industry backs port’s master plan -...

VOLUME 8 ISSUE 10 NOVEMBER 2017

GLOBAL VEHICLE LOGISTICS NZ · JAPAN · AUSTRALIA · UK · EUROPE | www.autohub.co

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Confidence for the road ahead.

Continued on page 21

INSIDE

7

MIA and VIA join forces 3Manheim’s new HQ 7 The battle for airspace 10Colonial face shareholders 14 10

Honda New Zealand is on the hunt for new Auckland dealers – and since fran-

chises for legacy brands such as this are rare, the move is likely to gain attention.

Over the last couple of years, there has been a change in the look and feel of leading Honda models such as the Civic and CR-V.

Gone are relatively conservative designs in favour of fins, wings and sporty looks. Turbochargers have been introduced to both efficiency and performance, and the legend-ary Type R badge has returned.

The changes aren’t restricted to the model range – there have also been significant moves behind the scenes.

The New Zealand distributor has left its Manukau home, shifting into a landmark Newmarket dealership which is undergoing expansion and renewal.

The marketing, sales, and finan-cial services operations were the first to move as a successful test. Parts are now handled out of a new facility at Highbrook, Auckland.

What remains is the brand’s

Honda’s dealer hunt

Plans to revamp the Ports of Auck-land over the next 30 years while the search for a new site begins

have met a positive response from industry leaders.

The port’s draft 30-year master plan includes a proposal to build a five-sto-

rey car-handling facility.A resource consent application for

the facility is set to be filed next year with the intention to build within five years.

The facility would remove incoming

Industry backs port’s master plan

An artist’s impression of Ports of Auckland’s proposed new car-handling building.

Continued on page 4

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Speaking with one voice about chal-lenges facing the im-

port sector is the key to a new partnership between the Motor Industry Asso-ciation (MIA) and Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA).

MIA chief executive Da-vid Crawford says the two groups have a long history of informal collaboration so signing a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise the relationship made sense.

“Over time, the number of issues that affect both as-sociations has grown and as we look forward we recog-nise that there are more is-sues coming at us where we will need to do the same.”

Both organisations see plenty of benefit in the com-bined approach, including the Government only having to deal with one voice on most issues, and pooling resources for research and preparing submissions.

Crawford says ACC’s consultation on vehicle risk-rating is a good example of the groups working together.

“We approached the AA and Motor Trade Association (MTA) and then the VIA so we could collectively take a

position to ACC on what we wanted to see happen.

“This joined-up industry view meant we obtained a much better system than we would have otherwise reached.

“Vehicle risk-rating is still not perfect but it had all the hallmarks of being a total farce were it not for indus-try’s ability to work together on it.”

The MIA and VIA are now work-ing on improving the recall system for new and used vehicles, which needs a unified industry ap-proach, VIA chief executive David Vinsen says.

“It has been difficult to develop an end-to-end process for the management of safety recalls when the NZ Transport Agency has to deal with both VIA and the MIA

David Crawford

One industry voice gets traction

separately. “Vinsen says both organi-

sations have matured to the point where they can speak with one voice in certain issues.

“While we may have been seen to be ‘at loggerheads’ in the past, VIA and the MIA have collaborated behind the scenes on shared issues for more than a decade.

“It’s fair to say that some have felt the need to be a

bit ‘guarded’ around the MIA-VIA relationship or to be seen to take sides – this will no longer be the case.

“We have accepted that it’s better to work together and speak

with one voice on issues of common interest. Our stakeholders in government, and throughout the industry, agree that this consistency helps to ensure decisions

David Vinsen

“The two groups have a long history of informal collaboration so signing a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise the relationship made sense.”


NEWSTALK

vehicles from public view and include space for a pub-lic carpark on top and room for a hotel next door.

Other plans, which are subject to resource con-sent approval, include the removal of Marsden Wharf and part of a wharf known as B1. That would create nearly a kilometre of new general cargo berth space.

Autohub acting chief executive Frank Willett says the port has put forward some excellent ideas.

“It’s good to see Ports of Auckland is continuing to take a logical and sensible view for the port’s future and not be swayed by the continuing political hype and emotive promises by unin-formed politicians.

“Yes, relocating the port

will take a considerable amount of money and time and I think the plan an-nounced by [Ports of Auck-land] chief executive Tony Gibson provides an excellent

solution to continue sup-porting Auckland’s growth and needs while a relocation plan is formed.”

VIA chief executive David Vinsen says the port’s plan makes sense.

“Ports of Auckland is stepping forward in trying to meet the requirements of all the different stakeholders while maintaining an opera-tional focus.

“It’s a very reasonable solution for the next 30 years to operate effectively and efficiently in its existing footprint.

“Auckland exists because there’s a port. They’re trying to move with the times us-ing modern technology.”

From an industry point of view, Vinsen says the port has very efficient systems for moving vehicles off the ships.

Automobile Association infrastructure spokesman Barney Irvine says moving or down-scaling the port would have a major impact on Auckland’s traffic network so it’s an issue the organisation is following closely.

“We think it makes good sense to look into new ap-proaches but we see the whole thing as a ‘slow burn’.

“Setting up a new port, putting in place the re-quired road and rail infra-structure and starting to decommission the existing port would be really dif-ficult and really expensive – so we wouldn’t expect any big changes for some time yet.”

Gibson says the plan tries to balance Auckland’s eco-nomic, social and environ-mental needs.

“Our plan provides transparency and certainty about what we need to do to continue delivering for Aucklanders.

“It creates space for freight and gives Auckland

Council the time it needs to make a sound decision on where, when and how to move the port.

“Auckland’s population is growing and Ports of Auck-land needs to adapt to keep pace.

“Our master plan outlines all the projects that we will need to undertake until such time as the port is relocated.”

Building a new wharf running east-west along the north end of Bledisloe Termi-nal is in line with the recom-mendations of Auckland Council’s Port Future Study, Gibson says.

“It will be a piled structure in line with our commitment to no further reclamation but it will reach an extra 13 me-tres north into the harbour. This 13 metres is essential to the success of the other wharf projects.”

Auckland mayor Phil Goff, who campaigned on moving the port during his election campaign last year, has some reservations about the draft plan.

“There are… areas where I’m far more conservative than they are on including the extension of any wharf.

From left Frank Willett, David Vinsen, Phil Goff, Tony Gibson and Barney Irvine.

Industry backs port’s master planContinued from page 1


NEWSTALK

AI – what is it and how does it affect my busi-ness?

Those are two questions Callaghan Innovation’s Jona-than Miller is often asked.

It’s his job to explain artifi-cial intelligence (AI) and how it all works.

His expertise is at the interface between busi-ness and science and technology.

Although Miller’s official title is national tech network manager, his role is really as a champion for several digital technologies, including “demystifying” AI.

“My job is to explain the technology and excite cus-tomers to try it. It’s demys-tifying the experience for them.”

Artificial intelligence is about computer systems with human-like intelligence.

The field is already having a big impact on the automo-tive industry. One aspect, au-tonomous systems, applies to self-drive vehicles and drones.

Most new or near new vehicles already have some form of autonomy, even if it’s just cruise control.

Other forms of AI can involve machine learning, pattern recognition, robot-ics, language processing and more.

Miller’s interests in the tech field include virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR). Those are being used now in training automo-tive students. An example is welding where a mask and wand simulate the task with-out anything being scorched.

“Ford is using VR in its prototypes, building 3D

computer generated mod-els,” Miller says.

Such a model can act rather like a flight simula-tor, helping sort issues and details before a vehicle is actually produced.

AR is already being used in motorcycle helmets. A

heads-up display and an app combine to provide the rider with a visual display in the helmet showing speed, navigational information and distance without the rider taking their eyes off the road.

It’s billed as a smart and safer way to ride.

Miller believes AI, espe-cially autonomous vehicles, will have “a huge impact” on society.

“It will change the way we live and work.”

New services, some already being introduced, enable people to no longer own a vehicle but to ride-share or car-share with oth-ers in their area and prob-ably do their work while travelling.

“Many new services will give people more work and leisure time, making roads safer,” Miller says.

And high autonomy might not be far off, he says.

“Leading auto manufac-turers are saying level four or five autonomy may be ready around 2020 to 2025.

“If that’s the case, the first big improvement will be around urban mobility.”

Miller says business mod-els will also change.

“A survey of auto execu-tives found about 59% think that by 2025 more than half of car owners will no longer want to own one.”

That signals big changes, Miller says.

Jonathan Miller

Getting your head around AI

Callaghan Innova-tions is a govern-ment agency that

helps people adapt to and embrace new technology.

Named after physicist Sir Paul Callaghan, it provides customers with advice, expertise and access to funding to achieve that.

Chief executive Vic Crone, a former Auck-land mayoral candidate, is warning business opera-tors they need to adapt.

“In the next decade about half our jobs will disappear. We can either replace them with higher-value technology enabled jobs or stand by and watch our economy become ir-

relevant.”Businesses that succeed

will be those prepared to disrupt themselves, Crone says.

“This is happening in industries all the time. Uber is working on self-piloting cars and drones to ensure it’s near the front of the queue when autonomous ride-sharing takes over.”

Each year Callaghan Innovations makes about $140 million available through grants in co-fund-ing situations to help with a wide variety of projects.

Visit www.callaghanin-novation.govt.nz for more information.

“I think we might see some hybrid solutions in terms of platooning (a lead-ing vehicle directing follow-ing ones or ‘slaves’).”

Truck drivers, for instance, might still be needed in autonomous (and probably electric) trucks to handle the trickier side of getting vehicles from their base to the highway and later to their destinations.

But self-driving ap-plications would probably work best on the highways, leaving the driver free to do other company related work through on-board commu-nication systems.

Miller says the intelligent transport infrastructure here is well advanced, along with related autonomous devel-opments, and cites as an example HMI Technologies’ work in this field (see EVtalk September magazine, P3 & 22).

Driverless forklift tech-nology was developed in New Zealand and is used in factories here.

“There’s a lot of talent in New Zealand working on this sort of thing,” Miller says.

Jobs will change but Miller believes that with autonomous vehicles and robotics, humans will still be needed to do the thinking.

“AI provides the tools to make jobs easier and lets us concentrate on the prob-lem-solving.”

People will need training and upskilling to perform new roles, especially as AI will create new employment directions.

New Zealand has the skills and technology, along with a good regulatory environment, to foster new developments, Miller says.

“The future looks really exciting.”

Adapting to the future


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Legendary Auckland new ve-hicle dealership Moyes has lost its Holden franchise after 38 years and

plans to close its retail operations before Christmas.

“We are extremely proud that our company has performed strongly throughout its 30-year history as a

Holden dealership,” managing director John Moyes says.

“We are constantly evaluating our core business and our directors have de-cided to explore other business interests and opportunities going forward.”

Holden New Zealand chose not to renew Moyes’ dealership agreement,

a decision managing director Kristian Aquilina describes as “difficult.”

“While Moyes Holden, the Moyes family and their staff have made a valu-able contribution to the Holden brand for 38 years, it was difficult to see a long-term sustainable role for a full-scale Holden dealership in the current

location as part of our future plan for Auckland,” he says.

“Despite this difficult decision, Holden would like to thank the Moyes family and team for their

support of the Holden brand over this time.”

Aquilina denies the move was caused by the dealership’s perfor-mance or the end of the traditional Australian-built Commodore.

“The New Zealand automotive market has evolved dramatically over recent years, especially the Auckland region,” he says.

“Holden New Zealand con-stantly reviews the distribution of its dealer network to ensure its brand representation is optimised for population and demographic changes.

“As the Holden brand moves into an exciting phase of dealership upgrades right across New Zealand, it was the right time to also make the tough calls on what Holden in Auckland needs to look like in the future.”

No other changes to the dealer network are to be announced from the review, other than that New-market-based Schofield Holden will continue to operate a service and parts operation from the Moyes site.

Moyes says the dealership’s directors have been working to ensure as many staff as possible can be retained within the industry or employed elsewhere.

“The company is departing with mixed emotions and would like to thank its loyal staff and customers.”

End of the road for Moyes


NEWSTALK

Manheim Auctions’ new national headquarters is less than 500 metres from its previous site.

But the more modern facilities are making all the difference for dealers, distributors and the public.

The Roscommon Rd site in Wiri, Auckland is home to Manheim’s cars, light commercial and trucks, and machinery businesses, with salvage moving in next year.

It complements the company’s sites in Wellington and Christchurch.

“We’ve had to do quite a bit of refurbishment,” Manheim New Zealand general man-ager Andrew Sherliker says.

“The road frontage gives us undercover storage for about 300 cars. The business has grown significantly in the last three years and we want to keep that going.”

The previous premises behind Nissan New Zea-land’s headquarters, just metres away from the new site, had room only for 20

cars undercover, he says.The new site also gives Manheim room to grow.

“That’s probably the most important thing. The last site was pretty landlocked.

“When you do take on additional business,

it’s not such a hardship. Previously we regularly used off-site storage facilities.

“Like anything else you’re still going to need them occasionally, like after the rental season, but you’re not going to need that land for just three months of the year.”

The new facility, which hosts auc-tions on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, has had great feedback from customers.

“They like the facility because they

Manheim move a big success

Andrew Sherliker

Continued on page 8


NEWSTALK

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can view cars undercover. It makes a whole lot of difference.

“There’s no more wind blowing off

the Manukau Harbour.”Sherliker says dealers and distributors

are particularly happy with their dedi-cated auction room, which is separated

off from the public auctions.It hosts auctions featuring Holden

and Mazda’s ex-sponsorship and company vehicles, plus former Mazda

rentals.And the location is perfect for

pulling in customers for public auctions, with much of the stock coming from repossessed vehi-cles.

“If you want to have a decent public presence, this site is great because it’s busy at peak times in the mornings and evenings.”

But Sherliker says fewer people are turning up to auctions in person these days and more than 70% of Manheim’s transactions are done online.

“All the information is there – you can see all the photos during the live auction and interact with the auctioneer if there’s something you’re not sure about,” he says.

“We can provide quality infor-

mation, giving the buyer confi-dence. The days of driving cars through a physical auction have been and gone.

“The online auctions help in a country like New Zealand when we’re spread out across a fair old chunk of land.”

Twenty-six partner sites use Manheim’s software to upload the vehicles for auction, Sherliker says.

“They tend to be transport and recovery specialists who sell vehi-cles from their locations.

“It works especially well for insurers.”

Manheim move a big success

“If you want to have a decent public presence, this site is great because it’s busy at peak times in the mornings and evenings.”


NEWSTALK

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NEWSTALK

Disruption

The Japanese new vehicle fleet’s uptake of Intelligent Trans-

port Systems using the 760 megahertz frequency is causing headaches for New Zealand importers.

That’s because the frequency, which allows ve-hicles to communicate with each other, is already used in New Zealand by mobile phone providers and it’s il-legal to transmit radio signals on it.

It could potentially cause chaos if the two technolo-gies were to clash trying to use the same frequency.

However, efforts from or-ganisations like VIA and the Ministry of Transport have brought the issue to the at-tention of policy makers and manufacturers alike.

VIA policy analyst Kit Wilkerson says no one was aware of the problem initially but now New Zealand is at the forefront of discussions on how to sort it out.

“The discussion is taking place prior to the manufacture of the vehicle, rather than fighting the New Zealand Government to allow us to import the vehicles.”

The discussions have prompted some potential solutions from the companies in-volved, Wilkerson says.

“Some of the chip makers are looking at either dual solutions or equal but dif-ferent solutions.

“Some cars for the Japanese market with a 760MHz chip will also have

5.9MHz available. Whether we remove one chip and put the other one in, we’ll have to see.

“The other favour-able news is some of the manufacturers are

looking at building dual-band devices that switch frequen-

cies based on geo-graphic location and

the vehicle.”Wilkerson says

VIA is working with Spark to import one of the vehicles for testing.

“They can import one. They are the licence holder for the frequencies. We can experiment with deactivat-ing it and see what the actual impact will be.”

But there could still be issues with 760 MHz vehicles

coming into the market next year, Wilkerson says.

“Unfortunately our advice from last year is still the most current. Some mod-els are still going to have it available in 2018.

“If someone does make the business decision to import one, they need to make sure that technology is disabled or removed.”

Wilkerson at the forefrontKit Wilkerson’s mem-

bership of an International Standards Organisation tech-nical committee could help avoid potential problems caused by new technology.

The committee, which is investigating different types of dynamic mapping, is at the forefront of advances in autonomous and connected

vehicle technology.It provides access to

national policy leaders and OEM representatives which, looking back, would have been helpful when address-ing the 760MHz issue.

“Had we been part of these discussions five or ten years ago we could have seen this 760MHz issue coming,” Wilkerson says.

“We could have negoti-ated with Japan to block off that part of the spectrum.

“The telecommunications companies still would have been able to buy chunks. Then New Zealand consum-ers would have been able to take advantage of this technology being developed in Japan.”

Now the industry has the

The battle for airspace


Kit Wilkerson


NEWSTALK


NEWSTALK

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opportunity to be at the cut-ting edge of discussions, he says.

“We’re looking forward to being more proactive in the future.”

