 MKT SHARe

Ford Ranger 573 132 334.1 23.8% 4928 16.0%

Toyota Hilux 458 320 43.1 19.0% 5046 16.4%

Holden Colorado 152 97 56.7 6.3% 2462 8.0%

Nissan Navara 133 178 -25.3 5.5% 2695 8.7%

Toyota Hiace 124 141 -12.1 5.2% 2264 7.3%

Mazda BT-50 89 69 29.0 3.7% 1279 4.1%

Mitsubishi Triton 73 105 -30.5 3.0% 1282 4.2%

Volkswagen Crafter 66 6 1000.0 2.7% 372 1.2%

Isuzu D-Max 58 15 286.7 2.4% 816 2.6%

Great Wall V240 49 33 48.5 2.0% 560 1.8%

Mercedes-Benz Sprinter 47 33 42.4 2.0% 413 1.3%

Ford Transit 43 40 7.5 1.8% 704 2.3%

Volkswagen Amarok 41 48 -14.6 1.7% 799 2.6%

Mitsubishi L300 37 52 -28.8 1.5% 740 2.4%

SsangYong Actyon Sport 35 13 169.2 1.5% 448 1.5%

Hyundai iLoad 25 15 66.7 1.0% 546 1.8%

Fiat Ducato 24 14 71.4 1.0% 278 0.9%

Isuzu F Series 24 12 100.0 1.0% 273 0.9%

Hino 500 23 11 109.1 1.0% 275 0.9%

Volkswagen T5 22 11 100.0 0.9% 169 0.5%

Others 309 304 1.6 12.8% 4513 14.6%

Total 2405 1649 45.8 100.0% 30862 100.0%

Used Commercial Sales by Make - December 2013

MAKe DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC '13 MKT SHARe

2013 fULL yeAR

2013 MKT SHARe

Toyota 274 150 82.7 48.8% 2811 46.1%

Nissan 115 54 113.0 20.5% 1379 22.6%

Isuzu 31 12 158.3 5.5% 263 4.3%

Ford 29 26 11.5 5.2% 315 5.2%

Mazda 23 11 109.1 4.1% 308 5.1%

Mitsubishi 13 9 44.4 2.3% 130 2.1%

Chevrolet 12 18 -33.3 2.1% 135 2.2%

Holden 12 2 500.0 2.1% 84 1.4%

Fiat 10 8 25.0 1.8% 81 1.3%

Dodge 8 1 700.0 1.4% 41 0.7%

Hino 8 5 60.0 1.4% 142 2.3%

Volkswagen 5 4 25.0 0.9% 51 0.8%

Iveco 3 - - 0.5% 18 0.3%

MAN 3 1 200.0 0.5% 55 0.9%

Citroen 2 1 100.0 0.4% 5 0.1%

Mercedes-Benz 2 3 -33.3 0.4% 51 0.8%

Volvo 2 - - 0.4% 18 0.3%

Cadillac 1 - - 0.2% 2 0.0%

Daihatsu 1 - - 0.2% 7 0.1%

Land Rover 1 1 0.0 0.2% 16 0.3%

Others 7 22 -68.2 1.2% 182 3.0%

Total 562 328 71.3 100.0% 6094 100.0%

Used Commercial Sales by Model - December 2013

MAKe MODeL DeC '13 DeC '12 +/- % DeC '13 MKT SHARe

2013 fULL yeAR

2013 MKT SHARe

Toyota Hiace 193 114 69.3 34.3% 2095 34.4%

Nissan Caravan 57 24 137.5 10.1% 653 10.7%

Nissan Vanette 36 8 350.0 6.4% 453 7.4%

Toyota Regius 25 8 212.5 4.4% 219 3.6%

Toyota Dyna 23 13 76.9 4.1% 249 4.1%

Mazda Bongo 19 8 137.5 3.4% 247 4.1%

Toyota Estima 14 - - 2.5% 27 0.4%

Ford Transit 12 6 100.0 2.1% 159 2.6%

Isuzu Elf 11 9 22.2 2.0% 149 2.4%

Nissan Atlas 11 7 57.1 2.0% 128 2.1%

Isuzu Como 10 1 900.0 1.8% 36 0.6%

Nissan Navara 10 13 -23.1 1.8% 105 1.7%

Fiat Ducato 9 8 12.5 1.6% 77 1.3%

Holden Colorado 9 - - 1.6% 57 0.9%

Dodge Ram 8 1 700.0 1.4% 33 0.5%

Ford F150 7 2 250.0 1.2% 33 0.5%

Toyota Hilux 7 4 75.0 1.2% 66 1.1%

Chevrolet Silverado 5 7 -28.6 0.9% 45 0.7%

Toyota Toyoace 5 8 -37.5 0.9% 89 1.5%

Ford F100 4 1 300.0 0.7% 16 0.3%

Others 87 86 1.2 15.5% 1158 19.0%

Total 562 328 71.3 100.0% 6094 100.0%

commercial sales

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www.autofile.co.nz | 35

Dealer stock of imported used cars in new Zealand

2012USeD IMPORTS

VARIANCe STOCKAVeRAGe

SALeS PeR DAy - yTD

DAyS STOCK

AT HANDIMPORTeD SOLD

Total stock at the end of December 2011 8,579