Being part of the ISO committee does mean plenty of international travel for Wilkerson, who recently at-tended a meeting in Texas.

But it’s important to be there in person, he says.

“To be fair, a lot of politics goes on so it would be really difficult over Skype.

“The guys representing Japan are really pushing the technology being developed for autonomous vehicles in

Japan. It’s the country that has the most advanced plan.

“There’s push-back from the Europeans resisting change, representing the European OEMs who may not want to adopt the Japanese plans.”

Positioning New Zealand as a neutral broker makes for some interesting discussions, he says.

“New Zealand is unique as it has no vested interest: we do not manufacture vehicles but we take vehicles from both European and Japanese manufacturers. It puts us in

an interesting place.“The Japanese auto

agenda has links to 760MHz while other manufacturers use 5.9MHz.

“We don’t quite know where that’s going.”

Despite all the posi-tioning, creating critical mass will be necessary before the technology is usable, he says.

“You can’t rely on it to tell you a car is coming around the

corner if only 0.5% of cars have it.”

New Zealand is in a favourable position to take advantage of the latest technology trends, Wilkerson says.

“There’s lots of early adopters. There’s so many people throwing money at connected and autonomous technology.

“It’s about building on the little successes.”

ITS systems can be disabledIntelligent Transport

System units that conflict with local radio spectrums by broadcasting on the 760MHz range can be deactivated, Toyota New Zealand says.

In New Zealand the 760MHz band is owned by telecommunications companies for 4G networks. Toyota is fitting the tech-nology to cars sold new in Japan.

If active, the transmitters would make the car an illegal import.

The system that creates the issue is Toyota’s ITS Con-nect unit, which is an option-al extra on cars fitted with the brand’s “Safety Sense” suite of intelligent safety technology – a package of items such as autonomous emergency braking and lane

departure warnings.It is available in only a

small number of models but one is the high-volume Prius.

Safety Sense is also be-coming more widespread. Toyota Japan confirmed last month all Vitz would be fitted with Safety Sense from this year.

As of October 2016, around 50,000 vehicles car-ried the ITS Connect system.

Toyota NZ spokesperson Morgan Dilks says the brand has been working with the Ministry of Transport and VIA to provide access to cars in Japan for testing and con-firmation of how the system works and how it can be disabled.

The system can be identi-fied through a dash screen menu and disabling it is as simple as cutting a wire – although access is reported to be difficult.

It does not affect other safety systems.

“The ITS system (which has the conflicting fre-quency in New Zealand) can be disabled by removing the power input to the ITS computer in the vehicle,” Dilks says.

“This is detected on the multi-display when the igni-tion is turned on.

“Disabling the system through cutting the power input does not impact on any of the vehicle’s other safety features.”

But it might not always be that simple, Dilks says.

“Currently, while the ITS system can be disabled in isolation without affecting other vehicle features (such as safety), ITS is manageable.

“In the future, if ITS systems are more tightly integrated, then it could be more difficult to disable in isolation.”

The battle for airspaceContinued from page 10


NEWSTALK


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Colonial Motor Company’s trad-ing profit might have been up by more than 14% in the last

financial year but it’s taking nothing for granted.

Chairman Jim Gibbons outlined the company’s success at its recent annual general meeting.

“We have had another exceptional year. Trading profit at $22 million is

14.5% up on last year. “From the low point of the global

financial crisis, which for us was 2010, the trading profit has risen from $6.1m to this year’s $22.0m. Better still, over

those seven years, in all bar one (2015) there was an improvement on the year before.”

But, despite the success, Gib-bons isn’t making any big predic-tions about how the company will perform in the coming months.

“Predicting the profitability of the company for the next month is not accurate, let alone for six months ahead.”

Overall, growth has been continuous and steady, which he describes as unusual in a generally cyclical business.

Gibbons also noted the com-pany’s rising share price in his address.

“The combined effect of an in-creasing dividend and lower inter-est rate expectations has seen our share price rise from $2.18 in 2010 to $7.50 this year (using June 30 as the date.)

“Today’s price of over $7.60 is justified in the current economic environment but it depends on our ability to pay dividends and on the current low interest rates.”

Diverse businessColonial has interests in both

the new car and trucking sectors.It has 13 mainly Ford and Mazda

dealerships around the country and its Southpac Trucks business is the New Zealand distributor for Kenworth and DAF.

In the new car market, Gibbons says customers like Mazda’s wide variety of SUV offerings and Ford has a strong commercial range.

“We are very dependent on our franchisors supplying us with the right mix of product at the right price at the right time.”

However, a successful manage-

Colonial boss outlines reasons for success



INFORMATIONINFORMATION TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

It seems that every day more and more services are available from “The

Cloud” and, if the media is to be believed, everyone – especially at enterprise and corporate level – seems to be rushing to the cloud as fast as possible.

In fact, while there was an initial rush a while ago, the current movement to the cloud could be de-scribed more accurately as a steady trickle.

Many organisations that initially jumped 100% into the cloud have reverted, at least in part, to some sort of hybrid arrangement – with a mixture of local systems plus some public and some private cloud.

That’s the appropriate ap-proach for most businesses. There are always natural conflicts between making any system accessible, us-able, accurate and secure.

We deal with these con-stantly in the software design process but physically locating the system in an external environ-ment adds more layers of potential risk and reward.

Making a system accessible automati-cally makes it more prone to security issues.

For example, access via someone else’s wi-fi creates vulner-abilities, as does the automatic saving of passwords on staff phones. If they lose the phone it might still allow access to your business systems without the need to know the login or password details.

These things are easier to control in a local environ-

ment but usually mean high-er costs and more hassle.

Local systems also need good back-up procedures. In the cloud, these are usually done for you.

Another important con-sideration is the financial decision to buy or subscribe.

Although most software-as-a-service offerings only allow a subscription model – so this decision is somewhat limited – keeping systems on your own premises will also involve the cost of hardware, networking and maintaining your own back-up regime.

Also consider that the data traffic cost on an internal network is effectively nil while a cloud-hosted service needs a constant data con-

nection that might consume significant amounts of band-width depending on use… and upgrading connections might be required to deliver acceptable speeds and reli-ability.

Creeping data costs are

one potential trap in a fully hosted structure and this can offset the expected savings that influenced the decision to move to the cloud in the first place.

Horses For coursesSo, there will be systems

that suit the cloud very well and those that might not.

In my experience, the best fit for most businesses will involve a hybrid of local and cloud systems, whether they’re private and public.

Our business is no differ-ent to any other organisa-tion. Across TSI Group we have email, payroll and websites being delivered exclusively from the cloud.

Our text messaging, cus-tomer support and some sales processes are deliv-ered partly by us and partly via private cloud.

But our administrative and financial systems are kept entirely within our own networks at the mo-ment.

Basically, over time we are steadily pushing more of our infrastructure to the cloud because it’s con-venient and efficient but there are a few systems we are unlikely to expose for

the foreseeable future.Don’t be taken in by the

hype. Software as a service can be the perfect solution but it is just one option and probably won’t be appropri-ate for every software system you run.

Be careful when switch-ing to software as a service purely on a cost-savings basis. Often, savings will not be significant in the longer term and might not be worth the loss of control.

And finally, make an effort to understand ex-actly where your data might physically reside.

Is it even in the same country? Are copies made and where are these? What level of encryption is used? What options do you have if your data is not available for, say, six business hours?

The pros:• Remote connectivity • Device independence• Per seat/licence. No

redundant expense• Scalable• Little or no up-front cost• Back-ups and upgrades

done for you• Security might be bet-

ter. *

The cons:• Outages could mean

business ceases• Less customisation on

shared platform• Can’t opt out of updates• Hidden costs e.g. extra

data charges• Tax benefits of purchas-

ing• Performance at mercy of

connection quality• Exit barriers can be sig-

nificant• Security out of your

control.**Security is a serious

consideration in any decision around where business data is stored. Critical data should only be hosted by companies and data centres that you trust to do an equivalent or better job than you could.

Software as a service?

Darryn Crothall is group general manager of TSI Group, a leading supplier of software and technology services across the automotive industry - best known for its Systime (Autoline), SAM and Orion brands.



Dealer Analytics - the competitive edge

Chris Knight

Trade Me Motors re-cently launched Dealer Analytics, a tool that

gives dealers the competitive edge and ultimately helps them sell more vehicles.

Dealer Analytics focuses on three key dealer areas: • Stock insights• Benchmarked per-

formance against the market

• Customer demograph-ics.

Trade Me Motors plans to continually develop and ex-pand the offering to include elements such as buyer search behaviour to keep

dealers ahead of the demand curve.

Stock insightsOne way it’s

helping deal-ers gain further insight into their stock are the “Least and Most Popular Vehicles” reports.

These show dealers which of their listed vehicles are worst and best performing by measuring the number of views it takes to get a lead.

How are dealers using this

information?The reports provide

benchmark pricing com-pared to other listings

The informa-tion allows dealers to decide whether to promote the listing, adjust the price or improve the listing infor-mation to gener-ate more leads

When this information is

used in conjunction with the customer demographic report, dealers are able to list vehicles in regions with higher demand and tailor

their targeting accordingly.

Benchmarked performance For a better understanding

of market share of dealer to public sales, Dealer Analytics compares sales performance as a percentage of total New Zealand sales, either na-tionwide or regionally, each month in the “Market Share by Month” report .

A better understanding of market trends when analys-ing performance is a useful benchmarking tool.

Just launchedOn November 1, Trade Me

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F2 has all the tools you need, in one place. Sales, Parts, Admin & Service work together to deliver a seamless workflow your staff will love. Choose for over 100 helpful

reports. F2’s strong account control provides departmental summaries and lets you make decisions with confidence.

F2’s users decide where to invest development resources. This ensures F2 is always heading in the right direction.

You get helpful tutorials and Helpdesk staff are always on hand to answer queries. We fine tune training to suit your dealership.




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AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE IT

DEALER MANAGEMENT IT

I am often asked a wide range of ques-tions when it comes to the use of technology in dealerships. It’s great to know dealers are really

starting to understand the impact tech-nology can have on their business and including it in their day-to-day thought processes.

Below are a couple of my favourite questions and my thoughts on each.

Do staff still need a computer or are tablets and mobile devices the stand-ard?

We recommend both. A workstation, which can be shared, still has its place for data entry tasks and in-depth analyt-ics, for example, but we are seeing a shift towards a more mobile workforce.

Motorcentral DMS has been devel-oped primarily for a more powerful desktop computer but with a focus on mobile to cover keys areas a user may require whilst away from their computer.

Examples of these include:• Adding/updating interior, exterior

and mechanical features to vehicles• Taking/updating photos of cars for

uploading to listing sites• Uploading vehicles to listing sites• On hand information of purchase

costs associated with a vehicle for on the spot negotiating

• Ability to add expenses against the car. Great for repair quotes and ensuring all potential expenses are visible to decision makers

• Facilitating the recording of test drives, including taking a photo of a driver’s license

• Sales and stock reporting.As we continue to integrate with

other parties, the need for data entry will lessen, allowing mobile devices to be used more and more for specific dealer-ship functions only.

Ultimately, it will also come down to a dealership’s preference and to the re-quirements of individuals and their roles.

Some might not need access to a computer at all and can effectively do their job from a mobile device.

Motorcentral has developed flexibility for that reason and users can utilise our

software in whichever way best suits their business.

Should your data management system and accounting software work together?

Absolutely yes. This is true whether your DMS includes an accounting com-ponent or it exports the appropriate data to a third-party accounting system

(such as Xero). Our viewpoint is to let accountants

work in an environment they are com-fortable with (Xero or MYOB primarily) and not require them to also learn the intricacies of a DMS to extract the infor-mation they require.

At the same time, by removing “accounting” from the DMS, we can

Getting the best from technology


BY MARK GREENFIELD, MOTOR CENTRAL



The rise of Xero and its online competitors has caused a small

revolution in the develop-ment of business software and its relationship with accounting.

On the one hand, soft-ware providers who have never had any accounting expertise and who treat it as entirely outside their intended market can now allow their clients to inte-grate to online accounting software with relative ease.

On the other hand, those of us that have al-ways included accounting functionality as a software option now have a potential dilemma - do we integrate, ignore or compete?

Ultimately, the correct answer to such questions is always the same: give the clients what they want. In this case, that means do all of the above.

IntegrateBuilding interfaces to

allow interactions between our software and accounting software. In the case of Xero ,this is live and two-way - the two systems “talk” back and forth, allowing constant checking and reconciliation on either side of the inter-face.

Other online systems are generally not quite as ad-vanced on this as Xero and their interfaces are not quite as slick but there is always a way to achieve a result.

IgnoreSome clients are happy

with their existing old-style system and don’t want to, or aren’t yet ready, to move to an online accounting solu-tion.

Whatever the reason, we

need to provide an option for them.

CompeteI should stress that when I

say “compete”, I’m generally referring to larger dealer and multi-site systems that don’t integrate easily with the likes of Xero because of their size, scale and complexity.

Xero targets small, simply structured businesses and in my view it’s not designed to naturally deal with larger, multi-department and multi-location operations.

Vertical automotive marketOur market – the mo-

tor industry – is what as referred to as “vertical” - it is highly specialised. Other verticals would be health-care or hotels and the software for these is just as specialised as that for the automotive industry.

Conversely, horizontal markets are not specialised at all. Accounting software, for example, is targeted at pretty much anyone with a business.

So, with integration be-tween vertical automotive software and horizontal ac-counting software, we have a few minor mismatches that need to be dealt with.

Xero and others are dealing mostly with retail point-of-sale software and there are some assumptions that come with this – like not having 20th of the month accounts.

For example, it is reason-

Darryn Crothall is group general manager of TSI Group, a leading supplier of software and technology services across the automotive industry - best known for its Systime (Autoline), SAM and Orion brands.

Accounting: Integration or inbuilt?

ably common to charge in-terest on overdue accounts in the service and repair market. This is functional-ity we’ve had for 15 years or more.

None of the online ac-counting systems cope with calculating this and we also struggle to get the actual interest charges through the interface.

We also have inbuilt systems for dealing with multiple debtors being con-solidated to a single “master” debtor for billing.

This is common where a business customer has

several locations that are treated as separate entities for marketing and CRM pur-poses but where they want a single invoice each month for all sites. We haven’t yet seen the online accounting system that copes with this.

All of this means our client ends up doing more manual work.

That’s not the end of the world but if there are enough minor issues like the above, where the specialist software reflects the exact needs of its intended market, and the horizontal accounting systems doesn’t, then some weighing up of the pros and cons is required.

Disclosure: TSI Group company SAM is a Xero channel partner and several dozen SAM clients in New Zealand and Australia have full integration to Xero.

Motors launched its new “Competitor Vehicles Your Customers are Watching” report. It shows dealers what other vehicles their potential customers are watchlisting.

What does this mean?Dealers are given a

direct line to their com-petition

This knowledge could seal the deal with a price adjustment or other in-centives

The opportunity also exists to offer customers a wider range of options that are of interest to

them.“It’s about knowing

what your customers are looking at, what the competition looks like and where your stock is under performing,” Trade Me Motors sales director Chris Knight says.

“This allows you to adjust your tactics and implement the necessary changes to ensure that you’re increasing turno-ver.”

To gain more insights and ensure that you have the competitive edge, contact your Trade Me account manager.

Dealer Analytics - the competitive edge


*Based on the number of views for the month of September 2017

The number of times Trade Me vehicles were eyeballed last month.*

65 Million

Be seen, get in touch with your account manager | [email protected] | 0800 428 862



Your DMS in the Cloud - Moving your DMS into the cloud in is a no brainer. Why upgrade servers and do nightly backups onsite when this can be outsourced. Just pay for what you use and take all the extra costs and frustrations away. Going into the Cloud is a great option especially if you have multiple sites or you cannot justify having a dedicated IT person within the business.

Paperless work envi-ronment - Gone are the days of having to keep hard copies of all docu-ments for 7 years. With electronic archiving of documents produced from the DMS (which Pentana solutions offers) staff no longer need to spend hours going through boxes looking for that missing warranty RO or the cus-

tomer invoice. All docu-ments can be stored and retrieved instantly in the cloud. Thus eliminating the risk of missing documents, reducing costs for document storage and saving countless hours of time spent search-ing for documents.

Digital marketing - Impact in Service retention - In today’s busy world it is vital to use the latest CRM tools to automate the service retention processes within a dealership. Daryn Pennington at AutoCity has told us that he loves the automated digital market-ing with Pentana Solutions product Dealersocket. The professional correspond-ence, and the fact that he can send 900 emails in a month to different cus-tomers, each with their own specific and targeted

message, and all with the push of one single button. “It’s all very professional, and once it’s set, there is no need for the team to

touch it again.” AutoCity have employed three addi-tional technicians recently to keep up with the growth in their service department. This growth is attributed to the automated service retention strategy delivered by Pentana Solutions.

Wow factor - It’s not often that you can say a DMS adds a wow factor to your business. But that is exactly what the eraPower

DMS has done. Dealer-ship staff are no longer tied to their desktop computer. The eraPow-er DMS can be accessed via any mobile device. You can now service your customers any-where!

If you are looking for a DMS that will help

you grow your business utilising the latest tech-nology, eraPower is the DMS to look at. eraPower is mobile, flexible and very intuitive and easy to use.

For a no obligation chat give Brooke Ebbett a call on 021 555 122

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simplify its structure and interface, mak-ing it easier to use, instead of revolving around ledgers and accounting codes for example.

Working in with a specialist account-ing system, as opposed to making the DMS have it built-in, also means we can spend more time building industry spe-cific products and solutions, rather than having to put our resources into main-taining and keeping up with regulatory changes in the accounting sector.

Should we be building or buying our software outright or paying by the month?

In our opinion, buying by the month is the better option, unless you require highly specialised software.

Paying monthly gives the benefit of

ongoing upgrades and often no or low long-term commitments. If the soft-ware is no longer working for you, you can move to something else without penalty.

If you consider the alternative of purchasing a system up-front, you are likely to pay a higher licence fee per user or device you install it for, and then an ongoing maintenance fee.

This will also only give you that “ver-sion” of the software and you are likely to be required to upgrade your entire system for a fee to get the next feature set as it becomes available.

Subscription-based plans wrap all this together into a low monthly fee, allowing you to always have the latest version of the software.

Software subscriptions do require you to have software that is slightly

more generic than something custom-built, which can be a problem if you need something very specific.

In that case there might be benefits in considering developing your own software as opposed to an “off-the-shelf” solution that subscription models offer.

Beware though, custom software can be expensive and you will be re-sponsible for the development of any new feature you require.

At Motorcentral we’ve tried to give our customers the best of both worlds: a low-cost subscription model but with some flexibility built in to allow cus-tomisation in certain areas.

That means if you don’t like one of the reports shipped with the prod-uct, for example, you can have a one custom-built specific to your needs.


Getting the best from technology


SHOWROOMNEW VEHICLE INDUSTRY AND PRODUCT NEWS

Franchise opportunity in East or South Auckland

Suzuki New Zealand Ltd is looking for expressions of interest for representation in the East and South Auckland region. Both the incorporation into an existing automobile dealership or development of a new site will be considered. This could be your opportunity to secure one of New Zealand’s fastest growing brands.

Applications to: Gary Collins, Suzuki New Zealand email: [email protected]

“Price Promise” system. The distributor owns

all the cars and parts and dealers sell them at a set, no-haggle price for a com-mission. From a business perspective, Honda calls it an agency distribution model.

General manager of sales Peter Ashley says the system still works very well for the brand, particularly in market sectors where it is strong.

“It suits the private and some company buyers. We have our own lease com-pany as well which is under the Honda Financial Services umbrella, and we have very loyal companies that are involved in our product.

“They’ve seen very good residual values at the end.”

It is a particularly attrac-tive proposition for anyone taking on a franchise be-cause it has the potential to reduce the sometimes steep overheads of a new vehicle operation.

“The operator does not have to fund the new cars or parts, we do,” Ashley says.

“Their risk is making sure that the ‘engine room’ is good and that they are good used car operators.”

The brand is not averse to building a facility for them-

selves, Ashley says.Areas of focus for new

representation are the south-ern and western parts of Auckland.

Central Taupo is also on its wishlist. That comes off the back of new representa-tion in Whangarei, Whan-ganui and Timaru.

The retail network now totals 25, with another five parts and service agents.

Ashley wants operators willing to move as soon as possible - and he’s open to different ways of selling cars, including retail shop fronts such as in a mall space.

The brand has trialled a “pop-up” retail outlet at Botany Town Centre and is looking to move the project forward “if I could find a shop in the eastern part of Auckland, so Botany or Sylvia Park, that suited”.

Move makes ‘absolute sense’Honda New Zealand has

been represented at its ionic Newmarket site for 42 years.

The location is the same but under the skin massive changes have taken place.

The service centre has been relocated to the build-ing and new offices to house the head office team have been built on top of and be-hind the existing showroom area.

Next will be a refurbish-ment of the showroom, in-cluding new reception areas and a customer lounge.

New used car branding is coming as is the return of the giant Honda pylon, the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere for Honda.

Ashley says people know the brand is located at the site and moving the com-pany closer to its main retail outlet is a logical move.

“This move just made ab-solute sense in my opinion.”

An engineer’s brandAshley has spent almost

his entire career working with Honda, beginning with its predecessor, the New Zealand Motor Corporation.

“I have got Hs running through my veins,” he says.

“When I left school I started as an apprentice mo-tor mechanic at the NZMC. They were one of the first to officially import and sell Hondas.

“The 1976 EB1 Civic we have in the showroom is number one off the NZMC line at Petone.”

He has worked with other brands, particularly during his time with Percy Motor Group which held other franchises, but his passion for Honda has always been the strong-est.

He has run the Manukau, Northshore and Newmarket Honda dealerships.

“An an engineer, I have a lot of respect for their en-gines. If you want to sum up Honda, they are an engine builder – the largest in the world.

“I am endeared to the product because I believe so strongly in what they build.”

Honda’s dealer huntContinued from page 1

Peter Ashley



Did you know Volvos don’t have that tradi-tional new car smell?

The cars are built with material that doesn’t emit chemical vapours. Instead, the smell has to be added back in after production.

And did you know a Volvo has a 23.7-year life experi-ence? Or that its leather is chromium-free and its chrome nickel-free?

Such little yet interesting and important details were explained enthusiastically to journalists last month by Volvo senior global trainer James Moore, here to help launch the new XC60.

United Kingdom-based Moore has the job of travelling the Asia pacific indoctrinating brand and dealer staff on the prod-uct and Volvo’s ways.

His XC60 specific details include interesting nuggets such as: the boot floor cannot be lifted when the rear door is locked, es-sentially providing a safe for expensive items; or that, although on paper it has one of the smallest boots in the class he has tried and found it the only one among com-petitors BMW X3, Mercedes Benz GLC and Audi Q5 that can handle four full-size suitcases.

In dealerships now, the car is the only one in the segment with a plug-in hy-brid option, the T8.

The model has five engine options, all based on the same two-litre four-cylinder

engine. All-wheel drive is standard and there are three levels of specification: Momentum, Inscription and R-Design.

Standard features include a 360-degree camera, navi-gation, park assist pilot, key-less entry, handsfree tailgate and Apple Carplay or Android Auto integrated into the Sen-sus system with its nine-inch touchscreen.

Also standard is lane keeping aid. Oncoming lane mitigation and steer assist

will join the standard Intel-lisafe City Safety system, which includes pedestrian, cyclist, vehicle and large ani-mal detection with automatic emergency braking.

Options include Nappa leather seats with ventilation and massage, and Bowers & Wilkins Premium Sound.

Optional four-corner air suspension gives C60 customers the chance to add even more personalisation – it’s priced at $4200.

The petrol T5 Momentum starts at $84,900 and the T8 R-Design reaches $117,900. Interestingly, that top model makes up nearly half of cus-tomer pre-orders.

Volvo Cars NZ boss Coby Duggan says the old model XC60 has sold out cleanly and he’s expecting strong things for the model - although they are supply limited.

Volvo sold 191 cars last year and another 101 to the launch date of the old mod-el. It’s hoping for between 70 and 90 new models in 2017 with 240 next year. That will take it to 10% of the seg-ment.

Next year will also see a

reduction in variants from the seven on offer at launch.

Auto Media Group got the chance to ride in and drive a range of models and came away impressed.

The entry level pet-rol models offer plenty of performance and feel lighter on the road than the T8. That model is a barnstormer and a larger battery means it will have a slightly longer electric-only range, closer to 40km, than the XC90 T8.

Handling felt especially confident and fuss-free but the steering offered little in the way of response or feedback for the road. That’s to be expected in an SUV,

although it was disappoint-ing against models like the new X3.

Fit and finish felt excellent and comfort in the front of the cars was great - some of the best seats fitted to any car in the market. Rear legroom was a little tight, though a six-foot passenger could still sit behind a six-foot driver.

Chinese Volvos confirmedAlthough the XC60 re-

mains European-sourced, the shift to some Chinese sourcing has begun for Volvo Cars New Zealand.

The move has long been expected since Geely took over the brand and a number of Volvo factories have been built in China.

The first cars will arrive late this year - model year 2019 S 90 sedans.

Duggan says he’s curious to see if the move will turn off any buyers.

“But we are very confident about what we are doing.”

The quality will be impres-sive, he says.

“It is identical in regards to the production processes. Based on quality metrics, in some ways they are even better than cars produced in Sweden.”

Duggan says he does not yet know what other models will eventually shift to Chi-nese sourcing.

“We do not know for sure yet. There are models in the future that will still come out of Sweden.”

XC60 evidence of Volvo’s unique approach



It was a first for us, heading off-road for almost a full day during the launch of

the new BMW X3. Medium-size luxury SUVs

like this usually arrive with no off-road experience offered - or just a token drive in a grassy paddock.

But then the X3 is often a bringer-of-firsts for the brand.

It was the first BMW with the current X-drive all-wheel drive system, the first with a six-speed automatic, the first with stop-start on an automatic and the first with BMW’s Connected Drive system.

Although not the first to launch with it, when GPS mapping came to New Zealand in the early 2000s, the original X3 was a test bed and the first journalists had a chance to drive.

And yet the X3 is not the brand’s top-selling SUV. That award is taken by the large X5 model, with even the small X1 also outselling it.

BMW does not comment on sales figures but the new model is expected to do much better.

Designed by Australian Calvin Luk, the X3 has grown to the point where it is now bigger than the original X5.

The wheelbase has increased by a significant 50mm, with more leg, head and shoulder room for pas-sengers.

Wheel sizes are also up, with the basic wheel now a 19-inch diameter, with op-tions up to 21 inches. The

wheel sizes add a more aggressive, more SUV-like look to the model as do LED headlight units that shift from the traditional round lens shape to a hexagonal format.

Three models are on offer, an xDrive20d for $92,850, an xDrive30i for $99,850 and, for the first time, an M mod-el, the M40i for $119,850.

Acknowledging a move away from diesel in the segment, the flagship M40i

gets petrol power, a turbo-charged six-cylinder produc-ing 265kW and 500Nm and able to run to 100km in 4.8 seconds.

The other models are turbocharged 2-litre four-cylinders, the 20d produc-ing 140kW and 400Nm and capable of using as little as 5.2 litres per 100km. The 30i produces 185kW and 350Nm.

All three engines are paired to an eight-speed automatic with standard all-wheel drive.

Standard specifications are incredibly high: leather interiors, LED headlights, a 10.25-inch touchscreen with BMW’s new iDrive six software, navigation, Apple

CarPlay and Android Auto, reversing camera, active cruise control, lane keep-ing assistant and speed limit information on the 20d.

The 30i adds a huge heads-up display, adaptive headlights, 20-inch wheels, paddle shifters for the trans-mission and an enhanced parking assistance system with a remote 3D view.

The M40i adds 21-inch wheels, adaptive suspen-

sion, gesture control for the infotainment system and a Harman Kardon surround sound system.

Driving assistant plus can be optioned into the 20d, and sound and vision, M Sport and M Sport Plus op-tions are also on offer.

The M40i makes a strong statement for the model on the road.

The engine outputs a satisfying growl and throttle response is very impressive. Steering is quick, crisp and well weighted for an SUV and even in Sport Plus mode, the adaptive suspension offers an excellent ride.

In comparison, the 30i feels underwhelming and its suspension a little firm

and jiggly on New Zealand’s imperfect road surfaces.

The X3 feels more spacious inside than the Volvo XC60, also recently launched, though the design does not gel as well as the Swedish model.

The 10.25-inch screen is good and now offers touch-function though it looks a lit-tle small in the context of the interior design, particularly with the lack of a full LCD dash like those in the XC60 and Audi Q5.

But the BMW trumps eve-ryone with its new heads-up display - it is huge and easy to read.

So how is the X3 off the road? Impressive.

Even on steep, slippery tracks, a well-chosen route and hill descent control allowed the car to get into some pretty surprising spots in the hills of Taupo’s Poronui Station. No driver will ever do this with an X3 - but it is nice to know it can.

Built to be electricUnderneath the BMW X3

hides a little secret - it was built to be electric.

The brand has confirmed an all-electric - not plug-in hybrid - version is coming. But that is all they can tell us for now.

“This has been developed for a fully electric drivetrain from day one,” BMW NZ corporate communications manager Paul Sherley.

“That it’s being released in 2020 is the only information we have.”

Offroad challenge for X3 launch



Mercedes-Benz Australia has opened the world’s seventh Mercedes Me store in Collins

Street, Melbourne on the King Street corner of the Rialto.

Joining global cities Hamburg and Munich, Moscow, Hong Kong and Beijing, and Tokyo, the Melbourne store, which functions as a café by day, will offer Mercedes enthusiasts a cultural interaction with local boutique manufacturers of watches and jewelry, food and liquor, and fashion and art.

Two gents responsible for oversee-ing the store’s planning, execution and on-going success are newly-returned to Melbourne (from New Zealand) Matt Bruce, lead brand specialist, and store general manager Simon John-son.

“By day you can come in and have some beautiful food or a great cof-fee, and by night we’ll be showcas-ing iconic Melbournians with some key pillars to celebrate,” Matt begins, “They are fashion, food, design, art and technology.”

The ‘Meet the Maker’ area will be an interactive space on rotation with vari-ous artisans showing off their skills and the complex intimacies of their craft, relative to the local culture.

“It might be a watchmaker showing how they assemble or disassemble one of their watches, or a milliner

shows how they make hats for the spring racing carnival, we also have latte artists coming in to show people

how to make the perfect brew,” Matt explains.

The technology theme will involve lighting tech-nicians from the famous White Night festival, and the art theme will tie in with the Melbourne Jazz Festival.

“In the last few years we’ve seen auto brands try many ways to interact with their audience and draw new eyes to their marques. Mercedes Me is nothing

new as far as the existence of extra-curricular activities are concerned, however this effort resets the expecta-tions for how emphatically the brand wants you to buy a car.”

In fact, there’s only one car in the

entire space, on bi-weekly rotation between classic and modern coun-terparts – Matt discloses a Gullwing 300SL is on the shortlist – but the car is not the point of Mercedes Me.

“It’s not a sales opportunity, we’ll take leads and warmly hand people over to a dealership if they ask to,” Matt says, “People who come in off the street may not have engaged with us before.”

The funky interior styling has been penned by local architects Jackson Clements Burrows, winners of the 2017 Victorian Architecture Awards and the same designers of the new St. Kilda Pier and foreshore, one of four to propose the Queen Victoria Market redesign, and who have sculpted vari-ous vistas across Melbourne.

On the ground floor a wall of dis-play boxes overlook the lunch tables

Mercedes brand culture raises the bar


Matt Bruce, brand specialist

Interesting things in all corners



and an AMG GT R, they will rotate with various Mercedes memorabilia and some very expensive pieces of history – including the steering ‘wheel’ off Lewis Hamilton’s Formula One car worth the same as a base C-Class.

St.Ali is the hospitality partner for the venue, a small army of wait staff and chefs move in controlled chaos behind the counter. The one-of-a-kind coffee bean roaster, using proper Merc parts in its design, sits at the oppo-site end in the glasshouse corner. Its distinct air vents are the most obvious part of many which actually delivers cooling air onto piping hot granules of arabica.

This is one very ambitious way to invest in one’s brand, an exercise Matt says Mercedes Australia was not go-ing to do by half measures.

“All the staff in here are employed from a head office perspective, the fit and finish in here is all to a high level and even our tenancy is owned by us,” he explains, “So we’re talking in the millions, it’s a significant investment nobody else in Australia has done.”

“But you look at the location, the Rialto is such an iconic building, and we’re very proud to be right on the corner,” he adds, free of trepidation.

That confidence shows in the fun to be felt in the place, with music, the smell of food cooking most of us would ruin, and of course the quintessential Melbourne coffee. They’ve name three blends; the AMG for espresso drinkers, the S-Blend for the smooth and sophis-ticated palates (which yours truly can attest was sublime as a mocha), and the A-Blend for the lighter, more conventional drink-ers.

“There’s a bit of an un-known how many people we’ll get, but we’ve got a lot of interest with over 3000 expressions,” he says.

The space will in-clude segmented space with relative names that connect with Mercedes history. The Library will house around 100 motor-ing and themed literature, the ‘Drawing Room’ which

acts as meeting or conference area pays homage to the designers of Mer-cedes’ past who penciled its shapes throughout the 1950s.

The Garage is a funky space tucked up the back where petrolheads can watch videos by selecting from a range of model cars on the wall, it also could unofficially double for a good spot of poker.

“This was one of the key parts of the design brief,” Matt says, “Designs started around two years ago for Melbourne, and a lot of consideration went into the designs.”

With so many corners to enjoy something new, Simon says it’s a labour of love.

“It was a comprehensive process and that’s mainly because it’s differ-

ent to every other Me store,” he says, “There are consistent elements we need to integrate, but also balancing the local requirements working with our partners.”

“Many drafts, lots of refining over time, and like any good customer de-sign relationship there was lots of back and forth, and it’ll continue to evolve,” he adds. “As a company that invented the automobile over 100 years ago, there are lots of stories to tell and this is another way to do it.”