Jan ‘12 3,191 6,375 (3,184) 5,395 206 26

Feb ‘12 4,920 6,000 (1,080) 4,315 210 21

Mar ‘12 6,504 6,429 75 4,390 209 21

Apr ‘12 6,613 5,877 736 5,126 206 25

May ‘12 7,693 6,793 900 6,026 208 29

Jun ‘12 6,947 6,184 763 6,789 208 33

Jul ‘12 5,335 6,641 (1,306) 5,483 209 26

Aug ‘12 5,540 6,621 (1,081) 4,402 210 21

Sep ‘12 5,506 6,222 (716) 3,686 209 18

Oct ‘12 5,688 6,867 (1,179) 2,507 211 12

Nov ‘12 8,486 7,183 1,303 3,810 213 18

Dec ‘12 6,414 7,119 (705) 3,105 215 14

yTD total 72,837 78,311 (5,474)

2013USeD IMPORTS

VARIANCe STOCKAVeRAGe

SALeS PeR DAy - yTD

DAyS STOCK

AT HANDIMPORTeD SOLD

Total stock at the end of December 2012 3105

Jan ‘13 4,467 7,397 (2,930) 175 239 0.7

Feb ‘13 8,246 6,922 1,324 1,499 243 6

Mar ‘13 8,845 7,581 1,264 2,763 243 11

Apr ‘13 10,531 7,418 3,113 5,876 244 24

May ‘13 10,945 8,460 2,485 8,361 250 33

Jun ‘13 7,919 7,862 57 8,418 252 33

Jul ‘13 8,609 9,629 (1,020) 7,398 261 28

Aug ‘13 8,632 8,648 (16) 7,382 263 28

Sep ‘13 7,481 7,615 (134) 7,248 262 28

Oct ‘13 10,364 8,545 1,819 9,067 263 34

Nov ‘13 11,184 9,360 1,824 10,891 268 41

Dec ‘13 10,067 9,534 533 11,424 271 42

yTD total 107,290 98,971 8,319

full year sales for 2013 98,971

DAYS StOck iN NZ - USED iMPORt cARS

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUg

SEP

Oct

NOv

DEc

2013

2012

Day

s of

sto

ck

Dealer stock of new cars in new Zealand

2012New CARS VARIANCe STOCK AVeRAGe

SALeS PeR DAy - yTD

DAyS STOCK

AT HANDIMPORTeD SOLD

Stock estimate as at end of December 2011 12,984

Jan ‘12 5,026 7,499 (2,473) 10,511 242 43

Feb ‘12 7,368 5,633 1,735 12,246 223 55

Mar ‘12 7,228 6,499 729 12,975 218 59

Apr ‘12 6,285 5,430 855 13,830 209 66

May ‘12 7,742 5,942 1,800 15,630 205 76

Jun ‘12 8,870 7,142 1,728 17,358 211 82

Jul ‘12 7,894 6,208 1,686 19,044 209 91

Aug ‘12 8,589 5,959 2,630 21,674 207 105

Sep ‘12 6,828 6,637 191 21,865 209 105

Oct ‘12 8,155 7,336 819 22,684 211 107

Nov ‘12 8,953 6,484 2,469 25,153 212 119

Dec ‘12 7,816 6,102 1,714 26,867 211 128

yTD total 90,754 76,871 13,883

2013New CARS VARIANCe STOCK AVeRAGe

SALeS PeR DAy - yTD

DAyS STOCK

AT HANDIMPORTeD SOLD

Total stock at the end of December 2012 26,867

Jan ‘13 5,355 7,385 (2,030) 24,837 238 104

Feb ‘13 7,027 5,799 1,228 26,065 223 117

Mar ‘13 6,329 6,800 (471) 25,594 222 115

Apr ‘13 7,342 5,907 1,435 27,029 216 125

May ‘13 7,400 6,347 1,053 28,082 213 132

Jun ‘13 8,051 7,541 510 28,592 220 130

Jul ‘13 8,423 6,768 1,655 30,247 220 138

Aug ‘13 11,065 6,828 4,237 34,484 220 157

Sep ‘13 6,996 7,272 (276) 34,208 222 154

Oct ‘13 9,362 7,962 1,400 35,608 226 158

Nov ‘13 9,591 7,453 2,138 37,746 228 166

Dec ‘13 8,826 6,371 2,455 40,201 226 178

yTD total 95,767 82,433 13,334

full year sales for 2013 82,433

DAYS StOck iN NZ - NEw cARS

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

JAN

FEB

MAR

APR

MAY

JUN

JUL

AUg

SEP

Oct

NOv

DEc

2013

2012

Day

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sto

ck

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