Three booths are a tribute to the three-pointed star, symbolic of the “mobility on air, land and sea” motif that the Mercedes-Benz logo repre-sents, and are named as such.

Menu items include references to the G-Wagen, Maybach, and Bertha

Benz, the pioneering automotive genius be-side inventor-husband Karl Benz, creator of the Benz Patent Motorwagen in 1885. We’re told ‘My German Cousin’ and the ‘G-Burger’ are a must-try.

The Mercedes Me café is opening 7am to 5pm Monday-to-Thursday and from 7am to 6.30pm on Fridays.


Mercedes Aus take ‘car culture’ in new direction

Old school meets new-age


By David Crawford, CEO of theMotor Industry Association of NZ (Inc).

CRAWFORD’S CASEBy David Crawford, CEO of the Motor Industry Association of NZ (Inc).

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INDUSTRYTALK

In the weeks since the coalition Government was sworn in, it has fostered

a narrative that the elec-tion outcome was a vote for change.

I question that but later in this column the Motor In-dustry Association invites the new Government to change some aspects of the previ-ous Government’s transport policies.

Why do I question the notion that the masses voted for change?

Voting percentages for the Greens and NZ First were significantly down com-pared to the 2014 election outcome. Indeed, the Green Party seriously ran the risk of not getting past the thresh-old.

Only Labour’s vote increased. National’s vote remained on a par with the previous election, as did ACT’s.

It is only because two other minor parties didn’t get the same outcome as three years ago that Labour, NZ First and the Greens were able to cobble together a working government.

That’s not to say all was well before the election - this was clearly not the case. Every administration has its

strengths and weaknesses based on its political ideol-ogy.

One area that frustrated those of us in the business of importing and distrib-uting vehicles into New Zealand was the previous Government’s fetish with electric cars as the sole means of addressing a re-duction on greenhouse gas emissions from our fleet.

It has been a policy we both welcomed and criti-cised.

In our submission to the Productivity Commission’s Low-emissions Economy Issues Paper, we noted that “electric vehicles will un-doubtedly be important go-ing forward as a key way to reduce transport emissions as they – like our energy intensive businesses – can leverage off our increasingly renewable energy.

“More generally, it is im-portant that the commission does not pick technology or product winners and focuses on the development of a framework that will allow the market to establish what the best low emission options are.”

The MIA believes if the new Government wants a mandate to change the previous Government’s

policy, then in terms of transport policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, it should focus on policy interventions that do not directly or indirectly favour one competitor over another or one fuel type over another because these are unlikely to be durable.

Policies should favour outcomes

While EVs are going to be important, several vehicle manufacturers from Europe, Japan and Korea are part of a consortium which has com-mitted to spending ten billion euros on hydrogen-related projects.

Elsewhere, considerable research is going on to cre-ate synthetic fuels which will suck CO

2 from the atmos-

phere. Given that, apart from

nuclear, most of the world’s electricity is not low-emission generated, other manufacturers are pursuing low-emission internal com-bustion engine (ICE) fuels with diesel-petrol combined fuel technology, which gen-erates emissions at a similar, if not lower, level than plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

We simply do not know what technologies will come

New Government, new direction

to the fore so economic settings should encourage innovation around low emis-sions as opposed to focusing on one technology over the other.

We also invite the Govern-ment to focus on managing demand, not supply. Dis-tributors supply what people want to purchase.

Supply side management often leads to perverse out-comes. There are options to influence purchase decisions.

The MIA suggests the new Government should consider these transport policies:

There is scope to make better use of economic pricing signals to influence purchase decisions. The MIA suggests consideration is given on how and when to remove fuel excise duty off petrol and move all road vehicles to e-RUC (electronic road user charges). This would permit the Govern-ment to set differential RUC rates to incentivise or penal-ise different vehicle pur-chasing choices (along with different rates for particular sections of the road network, congestion management and other policy settings of the day).



NEWSTALK

Anywhere. Anytime.Your most important dealership information

accessible from any desktop, tablet or mobile device. Faster. Easier. Smarter.

www.motorcentral.co.nz0800 623 687

Dave Boot is spreading the EV word.

You could say that’s his job at Stadium Cars in Christchurch where he’s the sales manager.

But it’s more than that – he’s a true EVangelist, con-vincing not only customers but staff and anyone else who’ll listen of the drive towards an electric future.

He convinced Stadium Cars director Tony Gosling quickly enough and landed the job of specialising in EVs, helping with staff instruction and dealing with the grow-ing number of EV customer enquiries.

“Customers are very well educated on EVs,” says Boot who maintains vehicle sales personnel need to be well up with play.

“You have to know what the customer is talking about and to make sure it’s accurate information as well.”

Stadium Cars has about 400 used vehicles in stock at any one time, with Nissan Leafs and e-NV200 electric vans now more frequently introduced.

Boot says the arrange-ment works well because there’s little point in estab-lishing a separate yard for EVs – “otherwise it might be good for five years then we’d have to shut the other yard,” he laughs.

“You can’t stop the EV onslaught.”

EVs are brought to Sta-dium Cars with dash conver-sions and any other work already completed.

“So they’re good to go for the customer,” Boot says.

And it’s the customers who are among the best EV sales people, he reckons.

“They tell everyone and are very passionate about

EVs, particularly for their zero emissions. Some de-light in saying they’re never going to a petrol station ever again.”

The EV community has its own network, like those on Facebook, and any post usu-ally generates a response.

“There’s a lot of enthu-siasm and many people are great ambassadors for EVs.”

Boot says they’re well informed and any misin-formation is usually quickly corrected.

Some of that can be based around charging times – one issue including the need to reset charging timer clocks from Japanese to New Zealand times so the charger automatically switches on and off at the right times, he says.

Some concerns like “range anxiety” – how far an EV can travel on a single charge – are fast disappear-ing “especially after some-one has driven an EV for a few days”.

Boot says the Christch-urch City Council is espe-cially supportive of EVs, which are ideally suited to the city’s mainly flat land-scape.

In fact, much of the EV innovation is coming out of Christchurch. The city recently saw the launch of Foodstuffs’ 28-strong e-van delivery fleet, is hosting driverless vehicle trials

Boot’s kick-starting the EV chargeand has seen a range of EV charging developments.

Boot’s been in the auto-motive industry since the age of 18, working for three dealerships with his stay at Stadium Cars extending to three-and-a-half years.

It seems a little ironic that at 34 he’s yet to see many single young people aged even up to 40 show much interest in EVs. That will probably come.

Meanwhile, he says his biggest EV customers are couples over the age of 50, usually in professional ca-reers, who often want an EV to supplement their internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle.

They soon come to use their EV more than their ICE.

And Boot loves keeping up with the play, saying he

enjoys reading EVTalk alerts and the magazine.

Many local body politi-cians are now realising EVs are the “thing to do”, particularly in Christchurch, he says.

It’s a future he has no doubt about and he’s keen to ensure everyone is ready.

Stadium Cars is based in Moorhouse Ave in Christch-urch and has another yard in Rangiora.

It’s known as the home of the “Good Sports” who often contribute to worthy causes such as the Dogwatch Sanctuary Trust for the res-cue and rehoming of dogs, Home and Family parenting and counselling services, and to sports clubs.

Visit www.stadiumcars.co.nz for more information and a video.

Dave Boot


MARKETINGTALK

September 2017 was a comparatively quiet month com-pared to the bumper growth we saw in August.

While leads continued to increase (by 1.2%), test drives fell by 1.7% and sales were down 1.0% from the previ-ous month across all AutoPlay customers.

After rising by almost 25% in August, “Web – Classified” lead sources came back down to earth with a 15.4% drop in the number of leads generated from these sites across AutoPlay customers.

Dealership websites continued to perform well and were the second most popular source of leads.

OEMs/brands continued to provide a high proportion of leads to AutoPlay customers with another big jump in the number of leads pushed to dealerships from their brands.

For the first time “Web - Dealer” overtook “Web - Classi-fied” as the number one source of test drives for AutoPlay’s customers, the result of a significant increase in test drives generated from dealer sites, and a decrease in the number of test drives from classified sites of 13.3%.

As brands continued to focus on providing their network with well-qualified leads, the “Brand” source continued to be a productive way to generate test drives for many of AutoPlay’s customers.

After a massive increase in sales from classified websites in August, September saw the “Web – Classified” source of leads drop by 7.3% while still occupying the number one source of sales for AutoPlay customers.

“Web - Dealer” followed up a big rise in August with an-other increase of 15.7% in September.

“Repeat” business continued to be the third best source of sales for Kiwi dealers, despite not featuring in the top three for leads and test drives – proving the adage that it’s easier to resell to existing customers than it is to attract new ones.

Check next month’s issue of AutoTalk to see how Kiwi dealerships fared in October 2017.

Matt Darby works for AutoPlay which specialises in pre-sale lead management tools. To find out more about AutoPlay services email [email protected] or visit www.autoplay.co.nz

Quiet month for Kiwi dealers

“Repeat” business continued to be the third best source of sales for Kiwi dealers, despite not featuring in the top three for leads and test drives – proving the adage that it’s easier to resell to existing customers than it is to attract new ones.


MARKETINGTALK

1Top 3 Sources for Leads, Test Drives and Sales - New Zealand Dealerships October 2017 ( vs September 2017)

Repeat 10.6%

Web - Classified 11.5%Web - Dealer 3.2%

SALE

S

Web - Classified 23%

Direct 35.2%Web - Dealer 4.3%

TEST

DRIV

ES

Web - Classified 12.4%

Brand 3.4%Web - Dealer 2.8%

LEA

DS

Peter [email protected] or 021-940 318

In AutoTalk’s October edition two articles focused on the Australian Automotive Dealer Assocation’s 2017 conference in Sydney in September.

The first summarised the thoughts of a couple of New Zealand dealers about the conference; the second summed up a number of the keynote speaker’s comments.

Having attended similar conferences with a heavy digital marketing bias in the United States, I know one cannot but help come away from the workshops or general presentations brimming with ideas to put into practice. After all, that’s the key reason to attend.

One other common outcome from such conferences is deciding what new knowledge is relevant to put into prac-tice and also finding out how best to do that.

That’s an area where dealers need the help of an experienced and New Zealand market proven digital provider.

The rapid advances of digital market-ing have become increasingly complex for homegrown dealer solutions and, in most cases, that expertise has to be brought in by outside suppliers.

To help any dealer decide what new found knowledge is relevant, it is worth taking the time to review the dealership’s current digital marketing practices.

Over my years of writing for AutoTalk, I have found this has been one of the most significant disconnects in retail automotive marketing.

I have a term for it: “The Digital Competency Gap”. It’s the gap that ex-ists between the average dealer and the average retail consumer.

So how does a dealer go about reducing it? A good place to start is to honestly and objectively assess how the range of digital systems and tools

currently in place are effective in bridg-ing the gap between the consumer’s requirements and what the dealer has on offer.

An appropriate comparison is to reflect on the progression of run-of-the-mill retail clothing sales. We have witnessed the migration from small High

Street men’s and women’s wear stores to larger suburban box retail outlets and then on to any clothing item being just an Amazon click away.

By comparison, retail automotive dealerships have lagged behind this evo-lution. But watch this space - there will be significant transformational change in the way cars are sold over the next five years.

Look no further than Amazon, Google and Apple. They are the change agents in the way cars not only will be sold but also the innovators of new vehicle tech-nical capabilities.

So back to the steps a dealer could take to keep in touch with advancing consumer knowledge and bridging the competency digital gap. There are two broad strategies to consider - basic digital tools and big data.

Basic digital systems/tools that are effective for 2017 requirements • Regularly updated, easy to navigate,

consumer friendly dealer website• Mobile compatibility• Omni-channel marketing across all

marketing mediums• Comprehensive vehicle data upload

system to all third party and own site• Video application to market vehi-

cles, dealership staff, activities and facility on own website and social media mediums

• Search engine optimisation practice in place and regularly reviewed

• Search engine marketing under-taken to optimise consumer search within Google

• Lead management system to cap-ture and record customer enquiry

• Seamless re-marketing as compo-nent of lead management system

• Savvy social media with live stream-ing video

• Competent and comprehensive Data Management and Customer Relationship Management systems in place

• Staff fully versed in the use of, and regularly trained in, all digital tools.

Understanding how big data can bridge the digital competency gap• Only keep data that facilitates an

increase in customer behavior and preferences

• Leverage the data you have to stay relevant to your customer

• Your Data Management System is a goldmine of useful data

• Invest in a comprehensive smart digital lead management system to facilitate collection and organisation of data which is actionable

• Analyse, interpret and translate into everyday customer behaviour terms

• Align your dealership products and services to offer exactly what the potential customer seeks

• Think of data as universal - it is always there, it is the truth and it will never let you down, just like a true friend.

Bridging the digital knowledge gap


JAPANESE MARKETPLACE

The days of four or more names for essentially the same used import Toyota might be set to come to

an end, with the brand telling Japanese dealers it will cut its nameplates in half by 2025.

Toyota operates four sales channels in Japan to appeal to different demo-graphics.

In many cases the same vehicle will be fine tuned for each channel and badged differently. Hence a Corolla can be an Auris, Allex or Runx, and a Voxy is a Noah depending on where it was sold.

The Asian Nikkei says less popular models will be discontinued with more focus put on vehicles like the Prius and Aqua hybrids.

The plan is aimed at making the brand more compatible with “millenni-als” who are less interested in traditional vehicles.

In a meeting with dealerships last

week, it was also announced sales strat-egies will vary regionally and won’t be the same for the whole country.

A new unit will be in charge of regional sales and a manager will be appointed to each of Japan’s 47 pre-fectures.

Toyota’s dealer brands include Toyota, focused on high end mod-els, Toyopet, for mid-range models, Corolla for budget cars and Nets for younger buyers.

Younger buyers will also be given another option for accessing the Toyota brand, with the addition if a new “Drive To Go” outlet.

Specifically located near universities, the brand offers a relaxed space to hang out in with sandwiches, salads, coffee and tea on offer. Cars are offered by the hour for rent.

A family will have available Toyota’s single-seat I-ROAD electric vehicle from around $15 an hour.

Dealers told of rationalisation plan

Toyota’s Fine-Comfort Ride doesn’t look sporty but it prom-ises to be.

The Toyota Motor Corporation has announced it has two hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle (HFCV) concepts waiting in the wings.

The Fine-Comfort Ride sedan promises performance with a 310kW motor offering a 220kmh top speed and a zero-to-100kmh dash in just 5.4 seconds.

It pledges to do all this with a 1000km range on a single tank of compressed hydrogen.

Meanwhile, the Sora bus concept is nearing production. Toyota plans to start selling it in Japan in 2019, ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Para-lympic Games.

It will make an initial 100 units with potential for more.

The Fine-Comfort Ride also promises a unique interior design that allows for reclined adjustable seat-ing in a diamond-shaped cabin that narrows at the rear to offer maximum occupant space with greater aerody-namic profile.

The sporty HFCV will be front-engined with the hydrogen tank mounted under the floor, a continu-ation of the Fine-S fuel cell concept launched at the 2003 Detroit Motor Show.

The Sora bus uses the Mirai’s fuel cell drivetrain, including two 114kW fuel cell stacks and two 113kW, 335Nm electric motors with 10 high-pressure hydrogen tanks to give 600 litres of compressed hydrogen capacity.

The nature of the hydrogen fuel cell powerplant means it comes with

an external power supply of 9kW and 235kWh, making it usable as a mobile power source in times of emergency.

Instant acceleration from the powertrain means a control system that will allow for gentle forward progress without lurching and standing passengers won’t be thrown around.

The Sora will also get V2V and V2X intelligent transport systems (ITS) which will supposedly support safer driving and prioritise it over regular traffic.

An “automatic arrival control” fea-ture will detect guidance lines on the road and coax the bus into position, allowing 3cm-6cm of clearance to the bus stop.

The idea is to provide consistent boarding and departure gaps for pas-sengers.

Toyota has fuel cells in mind


JAPANESE MARKETPLACE

Nissan Japan has com-pleted checks and sorted its delivery issues

- which saw vehicles inspected by unqualified dealership staff - though not without taking a massive hit to its domestic sales.

The company reported its sales in Japan are likely to have fallen by half year-on-year dur-ing the stop on production.

Factories are expected to begin producing locally sold

vehicles in coming days once government checks have been completed at the halted plants.

Tightened procedures will mean only certified inspectors will be allowed into the final inspection area and there will be regular checks that inspections are carried out properly.

A total of 1.2-million vehicles have been recalled for checks, though no cars exported as new vehicles were affected.

Delivery issues slash Nissan sales

Myanmar market comes to an end

Myanmar has been a core market for the Japanese used vehicle export trade in recent years but

its days now appear numbered.Regular changes in regulation have

seen the left-hand drive market rise and fall as a customer for used cars. So far this year it is the third most popular destination with around 80,000 units shipped in the first nine months of the year.

But The Economist reports the trade is set to come to an end. Last month the Government announced individuals could import cars built from 2016 and onwards only.

And as of the end of this year all right-hand drive vehicle import permits will no longer be granted.

The move is seen as a way to in-crease local vehicle production. Suzuki is opening a new factory there shortly and other brands are now selling left-hand drive models built in other Asian countries.

Recall drags down sales

Japanese car sales fell 1.7% as the Nissan recall weighed heavily on the market.

A total of 372,470 vehicles were registered in October, Japan Automobile Dealers Association figures show.

Sales excluding Kei-size vehicles were down 4.7% to 231,563 vehicles.

Toyota’s sales for the month were up 1.1% to 105,782.

Normally second, Nissan sales dropped 43% to 22,049 cars off the back of its recall.

Instead, Honda took second place on 56,522 units, up 2.5%, followed in third by Daihatsu, up 12.7% to 40,984 and Suzuki on 12,540 - up 19.4%.

Vehicle exports were high during Octo-ber, up 14.8% to 81,411.

Total second-hand vehicles sales were relatively static - up 1.5% to 311,993. Pas-senger cars totalled 272,728 of those units, up 1.1%, and commercials a further 31,805, up 3.8%.

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Vinsen’s ViewThe monthly update from VIA chief executive, David Vinsen

NOVEMBER 2017

ADVANTAGE

WHAT DO WE DO?

Advice and advocacy for the used vehicle industryIf you have technical questions, compliance problems, consumer complaints, staff issues — we can help.

For more information: www.via.org.nz | Free phone: 0800 842 842 | Phone 09 573 3058

Photo: TAITRA

It was my pleasure this month to advise our members of an important

milestone for VIA: the sign-ing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Motor Industry Associa-tion (MIA).

Like many associations that represent the interests of a complex industry, VIA and the MIA have always been careful to maintain clear commercial boundaries.

However, it’s also true that with all our differences, we do share important com-mon ground.

Although we might have been seen to be “at logger-heads” in the past, behind the scenes VIA and the MIA have collaborated on shared issues for more than a decade.

As both organisations have matured, we have accepted it’s better to work together and speak with one voice on issues of common interest.

Our stakeholders in the Government and throughout the industry agree this con-sistency helps to ensure deci-sions that are timely, efficient and thoroughly informed.

The nuts and boltsThe MOU records the

terms of our agreed working relationship while respecting

each association’s independ-ence and separate constitu-encies - New Zealand’s new and used vehicle import industries. The key points of the agree-ment are:• Collaborate on areas of

mutual interest, providing a united voice for the ve-hicle importing industry.

• Work to a “no surprises” policy so that policy de-cisions, announcements and action on conten-tious issues are commu-nicated in advance.

• Include other motor industry associations in negotiations of shared importance when ap-propriate.

The MOU also pledges that both associations will work to identify areas where we have different policies or positions.

Both retain the right – and the responsibility – to advocate independently for our memberships in those matters. Both have agreed any costs incurred while working together should “lie where they fall’’, with each association responsible for its own costs.

One fortunate aspect of the process has been that organisations in our sector

already co-operate well. This is very much in the spirit of “co-opetition” that I have often referred to in the past.

It’s fair to say some have felt the need to be a bit “guarded” around the MIA-VIA relationship or be seen to take sides – this will no longer be the case.

In terms of our differ-ences, the most likely area of divergence is the timing of new regulations and when they are implemented.

Clear message on common issues

There are many ar-eas where our Government stakeholders benefit from a combined view of our needs as a sector. These range from port operations to ACC vehicle risk ratings and the development of standards for vehicles and infrastructure.

Recalls are a good exam-ple of a topical issue where the whole industry will benefit from a united approach. It has been difficult to develop an end-to-end process for the management of safety recalls when the NZ Transport Agency has to deal with both VIA and the MIA separately.

My counterpart at MIA, chief executive David Craw-ford, shares my view that it

is far more effective for both associations to meet with the agency so all parties are involved in discussions at the same time.

Room to grow our influenceLooking to the future, we

are keeping the doors open for more organisations to align themselves with us so we can speak jointly on shared issues.

While a merger isn’t on the cards, it is certainly pos-sible we could join forces with other relevant groups on specific issues to develop a cohesive position to take to the Government.

The agreement between VIA and the MIA is an indica-tion of the increasing matu-rity of our industry and the organisations that represent it.

Radical changes already occurring across the trans-port sector, such as elec-tric vehicles and intelligent transport, require new levels of analysis and advocacy to ensure the best outcome for all New Zealanders.

Rather than a dramatic “step change” in our work-ing relationship, this agree-ment is a natural and logical evolution in the story of our industry.

More unites us than divides us

Advice and advocacy for the used vehicle industry

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By 2020, the Government aims to achieve a 25% reduction in workplace injuries. Are you ready?

VIA is here to help, with industry-ready Procedures Kits for workshops, car yards and compliance shops – developed in conjunction with experts HRtoolkit.

For more information, contact: Malcolm Yorston, Technical Services Manager on 0800 046 842 or DDI 09 573 3243

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Health and Safety

From EV batteries to autotronics, international trade shows are an ideal way for savvy businesspeople

to see what’s on the horizon. Staff from VIA regularly attend trade

shows around the world in order to stay up-to-date with advancements across the full range of automotive technology.

The Taiwan External Trade Develop-ment Council (TAITRA) has extended an invitation to all VIA members to attend the Asian Mega 4-in-1 Auto Trade Show in Taipei from April 11–15 2018.

In partnership with VIA, it is offering to help our members in travel planning, with some flight and accommodation subsidies available to qualifying guests.

Four shows in oneThe four trade shows, each running

for four days, will cover a wide range of automotive technologies.

Taipei International Auto Parts & Ac-cessories Show

Scheduled to be held from April 11–14 at the Taipei World Trade Centre’s Nangang Exhibition Hall, this event will showcase auto parts and accessories, tools and components, devices and auto machinery, repair tools and equip-ment, brakes, steering products, vehicle

parts, automobile frames, pneumatic products, manual hand tools, suspen-sion systems and other electrical parts and accessories.

Autotronics TaipeiAlso scheduled for April 11–14 at the

Nangang Exhibition Hall, this showcases products such as electronic control automatic transmission, electron beam scanning systems, electronic power steering systems, electronic brake-force distribution control, vehicle drive control systems, electric control hitch systems, GSM/GPS receiving equipment and more.

Motorcycle TaiwanApril 12-15 at the Taipei World Trade

Centre. This event features motorcycles and related products, and allows buyers and sellers to meet and discuss chal-lenges and opportunities arising in the industry.

Taiwan International Electric Vehicle Show

This is scheduled for April 12–15 at the Taipei World Trade Centre and will showcase products such as battery, cell, charger, lithium batteries and stor-age batteries for EVs and much more.

Join VIA at Taipei trade shows VIA welcomes involvement from all

segments in the vehicle supply chain. To find out more about joining VIA, or to register your interest in travelling as part of a VIA delegation, email VIA technical manager Malcolm Yorston at [email protected].

Photo credit: TAITRA


F&ITALK

James Searle is general manager of DPL Insurance Ltd

Last month I talked about gearing up for EVs and how we at

Autosure like to be at the forefront of technology and use our innovative business model to develop new prod-ucts and services tailored to our dealers and customers.

Innovation at Autosure is not limited to product de-velopment, however, and we are committed to ensuring our partners have access to unparalleled levels of support across all aspects of their business.

Our philosophy is to offer approved dealers profit-enhancing solutions that are leading edge, thoroughly researched, best practice and practical.

Understanding what really makes the best the best is a critical component in today’s ever-changing landscape.

At Autosure we are committed to helping make our business part-ners’ operations smarter and more successful.

One of the ways we do this is by delivering training and devel-opment solutions to help maximise the profitability, efficiency and compliance of the sales and finance and insurance departments within dealer-ships.

To support this, I’m pleased to announce we have appointed Gavin Lightfoot to a newly created role of sales performance manager.

Lightfoot has been involved in the automotive industry for more than 25 years and has gained exten-

sive knowledge in the Asia Pacific working with some of the largest automotive corporates.

His hands-on experience in sales, finance and insur-ance, dealership operations, distributor operations, fi-nance and banking, vehicle sales, training and develop-ment, human resources and senior management roles is augmented by a thorough understanding of training principles, gained through a diploma in adult teach-ing and accreditation as an advanced DISC consultant.

Working with key internal and external stakehold-ers to raise performance at all levels, Lightfoot will be responsible for building frameworks and propositions that support the capability development of all person-nel, including our own.

Having just returned to New Zealand after seven years in Australia, he will be working with Autosure approved dealers nationally to support their strategic growth and staff develop-

ment initiatives. Some of these will include

training programmes:

Finance and insuranceAutosure offers a two-

day, highly interactive programme with a key focus on introducing menu op-tion selling. The aim is to focus participants on sales techniques and to maximise profitability for finance and insurance products through a transparent sales process.

They gain a thorough under-standing as to why a robust and compliant sales process is essential, how to imple-ment that sales process, what their UPV (unique value proposition) is, why gaining a customer’s trust is critical, as

well as how to define profes-sionalism and recognise the impact of every moment of truth.

Vehicle salesWe have all been expe-

riencing the tremendous shift in buyer behaviour in recent years fuelled by internet searches, blogs, forums, increased competi-tion, tighter budgets, savvier buyers, mobile and social habits, the expectation of instant gratification and what-have-you-done-for-me-lately attitudes that can quickly undermine custom-er loyalty.

Our Autosure sales train-ing programmes help sales teams circumvent or prevail over these issues, as well as understanding why custom-ers buy what dealers sell, why they value what dealers bring to them and how they make buying decisions.

Our course addresses every aspect of the sales process, including phone and email activity.

Lightfoot will also be available as a business con-sultant to help dealer princi-pals and their teams develop

durable, sustainable, high performance dealerships.

He can assist a business to fully engage its people, achieve high productivity and improve overall business performance.

One of these initiatives is what we call a Dealer-ship Diagnostic Review.

It is an investigative review of the processes, interactions and skill levels for the dealer-ship, to identify areas

where improvements might positively impact on revenue generation from the finance and insurance departments and provide incremental sales and gross opportunities for vehicle sales.

Stakeholders are provided with a comprehensive report which includes a summary of key learnings, focal points for improvement, a detailed action plan and an analysis of the financial impact on the business.

At Autosure we are also committed to developing our own people. We’re investing in our sales team so they can help dealerships promote best practice – and the best training and development begins with providing our people with the tools and knowledge to help dealers maintain a healthy and com-mitted finance and insurance operation.

Our dedication to in-novation and supporting our partners is unparalleled. I encourage you to discuss how we can support your strategic growth and staff development initiatives with your Autosure account manager.

Understanding what makes the best the best

Gavin Lightfoot

www.autosure.co.nz | 0800 267 873

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• Payment Protection

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Confidence for the road ahead

We’ve got New Zealand covered!And we’re here to help you provide the best insuranceprotection for your customers.

www.autosure.co.nz | 0800 267 873

INSURANCE

• Mechanical Breakdown

• Payment Protection

• Loan Equity

• Motor Vehicle

If you’d like to become an Autosure Approved Dealer, contact us to find out more.

Confidence for the road ahead

We’ve got New Zealand covered!And we’re here to help you provide the best insuranceprotection for your customers.


F&ITALK

All too often we focus on finance and insurance (F&I) sales for profit - and rightly so.

The importance of F&I in the motor industry is well documented and well accepted and every month I write to reinforce its value as a profit centre, the importance of “pro-cess” to set the stage, the ability to harness lost opportunities you have sitting in the palm of your hand (but are letting slip through your fingers) and the most effective methods to maximise F&I profitability.

Over the next couple of months I want to talk about the value of F&I as a tool for protection and long-term customer retention, beginning with the finance sale.

The business manager’s most basic function in a dealer-ship is to control the sale, to ensure the vehicle is delivered and all associated paperwork is completed accurately and completely.

Just how good a job they do depends on their sales ability and - after selling themselves and the dealership, building that all-important relationship - the sale of finance.

Selling dealer finance not only provides direct finance commissions but also:• Protects the gross by removing the ability for outside

finance sources to have an impact on the selling gross. This is most important and helps develop an ideal work-ing relationship between the sales team and business manager to ensure both production and profits are maximised.

• Secures financing for the customer and establishes finance company relationships with finance companies the dealer trusts.

• Ties the customer closer to the dealership through regular payments, developing a relationship over a long period of time and offering the chance to retain the cus-tomer for future purchases.

• Increases the opportunity for additional dealership income through the sale of credit insurance and other insurance products.

It’s one thing to generate profits but we also need to protect those profits and that’s where the insurance sale be-comes important... more on that subject next month.

F&I is a powerful tool that is well proven to produce incremental profitability for many dealerships.

But changing our focus from just profit and placing cus-tomer needs at the centre of every sale will help drive F&I sales for profit, protection and long-term customer retention.

Next month we’ll talk about the value of insurance sales. In the meantime, I look forward to continuing working with you, helping turn F&I prospects into profit.

F&I for profit, protection and customer retention

By Steve Owens of Provident Insurance


NEWSTALK


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that are timely, efficient and thoroughly informed.”

Both associations main-tain the right to advocate for individual policy posi-tions and operate under a “no surprises” policy, Vinsen says.

The most likely area where the groups will disagree is the timing of new regulations and when they are implemented.

Major changes loom-ing in the transport sector also make the collaboration timely.

“[New technology like] EVs and intelligent transport require new levels of analysis and advocacy to ensure the best outcome for all New Zealanders.”

One industry voice gets traction

ment team is also needed to make the businesses tick along nicely.

“A large measure of the success of this company is the quality and commitment of the management.”

Gibbons says Southpac Trucks is one of Colonial’s major success stories.

Both Kenworth and DAF are suited to New Zealand conditions, which is one of the main reasons be-hind Southpac’s continued growth in the market, he says.

“The combined share of the extra heavy truck market for the two brands is now over 20%. This share growth has been achieved in a fluctuating total market.

“The heavy truck mar-ket was severely hit by the

global financial crisis. Only 910 units were registered in 2010.

“The market grew to 2600 in 2014, then dropped in 2015 and again in 2016. The market is only now growing again but is not expected to exceed the 2014 peak.”

What about the future?It might be difficult to

predict what customers are going to do in the future but one certainty on the horizon is the arrival of more electric vehicles.

The challenge for the company is how the cars will be sold, Gibbons says.

“Will the franchise model that has been part of the company for over a century continue to be a success-ful arrangement for this company?”

The industry is full of risks and Colonial is prepared for them, he says.

“The company has to be prepared to adapt. Finan-cially, we are well placed to adapt to changes. A profitable company with few long-term liabilities is able to adapt.”

As for the electric vehicle challenge, he says they have some limitations.

“At present, new electric vehicles cost about twice as much as similarly specified conventional vehicles and for that double price they have limitations compared to what a conventional vehicle can do.

“Compared to the alter-natives, EVs it just does not add up for the mass mar-ket.”


Colonial boss outlines reasons for success


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REPCO 0800 800 878www.repco.co.nzRepco - over 800 highly trained staff, 82 stores nationwide and home to New Zealand’s leading automotive brands.

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USED IMPORTSBROUGHT TO

YOU BY:

STATSTALKUSED VEHICLES


TOP 10 USED IMPORT COMMERCIAL MODELS

MAKE MODELOCT

'17MAKE MODEL

OCT

'16TOYOTA HIACE 360 TOYOTA HIACE 306MAZDA BONGO 87 NISSAN VANETTE 77NISSAN CARAVAN 66 MAZDA BONGO 66NISSAN VANETTE 53 NISSAN CARAVAN 66NISSAN NV200 51 TOYOTA REGIUS 45TOYOTA REGIUS 46 ISUZU ELF 34ISUZU ELF 36 NISSAN NV200 29TOYOTA DYNA 33 NISSAN ATLAS 24NISSAN NAVARA 26 TOYOTA TOWNACE 24NISSAN NV350 25 FORD RANGER 22

AROUND THE COUNTRY PASSENGER REGISTRATIONS

DISTRICTOCT'17

OCT'16% CHANGE

WHA 346 297 16.50AUC 6618 6335 4.47HAM 889 763 16.51THA 136 104 30.77TAU 551 516 6.78ROT 204 133 53.38GIS 86 45 91.11NAP 318 279 13.98NEW 209 205 1.95WAN 115 77 49.35PAL 358 290 23.45MAS 93 70 32.86WEL 1099 956 14.96NEL 295 241 22.41BLE 71 60 18.33GRE 37 40 -7.50WES 2 19 -89.47CHR 1932 1645 17.45TIM 110 85 29.41OAM 12 18 -33.33DUN 432 378 14.29INV 205 153 33.99TOTAL 14118 12709 11.09

USED IMPORT COMMERCIAL MAKES

MAKEOCT'17

OCT'16

Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 487 428 13.8 43.1NISSAN 266 225 18.2 23.5MAZDA 98 82 19.5 8.7ISUZU 58 61 -4.9 5.1MITSUBISHI 43 23 Up 2 87.0 3.8FORD 39 40 Down 1 -2.5 3.5HINO 28 13 Up 3 115.4 2.5CHEVROLET 25 16 56.3 2.2HOLDEN 19 25 Down 3 -24.0 1.7FIAT 16 13 Down 1 23.1 1.4Other 51 48 6.3 4.5TOTAL 1130 974 16.0 100.0


October was a massive month for used import

registrations - the big-gest passenger total for the month ever and one of the top five months overall.

A total of 14,118 pas-senger vehicles were registered, up 11.1% from this time last year. In the year to date the market was up 11% to 136,628 units.

Commercials also did well, up 16% to 1130, from 974 a year ago. In 2017 the segment was up a sub-stantial 25% to 10,823 from 8631 in 2016.

Toyota led the used import market, though its growth was behind the top brands. Its volume rose 5.6% to 3509, 24.9% of registra-tions.

Nissan was second on 2762 cars, up 17.3% for. 19.6% stake, followed in third place by Mazda on 2296, up 182% for a 16.3% share.

Fourth for the month was Honda on 1379, up 7.6% for 9.8% of registrations, fol-lowed by Subaru on 744, up 21% for a 5.3% stake.

Suzuki was next on 683, followed by BMW on 576,

Biggest October ever for imports

Volkswagen on 456, Mitsubishi on 450 and Audi on 244.

The Mazda Axela was the dominant model during the month, well clear in the lead on 6578.

The Nissan Tiida



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USED IMPORTSBROUGHT TO YOU BY:


THE 17 LEADING USED IMPORT PASSENGER MAKES – YEAR-TO-DATE

AU

DI

BM

W

CH

EV

RO

LET

DA

IHA

TSU

FOR

D

HO

LDE

N

HO

ND

A

HY

UN

DA

I

MA

ZD

A

ME

RC

ED

ES

MIT

SUB

ISH

I

NIS

SAN

PE

UG

EO

T

SUB

AR

U

SUZ

UK

I

TO

YO

TA

VW

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

17-Jan 264 568 56 14 102 43 1308 25 1979 275 469 2268 12 543 622 3396 467 522 1293316-Jan 224 470 61 13 131 48 1324 44 1859 208 404 2075 17 558 679 2794 421 345 11675

% diff 18 21 -8 8 -22 -10 -1 -43 6 32 16 9 -29 -3 -8 22 11 51 1117-Feb 227 528 53 19 109 61 1308 30 1871 267 413 2200 19 546 643 3038 439 489 1226016-Feb 211 469 58 8 144 33 1255 41 1862 203 385 2143 16 630 676 2760 473 369 11736

% diff 8 13 -9 138 -24 85 4 -27 0 32 7 3 19 -13 -5 10 -7 33 417-Mar 297 713 80 13 130 61 1449 39 2058 356 548 2543 17 605 711 3722 548 584 1447416-Mar 241 470 51 10 129 42 1369 40 1796 230 422 2240 20 593 657 2910 489 444 12153

% diff 23 52 57 30 1 45 6 -3 15 55 30 14 -15 2 8 28 12 32 1917-Apr 252 553 47 9 90 67 1233 33 1823 287 464 2292 15 573 626 3209 465 469 1250716-Apr 240 497 32 13 151 47 1218 43 1847 239 431 2357 18 555 646 2978 468 360 12140

% diff 5 11 47 -31 -40 43 1 -23 -1 20 8 -3 -17 3 -3 8 -1 30 317-May 287 660 58 11 98 60 1409 36 2153 368 559 2750 14 669 692 3604 446 565 1443916-May 222 542 44 7 151 46 1267 50 1895 242 438 2429 23 579 628 3103 511 390 12567

% diff 29 22 32 57 -35 30 11 -28 14 52 28 13 -39 16 10 16 -13 45 1517-Jun 252 537 46 11 120 68 1304 28 1983 290 507 2590 14 669 653 3304 437 526 1333916-Jun 221 503 35 17 120 25 1227 43 1735 246 484 2252 13 579 633 3007 459 392 11991

% diff 14 7 31 -35 0 172 6 -35 14 18 5 15 8 16 3 10 -5 34 1117-Jul 271 632 53 2 113 59 1447 35 2146 295 515 2732 13 687 746 3705 449 530 1443016-Jul 220 543 31 7 120 36 1381 53 1961 243 467 2540 17 599 639 3260 525 413 13055% diff 23 16 71 -71 -6 64 5 -34 9 21 10 8 -24 15 17 14 -14 28 11

17-Aug 271 632 53 14 113 59 1447 35 2146 295 515 2732 13 687 746 3705 449 518 1443016-Aug 237 561 44 18 116 38 1327 33 1974 272 461 2408 22 592 674 3267 508 440 12998

% diff 14 13 20 -22 -3 55 9 6 9 8 12 13 -41 16 11 13 -12 18 1117-Sep 302 616 55 11 101 59 1335 30 2220 264 438 2538 14 785 688 3234 427 528 1364516-Sep 259 528 42 15 130 58 1267 21 1902 261 426 2288 8 609 624 3261 457 408 12564

% diff 17 17 31 -27 -22 2 5 43 17 1 3 11 75 29 10 -1 -7 29 917-Oct 244 576 52 10 122 47 1379 38 2296 225 450 2762 13 744 683 3509 456 512 1411816-Oct 219 502 33 14 116 47 1282 32 1943 268 465 2355 14 615 580 3324 470 430 12709

% diff 11 15 58 -29 5 0 8 19 18 -16 -3 17 -7 21 18 6 -3 19 11YTD 17 2707 6009 551 112 1111 584 13581 332 20903 2882 4869 23187 146 6526 6783 34290 4600 5255 136628YTD 16 2294 5085 431 122 1308 420 12917 400 18774 2412 4383 23087 168 5909 6436 30664 4781 3991 123588

%diff 18 18 28 -8 -15 39 5 -17 11 19 11 0 -13 10 5 12 -4 32 11

20 TOP USED IMPORT PASSENGER MODELSVEHICLE MAKE MODEL

OCT' 17

MAKE MODELOCT'16

MAZDA AXELA 657 NISSAN TIIDA 677NISSAN TIIDA 613 MAZDA AXELA 540SUZUKI SWIFT 579 MAZDA DEMIO 516TOYOTA COROLLA 562 SUZUKI SWIFT 476MAZDA DEMIO 553 TOYOTA COROLLA 456HONDA FIT 519 HONDA FIT 431SUBARU LEGACY 378 TOYOTA WISH 333MAZDA ATENZA 328 TOYOTA VITZ 318TOYOTA WISH 319 SUBARU LEGACY 299TOYOTA PRIUS 301 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 269VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 278 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 268MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 270 MAZDA ATENZA 264TOYOTA VITZ 251 TOYOTA PRIUS 219NISSAN LEAF 231 MAZDA MPV 208TOYOTA ESTIMA 230 MAZDA PREMACY 207MAZDA PREMACY 225 TOYOTA MARKX 201TOYOTA MARKX 224 TOYOTA ESTIMA 199MAZDA MPV 217 HONDA ODYSSEY 193NISSAN NOTE 205 BMW 3 Series 186NISSAN DUALIS 201 NISSAN DUALIS 177


was second with 613, followed in third by the Suzuki Swift on 519.

Toyota’s Corolla found itself down in fourth place with 562 vehicles, just ahead of the Mazda Demio on 553.

The most popular large car was the Subaru Legacy on 378, the most popular people mover the Toyota Wish on 319, top hybrid the Toyota Prius on 201, top Euro the Volkswagen Golf on 218 and SUV the Mitsub-




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www.autofinancedirect.co.nz

USED IMPORTSBROUGHT TO YOU BY:


USED IMPORT COMMERCIAL MAKES – YEAR-TO-DATE 2017

CH

EV

RO

LET

DO

DG

E

FIA

T

FOR

D

HIN

O

HO

LDE

N

ISU

ZU

MA

ZD

A

MIT

SUB

ISH

I

NIS

SAN

TO

YO

TA

VO

LKSW

AG

EN

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

17-Jan 19 4 23 30 19 13 41 83 33 197 404 10 52 92816-Jan 16 5 13 18 9 11 25 35 33 158 338 7 27 695

% diff 19 -20 77 67 111 18 64 137 0 25 20 43 93 3417-Feb 15 2 9 35 31 19 45 94 40 191 466 10 41 99816-Feb 14 4 6 26 14 14 38 45 33 159 354 10 28 745

% diff 7 -50 50 35 121 36 18 109 21 20 32 0 46 3417-Mar 19 7 9 30 41 23 64 90 45 263 602 8 48 124916-Mar 14 4 6 26 14 14 38 45 33 159 354 10 28 745

% diff 36 75 50 15 193 64 68 100 36 65 70 -20 71 6817-Apr 21 4 4 33 20 22 45 54 27 187 27 187 277 90816-Apr 14 4 0 32 13 17 41 52 26 198 391 6 32 826

% diff 50 0 3 54 29 10 4 4 -6 -93 3017 766 1017-May 26 5 9 39 39 23 58 70 37 269 515 9 51 115016-May 14 3 4 29 20 13 50 65 32 176 430 8 40 884

% diff 86 67 125 34 95 77 16 8 16 53 20 13 28 3017-Jun 20 5 8 52 20 25 67 70 40 236 536 6 44 112916-Jun 14 8 4 26 20 16 48 60 26 201 400 7 34 864

% diff 43 -38 100 100 0 56 40 17 54 17 34 -14 29 3117-Jul 24 1 3 49 41 21 41 68 41 233 530 3 34 108916-Jul 17 7 4 30 10 19 50 57 28 234 438 5 33 932% diff 41 -86 -25 63 310 11 -18 19 46 0 21 -40 3 17

17-Aug 21 6 5 52 33 17 74 60 45 269 520 8 38 114816-Aug 21 3 4 39 30 17 44 76 32 213 482 3 27 1002

% diff 0 100 25 33 10 0 68 -21 41 26 8 167 41 1517-Sep 18 9 4 47 20 23 67 67 39 217 526 9 48 109416-Sep 13 6 8 32 19 24 46 67 45 218 435 7 44 964

% diff 38 50 -50 47 5 -4 46 0 -13 0 21 29 9 1317-Oct 25 9 16 39 28 19 58 98 43 266 487 4 38 113016-Oct 16 5 13 40 13 25 61 82 23 225 428 5 38 974

% diff 56 80 23 -3 115 -24 -5 20 87 18 14 -20 0 16YTD 17 208 52 90 406 292 205 560 754 390 2328 4613 254 671 10823YTD 16 153 49 62 298 162 170 441 584 311 1941 4050 68 331 8631

%diff 36 6 45 36 80 21 27 29 25 20 14 274 103 25

20 TOP USED IMPORT PASSENGER MAKES

MAKEOCT' 17

OCT' 16

Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 3509 3324 5.6 24.9NISSAN 2762 2355 17.3 19.6MAZDA 2296 1943 18.2 16.3HONDA 1379 1282 7.6 9.8SUBARU 744 615 21.0 5.3SUZUKI 683 580 17.8 4.8BMW 576 502 14.7 4.1VOLKSWAGEN 456 470 -3.0 3.2MITSUBISHI 450 465 -3.2 3.2AUDI 244 219 Up 1 11.4 1.7MERCEDES-BENZ 225 268 Down 1 -16.0 1.6FORD 122 116 5.2 0.9LEXUS 91 59 Up 1 54.2 0.6VOLVO 70 90 Down 1 -22.2 0.5CHEVROLET 52 33 Up 3 57.6 0.4JAGUAR 51 35 Up 1 45.7 0.4LAND ROVER 51 32 Up 3 59.4 0.4HOLDEN 47 47 Down 3 0.0 0.3MINI 41 32 Up 2 28.1 0.3HYUNDAI 38 32 Down 1 18.8 0.3OTHER 231 210 10.0 1.6TOTAL 14118 12709 11.1 100.0

ishi Outlander on 270.The Nissan Leaf had a huge

month, making its way to 14th position with 231 registrations.

With its strength in vans, Toyota continued to dominate commercials. It held 43.1% of the market in October with 487 registrations, up 13.8%.

Nissan was next on 266, up 18.2% for a 23.5% market share, followed in third by Mazda on 98, up 19.5% for an 8.7% stake.

Impressive in fourth place was truck-only Isuzu on 58, down 4.9% for a 5.1% share, followed in fifth by Mitsubishi on 43, up 87% for 3.8%.

The Toyota Hiace again proved to be the country’s most popular van, leading the import commercial market with 360 registrations.

The Mazda Bongo was second on 87, followed by the Nissan Caravan on 66.

Fourth was the Nissan Vanette on 53 and the Nissan NV200 rounded out the top five with 51.


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STATSTALKNEW VEHICLES

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tions ever.New vehicle registrations

totalled 15,530 last month, making it the strongest Oc-tober on record.

The only other time the market passed 15,000 registrations in a month was in June this year.

Registrations were up 9.83% year-to-date compared with the same time last year and for the month were up 5.6% (821 units) on Oc-tober 2016.

Sales of passenger vehicles and SUVs rose 6.3% (5321 units) and

commercial vehicles lifted by a massive 18% (6665 units) compared to 2016.

Motor Industry Associa-tion chief executive David Crawford says the results point to a record-breaking year for the industry.

“The 2017 new vehicle market is expected to easily break through the 150,000 new vehicles mark for the first time.”

Toyota remains the overall market leader with 4457 reg-istrations for a 29% market share, followed by Ford with 1530 (10%) and Holden with 1341 (9%).

NEW PASSENGER MODELS

MAKE MODELOCT'17

MAKE MODELOCT'16

TOYOTA COROLLA 1772 TOYOTA COROLLA 1210TOYOTA RAV4 478 TOYOTA YARIS 362KIA SPORTAGE 354 HOLDEN COMMODORE 356TOYOTA HIGHLANDER 334 HOLDEN CRUZE 303MITSUBISHI ASX 323 HOLDEN TRAX 297MAZDA MAZDA3 303 MAZDA CX-5 297MAZDA CX-5 261 TOYOTA RAV4 296TOYOTA YARIS 226 KIA SPORTAGE 274HOLDEN CAPTIVA 225 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 271HOLDEN COMMODORE 223 TOYOTA CAMRY 265FORD FOCUS 212 MAZDA MAZDA3 253

NISSAN QASHQAI 195 HOLDEN CAPTIVA 251

HOLDEN TRAX 185 SUZUKI SWIFT 205

SUZUKI SWIFT 182 NISSAN X-TRAIL 192

MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 174 HYUNDAI SANTA FE 179

HYUNDAI TUCSON 170 NISSAN QASHQAI 162

TOYOTA CAMRY 169 FORD MONDEO 158

NISSAN X-TRAIL 166 VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN 157

FORD ESCAPE 164 TOYOTA HIGHLANDER 148

TOYOTALANDCRUISER PRADO

152

NEW PASSENGER MAKES

MAKEOCT'17

OCT'16

Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 3408 2468 38.1 30.7HOLDEN 1006 1490 -32.5 9.1MAZDA 903 912 -1.0 8.1HYUNDAI 814 499 Up 2 63.1 7.3MITSUBISHI 641 567 13.1 5.8KIA 585 458 Up 2 27.7 5.3FORD 581 785 Down 3 -26.0 5.2SUZUKI 555 418 Up 1 32.8 5.0NISSAN 389 483 Down 2 -19.5 3.5HONDA 386 387 -0.3 3.5SUBARU 303 208 Up 3 45.7 2.7VOLKSWAGEN 272 386 Down 1 -29.5 2.4MERCEDES-BENZ 191 253 Down 1 -24.5 1.7BMW 142 158 Up 1 -10.1 1.3AUDI 127 148 Up 1 -14.2 1.1JEEP 102 147 Up 1 -30.6 0.9SSANGYONG 89 249 Down 4 -64.3 0.8SKODA 76 116 -34.5 0.7LAND ROVER 73 101 -27.7 0.7LEXUS 70 64 Up 1 9.4 0.6Other 396 498 -20.5 3.6TOTAL 11109 10795 2.9 100.0

NEW COMMERCIAL MAKES (UNDER 3500KG)

MAKEOCT'17

OCT'16

Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 1047 819 Up 1 27.8 23.7FORD 948 839 Down 1 13.0 21.5HOLDEN 334 376 -11.2 7.6MITSUBISHI 330 197 Up 2 67.5 7.5ISUZU 259 288 -10.1 5.9NISSAN 219 298 Down 2 -26.5 5.0MAZDA 193 155 24.5 4.4MERCEDES-BENZ 167 114 46.5 3.8VOLKSWAGEN 128 92 Up 1 39.1 2.9FIAT 126 89 Up 1 41.6 2.9Other 664 647 2.6 15.0TOTAL 4415 3914 12.8 100.0 Continued on page 43

Registrations break 15,000 mark

The new vehicle in-dustry shook off any election uncertainty in

October to post the second highest number of registra-








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Toyota was also the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with 3410 for a 31% market share, followed by Holden with 1006 (9%) and Mazda with 903 (8%).

The top-selling pas-senger and SUV models for the month were the Toyota Corolla with 1772, 1589 of which were rentals, followed by the Toyota RAV4 with 479 - 304 of them rentals - and the Kia Sportage with 354.

In the commercial sector, Toyota was again the market leader with 1047 for a 24% market share, followed by Ford with 948 ( 21%) and Holden with 335 (8%).

The Ford Ranger regained the top spot as the best-selling commercial model with 853 registrations for a 19% share, followed by the Toyota Hilux with 762 and a 17% share.

In the year to date, the Ford Ranger remains both the top commercial vehicle

model and the top model overall with 7950 registra-tions compared to 7045 for the Toyota Hilux.

NEW AROUND THE COUNTRY

PASSENGER REGISTRATIONS

DISTRICT OCT'17 OCT'16

WHA 184 165

AUC 5712 5673HAM 494 538THA 104 50TAU 311 324ROT 147 74GIS 40 50NAP 186 167NEW 141 133WAN 89 47PAL 200 199MAS 69 62WEL 638 63NEL 94 102BLE 64 48GRE 12 16WES 0 4CHR 2206 2102TIM 73 67OAM 7 11DUN 236 220INV 102 113TOTAL 11109 10795

NEW COMMERCIAL MAKES (UNDER 3500KG) – YEAR-TO-DATE

FIA

T

FOR

D

FOT

ON

GR

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T W

ALL

HIN

O

HO

LDE

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HY

UN

DA

I

ISU

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LDV

MA

ZD

A

MER

CED

ES-B

ENZ

MIT

SUB

ISH

I

MIT

SUBI

SHI

FUSO

NIS

SAN

SSA

NG

YO

NG

TO

YO

TA

VOLK

SWAG

EN

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

17-Jan 63 788 67 0 42 383 68 271 87 154 40 219 45 276 83 698 123 266 3673

16-Jan 70 699 55 5 38 280 53 214 62 106 56 192 27 231 89 469 117 231 2994

% diff -10 13 22 -100 11 37 28 27 40 45 -29 14 67 19 -7 49 5 15 23

17-Feb 64 713 66 8 45 364 97 255 101 186 51 282 35 346 52 747 76 246 3734

16-Feb 41 662 47 2 32 249 67 215 82 115 41 288 25 22 78 644 102 412 3124

% diff 56 8 40 300 41 46 45 19 23 62 24 -2 40 1473 -33 16 -25 -40 20

17-Mar 92 897 47 0 53 393 122 350 114 190 83 365 102 290 68 1103 115 255 4639

16-Mar 42 752 85 8 48 284 76 318 41 151 53 462 50 234 96 851 124 244 3919

% diff 119 19 -45 -100 10 38 61 10 178 26 57 -21 104 24 -29 30 -7 5 18

17-Apr 65 768 38 65 0 48 322 90 283 86 128 50 298 263 40 810 90 194 3638

16-Apr 43 580 26 45 0 73 240 69 275 71 126 37 168 327 59 768 86 157 3150

% diff 51 32 46 44 -34 34 30 3 21 2 35 77 -20 -32 5 5 24 15

17-May 75 971 72 95 0 61 348 96 351 76 186 62 501 244 44 1125 118 320 4745

16-May 42 814 28 49 0 51 411 77 281 92 183 47 246 194 66 788 104 205 3678

% diff 79 19 157 94 20 -15 25 25 -17 2 32 104 26 -33 43 13 56 29

17-Jun 63 1230 119 86 26 65 666 84 460 126 202 85 466 291 45 1299 232 259 5804

16-Jun 45 882 38 36 0 73 431 98 393 83 183 57 328 303 88 1097 150 228 4513

% diff 40 39 213 139 -11 55 -14 17 52 10 49 42 -4 -49 18 55 14 29

17-Jul 72 40 3 66 15 56 350 71 339 76 206 148 342 228 54 845 143 972 4026

16-Jul 75 972 37 36 0 79 317 129 345 93 208 76 206 254 80 703 76 180 3866

% diff -4 -96 -92 83 -29 10 -45 -2 -18 -1 95 66 -10 -33 20 88 440 4

17-Aug 104 833 38 95 14 65 384 63 332 115 241 100 278 256 35 1114 147 242 4456

16-Aug 97 861 42 75 0 58 283 80 338 70 129 139 231 273 86 739 73 206 3780

% diff 7 -3 -10 27 12 36 -21 -2 64 87 -28 20 -6 -59 51 101 17 18

17-Sep 157 875 51 85 8 63 380 75 321 110 205 125 373 267 38 1153 133 233 4652

16-Sep 142 835 72 58 0 61 439 89 326 67 192 124 354 284 49 730 108 250 4180

% diff 11 5 -29 47 3 -13 -16 -2 64 7 1 5 -6 -22 58 23 -7 11

17-Oct 126 948 50 95 21 54 334 48 259 122 193 167 330 219 43 1047 128 231 4415

16-Oct 89 839 61 39 0 61 376 93 288 85 155 114 197 298 74 819 92 234 3914

% diff 42 13 -18 144 -11 -11 -48 -10 44 25 46 68 -27 -42 28 39 -1 13

YTD 17 881 8063 551 769 92 552 3924 814 3221 1013 1891 911 3454 2680 502 9941 1305 3218 43782

YTD 16 640 6953 483 433 44 524 3022 731 2677 682 1369 697 2495 2195 714 6934 985 2196 33281

%diff 38 16 14 78 109 5 30 11 20 49 38 31 38 22 -30 43 32 47 32



Small cars, SUVs and light commercials drove Australia’s new

vehicle market to a record October sales result.

Another sales record in Oz

The motor industry’s official statistical service there, VFACTS, says sales reached a new high of 95,763 last month, surpass-ing the previous October record set in 2012.

Two small cars and a light commercial vehicle were the nation’s top three sellers for October.








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NEW PASSENGER MAKES

ALF

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AU

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ER

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CH

RY

SLE

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DO

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GR

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ND

A

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DA

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JEE

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KIA

LAN

D R

OV

ER

LEX

US

MA

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MIN

I

MIT

SUB

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PE

UG

EO

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PO

RSC

HE

SKO

DA

SSA

NG

YO

NG

SUB

AR

U

SUZ

UK

I

TO

YO

TA

VO

LKSW

AG

EN

VO

LVO

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

17-Jan 7 154 198 2 1 15 778 0 1381 405 540 71 603 111 55 779 222 73 647 478 73 58 106 60 236 728 1644 474 44 207 10150

16-Jan 22 137 201 22 4 25 745 0 964 341 578 96 265 155 855 144 78 368 494 67 67 79 100 113 254 376 1774 346 46 183 8899

% diff -68 12 -1 -91 -75 -40 4 43 19 -7 -26 128 -28 -94 441 185 -80 31 613 9 -27 6 -47 -7 94 -7 37 -4 13 14

17-Feb 3 176 160 0 4 23 611 0 654 373 606 56 513 93 62 755 245 45 547 346 48 22 104 93 305 624 990 355 48 189 8050

16-Feb 21 137 193 17 3 44 604 0 645 292 470 100 407 64 59 719 164 44 413 484 55 25 102 95 208 362 915 309 53 187 7191

% diff -86 28 -17 -100 33 -48 1 1 28 29 -44 26 45 5 5 49 2 32 -29 -13 -12 2 -2 47 72 8 15 -9 1 12

17-Mar 11 203 196 0 2 55 625 0 711 519 686 94 626 107 66 905 253 59 691 341 56 34 72 81 242 734 1213 386 63 199 9230

16-Mar 13 181 199 23 4 47 509 0 608 468 731 107 405 127 60 816 271 50 567 378 46 37 127 86 216 618 999 304 58 136 8191

% diff -15 12 -2 -100 -50 17 23 17 11 -6 -12 55 -16 10 11 -7 18 22 -10 22 -8 -43 -6 12 19 21 27 9 46 13

17-Apr 3 134 147 0 1 13 499 0 543 148 562 129 497 87 38 10 710 46 423 487 30 29 86 65 189 512 961 325 44 278 6996

16-Apr 5 138 135 13 2 29 696 0 589 82 523 68 455 84 53 674 206 38 451 445 85 46 8 87 221 382 748 261 38 228 6790

% diff -40 -3 9 -100 -50 -55 -28 -8 80 7 90 9 4 -28 -99 245 21 -6 9 -65 -37 975 -25 -14 34 28 25 16 22 3

17-May 20 231 144 0 2 26 524 0 681 318 561 120 549 105 58 886 202 52 527 382 32 36 118 73 304 544 1245 423 45 178 8386

16-May 17 159 113 17 1 26 697 0 677 268 628 94 400 101 55 671 202 31 474 394 63 34 112 114 234 427 965 301 58 169 7502

% diff 18 45 27 -100 100 0 -25 1 19 -11 28 37 4 5 32 0 68 11 -3 -49 6 5 -36 30 27 29 41 -22 5 12

17-Jun 21 190 2 0 2 31 459 0 686 440 829 127 626 123 0 940 280 73 667 361 60 29 154 83 387 677 2011 430 50 443 10181

16-Jun 6 166 123 10 4 58 596 0 843 420 836 89 553 100 55 842 226 44 565 384 85 42 141 159 210 495 1569 338 62 165 9186

% diff 250 14 -98 -100 -50 -47 -23 -19 5 -1 43 13 23 -100 12 24 66 18 -6 -29 -31 9 -48 84 37 28 27 -19 168 11

17-Jul 18 169 168 0 3 11 444 0 537 467 391 84 569 73 59 811 167 54 592 381 80 22 108 72 292 520 975 303 29 206 7605

16-Jul 4 121 131 2 1 38 578 0 663 325 513 124 596 92 50 686 205 48 418 467 49 35 88 42 237 407 1321 252 51 157 7701

% diff 350 40 28 -100 200 -71 -23 -19 44 -24 -32 -5 -21 18 18 -19 13 42 -18 63 -37 23 71 23 28 -26 20 -43 31 -1

17-Aug 8 164 143 0 0 16 472 0 686 496 407 104 631 107 47 814 218 77 638 447 104 41 161 61 306 513 1397 327 34 187 8606

16-Aug 6 166 141 3 2 39 602 0 767 423 655 140 502 85 77 813 221 50 564 454 64 35 89 73 255 484 1542 421 47 174 8894

% diff 33 -1 1 -100 -100 -59 -22 -11 17 -38 -26 26 26 -39 0 -1 54 13 -2 63 17 81 -16 20 6 -9 -22 -28 7 -3

17-Sep 11 205 196 0 1 22 673 0 1006 295 531 89 556 106 66 875 163 59 647 390 91 22 111 43 292 552 2320 297 35 201 9855

16-Sep 2 155 161 9 0 52 619 0 1197 395 716 155 503 100 68 883 193 61 565 534 72 33 66 158 214 502 1692 391 51 157 9704

% diff 450 32 22 -100 -58 9 -16 -25 -26 -43 11 6 -3 -1 -16 -3 15 -27 26 -33 68 -73 36 10 37 -24 -31 28 2

17-Oct 8 127 142 0 0 12 518 0 1006 386 814 102 585 73 70 903 191 53 641 389 62 20 76 89 303 555 3408 272 50 254 11109

16-Oct 6 148 158 2 1 58 785 0 1490 387 499 147 458 101 64 912 253 60 567 483 74 50 116 249 208 418 2468 386 52 195 10795

% diff 33 -14 -10 -100 -100 -79 -34 -32 0 63 -31 28 -28 9 -1 -25 -12 13 -19 -16 -60 -34 -64 46 33 38 -30 -4 30 3

YTD 17 110 1753 1496 2 16 224 5603 0 7891 3847 5927 976 5755 985 521 7678 2651 591 6020 4002 636 313 1096 720 2856 5959 16164 3592 442 2342 90168

YTD 16 102 1508 1555 118 22 416 6431 0 8443 3401 6149 1120 4544 1009 1396 7160 2019 794 5078 4090 660 416 949 1176 2257 4471 13993 3309 516 1751 84853

%diff 8 16 -4 -98 -27 -46 -13 -7 13 -4 -13 27 -2 -63 7 31 -26 19 -2 -4 -25 15 -39 27 33 16 9 -14 34 6

NEW COMMERCIAL MODELS (UNDER 3500KG)

MAKE MODELOCT'17

MAKE MODELOCT'16

FORD RANGER 853 FORD RANGER 768TOYOTA HILUX 762 TOYOTA HILUX 512MITSUBISHI TRITON 328 HOLDEN COLORADO 346HOLDEN COLORADO 307 NISSAN NAVARA 298TOYOTA HIACE 245 TOYOTA HIACE 297NISSAN NAVARA 219 MITSUBISHI TRITON 197MAZDA BT-50 193 ISUZU D-MAX 187ISUZU D-MAX 163 MAZDA BT-50 155FIAT DUCATO 125 MERCEDES-BENZ SPRINTER 107MERCEDES-BENZ SPRINTER 115 HYUNDAI ILOAD 88


Australia’s best-selling vehicle during October was

the Hyundai i30 (3983), followed by the Toyota Hilux (3812), Toyota Corolla

(3088), Ford Ranger (3074) and Holden Commodore (2418).

Six record sales months have now been posted across the ditch this year.

Total indus-try sales are 0.5% ahead of last year’s record and sales year-to-date stand at 984,931,

compared with 980,433 this time last year.

Australia’s overall pas-senger car sales declined by 3.8% in October, despite a 9.7% surge in the demand for small passenger cars

Year-to-date, passenger cars are down by 6.9% on the same ten-month period in 2016.

Another sales record in Oz


STATSTALKSECONDHAND

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'Take control with Dealer Dashboard'


Compliance made simple...since 1999

SECONDHAND REGISTRATIONS − OCTOBER 2017SALE TYPE WHA AUC HAM THA TAU ROT GIS NAP NEW WAN PAL MAS WEL NEL BLE GRE WES CHR TIM OAM DUN INV TOTAL

Cars 2017

Public to Trader 242 4712 1117 155 536 127 60 417 228 134 795 95 1145 215 94 39 1782 126 3 387 318 12727

Public to Public 1992 14870 3254 730 1971 1065 392 1447 887 693 1495 585 3106 1143 430 157 13 5306 578 88 2068 1106 43376

Trader to Public 632 6473 1521 324 845 424 151 659 376 278 778 216 1692 321 175 63 5 2202 191 36 724 427 18513

Cars 2016

Public to Trader 251 4648 1113 130 589 111 81 422 232 99 621 97 1135 192 87 28 1775 131 17 455 241 12455

Public to Public 1885 15087 3347 578 2223 948 360 1487 937 575 1634 406 3014 954 407 216 67 5106 493 161 2004 982 42871

Trader to Public 562 6058 1406 263 1021 302 179 603 385 197 734 184 1601 302 178 70 9 2471 222 62 640 380 17829

Cars % Change

Public to Trader -3.6 1.4 0.4 19.2 -9.0 14.4 -25.9 -1.2 -1.7 35.4 28.0 -2.1 0.9 12.0 8.0 39.3 0.4 -3.8 -82.4 -14.9 32.0 2.2

Public to Public 5.7 -1.4 -2.8 26.3 -11.3 12.3 8.9 -2.7 -5.3 20.5 -8.5 44.1 3.1 19.8 5.7 -27.3 -80.6 3.9 17.2 -45.3 3.2 12.6 1.2

Trader to Public 12.5 6.9 8.2 23.2 -17.2 40.4 -15.6 9.3 -2.3 41.1 6.0 17.4 5.7 6.3 -1.7 -10.0 -44.4 -10.9 -14.0 -41.9 13.1 12.4 3.8

Motorcycles 2017

Public to Trader 2 117 35 1 18 6 8 1 19 7 46 9 1 30 20 7 327

Public to Public 75 520 157 30 96 15 14 72 67 20 63 19 157 55 23 3 4 247 26 9 72 33 1777

Trader to Public 12 153 38 11 26 9 2 18 6 7 11 9 38 12 5 36 2 1 20 14 430

Motorcycles 2016

Public to Trader 4 124 49 26 1 1 5 3 2 19 5 67 7 4 26 1 1 14 4 363

Public to Public 51 545 129 30 114 46 11 62 70 15 56 11 131 72 16 12 1 251 32 7 67 30 1759

Trader to Public 17 146 45 9 37 6 3 10 13 2 19 4 40 12 6 1 1 42 4 1 13 8 439

Motorcycles % change

Public to Trader -50.0 -5.6 -28.6 -30.8 -100.0 -100.0 20.0 166.7 -50.0 0.0 40.0 -31.3 28.6 -75.0 15.4 -100.0 -100.0 42.9 75.0 -9.9

Public to Public 47.1 -4.6 21.7 0.0 -15.8 -67.4 27.3 16.1 -4.3 33.3 12.5 72.7 19.8 -23.6 43.8 -75.0 300.0 -1.6 -18.8 28.6 7.5 10.0 1.0

Trader to Public -29.4 4.8 -15.6 22.2 -29.7 50.0 -33.3 80.0 -53.8 250.0 -42.1 125.0 -5.0 0.0 -16.7 -100.0 -100.0 -14.3 -50.0 0.0 53.8 75.0 -2.1

Trucks 2017

Public to Trader 48 680 203 20 108 37 38 91 35 28 134 30 119 56 37 9 218 23 5 83 83 2085

Public to Public 359 1820 582 131 412 143 94 249 143 94 270 166 386 188 107 49 8 727 97 37 329 190 6581

Trader to Public 140 744 276 45 206 73 49 119 68 34 137 25 203 86 46 23 6 320 33 15 152 94 2894

Trucks 2016

Public to Trader 58 654 202 18 92 20 30 69 47 30 131 23 97 55 39 13 234 47 1 78 62 2000

Public to Public 366 1820 550 118 350 141 79 203 170 80 275 66 397 172 101 39 12 740 102 33 283 178 6275

Trader to Public 114 751 251 58 187 68 53 103 87 48 140 30 167 69 42 27 6 365 49 13 130 73 2831

Trucks % change

Public to Trader -17.2 4.0 0.5 11.1 17.4 85.0 26.7 31.9 -25.5 -6.7 2.3 30.4 22.7 1.8 -5.1 -30.8 -6.8 -51.1 400.0 6.4 33.9 4.3

Public to Public -1.9 0.0 5.8 11.0 17.7 1.4 19.0 22.7 -15.9 17.5 -1.8 151.5 -2.8 9.3 5.9 25.6 -33.3 -1.8 -4.9 12.1 16.3 6.7 4.9

Trader to Public 22.8 -0.9 10.0 -22.4 10.2 7.4 -7.5 15.5 -21.8 -29.2 -2.1 -16.7 21.6 24.6 9.5 -14.8 0.0 -12.3 -32.7 15.4 16.9 28.8 2.2

A slowdown in the New Zealand dollar against the yen could push used car prices up, Turners Group

says.It’s all down to what Turners is de-

scribing as the “election effect” after the time taken to form a new government.

“Although there has been some re-covery recently, the exchange rate is still

less favourable,” the company says in its October market update.

However, that hasn’t impacted used car sales in October, which were up 3.4% compared with the same time last year.

“This growth was caused by signifi-cant increases in both dealer-to-public transactions and ex-overseas registra-tions,” Turners says.

Dollar falls, prices rise?


STATSTALKTRUCKS

STATSTALKBIKES


NEW BIKE MODELS MAKE MODEL OCT'17YAMAHA YZF R3AH 23SUZUKI GSX150 FDZA GIXXER 20TNT MOTOR ROMA 2T 20KTM 390 DUKE 16SUZUKI UZ50 16YAMAHA MT-03 LAH 16HONDA NBC 110BN 15FACTORY BUILT LINTEX CITY MASTER 12SUZUKI GSX150 DXA GIXXER 12PIAGGIO ZIP 50 2T 11

USED BIKE MAKESMAKE OCT'17 OCT'16 % CHANGE MARKET

HARLEY DAVIDSON 95 68 39.7 40.9YAMAHA 21 17 23.5 9.1HONDA 17 19 -10.5 7.3DUCATI 16 14 14.3 6.9TRIUMPH 13 9 44.4 5.6KAWASAKI 12 8 50.0 5.2SUZUKI 11 9 22.2 4.7BMW 6 10 -40.0 2.6BUELL 6 3 100.0 2.6KTM 5 4 25.0 2.2Other 30 20 50.0 12.9TOTAL 232 181 28.2 100.0

NEW BIKE MAKES

MAKEOCT'17

YTD'17

OCT'16

% Change

Market Share %

SUZUKI 139 1141 88 58.0 17.5YAMAHA 95 746 104 -8.7 12.0HARLEY DAVIDSON 82 630 59 39.0 10.3HONDA 60 502 80 -25.0 7.6KTM 55 362 6.9TRIUMPH 45 397 44 2.3 5.7BMW 40 275 27 48.1 5.0KAWASAKI 34 357 29 17.2 4.3TNT MOTOR 26 251 28 -7.1 3.3VESPA 25 192 15 66.7 3.2APRILIA 19 218 0 2.4MOPED 19 131 13 46.2 2.4FACTORY BUILT 18 165 27 -33.3 2.3PIAGGIO 17 166 13 30.8 2.1DUCATI 15 131 20 -25.0 1.9ROYAL ENFIELD 14 102 11 27.3 1.8FORZA 14 110 14 0.0 1.8INDIAN 13 82 16 -18.8 1.6HUSQVARNA 10 52 4 150.0 1.3MOTO GUZZI 6 63 6 0.0 0.8Other 47 652 126 -62.7 5.9TOTAL 793 6725 724 9.5 100.0

Warm and generally dry spring weather has seen motor-

cycle sales accelerate ahead of last year by a significant margin.

Registrations of new bikes during October totalled 793, up 9.5% on 724 for the same month in 2016. Year-to-date the market is sitting at 6725 registrations.

Suzuki was a big part of the gain - its total of 139 is a 58% rise on 1141 last year, giving it a 17.5% stake in the market.

Yamaha was second on 95 bikes, down 8.7% for a 12% share, followed in third place by Harley Davidson, up 39% for 10.3% of the trade.

Fourth for the month was Honda on 60, down 25% for a 7.6% market share, fol-lowed by KTM on 55.

Learner approved motor-cycle scheme (LAMS) bikes dominated the top model charts, making up half of the

top ten alongside the usual scooter models.

The Yamaha YZF R3AH was the most popular on 23 units, followed by the Suzuki GSX150 FDZA Gixxer and TNT Roma 2T on 20 each. Technically the GSX 150 is the most popular bike overall if another 12 registrations for the DXA model are added in.

Bike sales in big jump

Tied for fourth are the KTM 390 Duke, Suzuki UZ50 and Yamaha MT-03 LAH on 16 units.

Import market up nearly a third

Registrations of used import motorcycles were up massively in October, with a

28.2% gain.Harley Davidson leads the

hot market, up 39.7% to 85 units, a share of 40.9%.

Yamaha was second on 21 bikes, up 23.5% for a 9.1% stake, followed by Honda on 17, down 10.5% for 7.3% of the market.


STATSTALKTRUCKS


NEW TRUCK MAKES (OVER 3500KG)

MAKEOCT'17

YTD'17

% CHANGE

MARKETOCT'17

YTD'17

FUSO 97 39 148.7 18.3 856 440ISUZU 96 101 -5.0 18.1 1067 999HINO 54 61 -11.5 10.2 552 574FIAT 33 9 266.7 6.2 283 159DAF 32 14 128.6 6.0 227 176MERCEDES-BENZ 28 29 -3.4 5.3 429 361MAN 27 2 1250.0 5.1 205 204VOLVO 27 37 -27.0 5.1 319 222IVECO 26 16 4.9 200 149KENWORTH 20 6 3.8 190 135Other 91 134 -32.1 17.1 926 881TOTAL 531 448 18.5 100.0 5254 4300

USED TRUCK MAKES

MAKEOCT'17

YTD'17

% CHANGE

MARKETOCT'17

YTD'17

ISUZU 49 50 -2.0 26.6 486 377TOYOTA 38 26 46.2 20.7 369 346HINO 28 13 115.4 15.2 292 174MITSUBISHI 25 12 108.3 13.6 233 162NISSAN 15 15 0.0 8.2 147 128MERCEDES-BENZ 6 3 100.0 3.3 32 17FIAT 3 4 -25.0 1.6 21 29CHEVROLET 2 1 100.0 1.1 20 8DODGE 2 1 100.0 1.1 5 7SCANIA 2 0 #DIV/0! 1.1 16 2Other 14 17 -17.6 7.6 228 186TOTAL 184 142 29.6 100.0 1849 1436

The truck market recorded another big month of growth in

October, up 18.5% year-on-year.

Registrations of new ve-hicles over 3500kg totaled 531, up from 448 a year ago. So far this year registra-tions are a massive 954 units ahead of 2016.

October was also notable for a tight battle between Isuzu and Fuso - Fuso taking the win by just one unit, with the inclusion of two paral-lell imports - up 148.7% from 39 units for an 18.3% market share - its push on the Can-ter model continuing to pay dividends.

Isuzu registered 96 trucks, down 5% from 101 a year ago for an 18.1% market share.

Hino was third on 54 units, down 11.5% from 61 for a 10.2% share, followed in fourth by Fiat mon 33 units, a 266.7% rise for a 6.2% sharer.

DAF rounded out the top ten on 32 trucks, up 128.6% from 6% of registrations.

Big month for importsImport truck registrations

were also on a high in Octo-

More double-digit truck growth

ber, with a 29.6% gain for the segment.

A total of 184 used import trucks were registered, tak-ing the year’s tally to 1849 against 1436 at the same time last year.

Isuzu leads the market,

despite a 2% drop in volume to 49 vehicles, accounting for 26.6% of registrations.

Toyota was second on 38, up 46.2% from 26 a year ago, 20.7% of the market, fol-lowed in third by Hino on 28, up 115.4% for a 15.2% stake.

All the road transport and equipment Industry HOT NEWS every day as it happens on www.dieseltalk.co.nzSubscribe online for FREE thrice-weekly ‘Alerts’ direct to your email


TRIBUNALTALK

The purchasers own a Ford Kuga, which they brought new from the

trader in 2014. Since then, they have

travelled around 45,000km. Early in 2017, they saw a tel-evision news story regarding a Ford Kuga engine fire in Auckland.

Concerned that their own vehicle might be at risk of a fire, they made enquiries with the trader but no further information was available.

Then, in April 2017, the purchaser received a safety recall notice from Ford New Zealand. It specified the vehi-cle identification number and registration number of the vehicle and stated that Ford New Zealand had “discov-ered a potential issue” with it.

The letter said in affected vehicles, localised overheat-ing of the engine cylinder head, due to a lack of cool-ant circulation (coolant loss), could cause the cylinder head to crack, causing an oil leak. An oil leak could result in a fire in the engine com-partment.

Accordingly, the recall repair work was expected to commence in the second quarter of 2017. Vehicle owners were asked to book their vehicles in to have each stage of the repair work completed.

The tribunal hearing was told 911 Ford Kuga vehicles were subject to the recall in New Zealand.

Until the parts were avail-able, Ford advised vehicle owners to maintain proper engine coolant levels by following the coolant check procedure in the mainte-nance section of the vehicle owner manual. Doing so would “substantially reduce the risk of a fire in the engine

compartment”. The purchaser told the

hearing he had no problems with his vehicle overheating or showing signs of abnor-mal coolant loss. Never-theless, he was sufficiently concerned about the recall that he visited the trader and told the salesman he wished to reject the vehicle due to a breach of the guarantee of acceptable quality in the Act.

He wanted a refund of the purchase price he paid for the vehicle in September 2014- $38,990.

The trader’s group service manager told the purchaser the trader did not accept the rejection as it did not consider the vehicle had a defect.

In a response email, the purchaser stated he did not consider a reasonable consumer would regard as acceptable in a vehicle cost-ing $38,990 a potential issue that could result in a fire in the engine compartment.

The repairs outlined in the recall notice involved re-routing the turbo cool-ant return line, as well as the installation of a new warning system. That, in the purchaser’s view, pointed to the present routing of the turbo coolant return line being an “unsafe feature of the vehicle”.

The group service man-

Tribunal dismisses expert’s opinion Burnard v Capital City Motors Ltd


ager replied, stating the work Ford recommended in its safety recall notice was a “precaution to avoid any issues arising with Kuga ve-hicles” and did not mean that the vehicle posed a safety risk.

In its submission to the tribunal, Ford New Zealand gave a precise description of the potential chain of events that the recall was designed to address.

It indicated that during testing (presumably after the occurrence of engine fires either overseas or in New Zealand), it found the routing of the coolant return hose from the turbo could lead to super-heated coolant enter-ing the coolant degas bottle.

The super-heated coolant could cause the degas bot-tle to prematurely weaken, causing cracking and pos-sible leakage in some cases. This leakage, if not recog-nised, could cause a loss of coolant sufficient to lower the coolant level below the cylinder head.

If that occurred, on engine start-up the cold engine could immediately overheat. This “excessive thermal load” could cause

the cylinder head to crack.If the cracking occurred

directly in front of the engine’s oil gallery, it could result in a fine mist of oil spraying directly on to the exhaust manifold in such a way that a fire could result.

Stage one of the repair was designed to re-route the coolant return hose from the turbo, thereby lowering the temperature of the coolant being returned to the degas bottle. In addition, the degas bottle and hose were to be replaced with materials bet-ter designed to withstand high temperatures. This would, according to Ford, significantly reduce the pos-sibility of coolant loss.

A field service engineer for Ford New Zealand emphasised that, as long as coolant remained in the engine, there was no risk of the cylinder head cracking or any resulting engine fire.

Stage one repairs were carried out on the purchas-er’s vehicle in August 2017.

The second stage, which is expected to be carried out in the fourth quarter of 2017, would involve fitting a coolant level sensor system


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Internationally, governments use taxation rebates to incentivise the uptake of EVs. New Zealand’s taxation system is less complex and layered than in most other countries but there is still room to integrate the taxation system with wider economic goals.

A lower fringe benefit tax rate compared to ICE ve-hicles would significantly incentivise businesses to take up low emission vehicles such as EVs.

For simplicity reasons, there is some merit in consid-ering a carbon tax on fuel with offsetting tax benefits elsewhere in the economy.

New Government, new directionContinued from page 26


which would notify the driver of coolant loss.

The trader and Ford said there was no evidence that the purchaser’s vehicle had ever overheated or shown signs of coolant loss. In their submission, there was no ev-idence of the circumstances that could potentially lead to cylinder head cracking.

On that basis, they denied the presence of any defect and said the repairs were merely precautionary, to re-duce the risk of overheating, cracking and a potential fire occurring in the future.

The purchaser presented a report by a mechanical engineer - and former MVDT assessor - stating that, in his opinion, the design fault described in Ford’s recall notice was a “serious fault in the cooling system”.

In his view, the failure of the cooling system causing the cylinder head to crack and leak oil suddenly. Rather, a crack would start very slowly in the early stages and only be identified with the very best non-destructive testing equipment after the cylinder head was removed.

Ford criticised the re-port saying the expert did not inspect the vehicle and

therefore had no factual basis on which to comment on its performance.

The expert had not identi-fied any specific fault with the vehicle nor any factors that would indicate the cyl-inder head in this particular vehicle was at risk of crack-ing.

The cylinder head crack-ing was solely the result of the thermal stress created by coolant loss. The engine would have to be started with a “dry” cylinder head for any cracking to occur. This vehicle had never exhibited coolant loss or had an over-heat condition of any kind.

Ford said the expert’s comments on the recall were outside the scope of his expertise. That was shown by the fact that his report omit-ted reference to the intent of re-routing the coolant return hose. The re-routing was intended to reduce the temperature of the coolant flowing through the coolant degas bottle, eliminating the likelihood of the bottle or its connections from becoming brittle and causing a signifi-cant loss of coolant from the engine, thereby mitigating the risk of the cylinder head cracking.

Ford also considered the

report to be misleading with respect to the intent of the recall as it was not to “stop the crack from continuing” but was a precautionary exercise to mitigate the risk of the cylinder head crack-ing in the first place.

The tribunal’s assessor reviewed the evidence and acknowledged the expert’s experience but considered several of Ford’s criticisms had validity.

In particular, the assessor agreed a crack in the cylinder head needed to start for it to continue. The vehicle’s engine would have had to overheat before that could happen. That was because the problem arouse from a thermal shock, a sudden event, rather than a gradual emergence of a crack from the normal temperature levels of the vehicle.

As there was no evidence

the vehicle had overheated, there was no basis for con-sidering a crack had started to form.

The tribunal accepted a reasonable consumer fully acquainted with the defect would not regard it as acceptable in light of the vehicle’s age, mileage and price. It also did not accept the failure of the vehicle to comply with the guarantee of acceptable quality was of a substantial character.

“The primary difficulty with (the purchaser’s) sub-mission is that a reasonable consumer who was ‘fully acquainted with the nature and extent of the failure’ would realise that the prob-lem was capable of being fixed by Ford free of charge and with minimal inconven-ience.”

The tribunal declined the rejection.


DIARYTALK

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October 2 Customer centre topsToyota New Zealand’s Cus-tomer Dialogue Centre has won the National Supreme Diamond Award for cus-tomer service at the 2017 CRM Awards.

It recognises the best customer service offered by a call centre with less than 50 staff. Judges considered is-sues such as promptness and quality of reply, politeness, confident positive language, knowledge of products and services, providing further information and adding value to the customer’s experience.

The Toyota team was also named New Zealand’s top Automotive Call Centre.

Awards for Kawasaki distributor The distributor of Kawasaki motorcycles and jet skis has picked up two regional De-loitte Fast 50 awards.

Waikato-based Verhoeven Group scooped the Master of Growth award and the Fastest Growing Retail or Consumer Products Business at the Central North Island section of the awards.

The company distributes Kawasaki motorcycles and jet skis throughout New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.

Dealer dies on Ruapehu The man who fell to his death at Mt Ruapehu’s crater lake was confirmed as Taupo mo-torcycle dealer Richard Ebbett.

Ebbett, who Stuff reports owned the Moto SR Motorcy-

cle Dealership in Taupo, was 39.

Police say his death has been referred to the coroner.

Cold water poured on port move Ports of Auckland’s former chairman Richard Pearson has joined the chorus opposing NZ First’s proposal to move the port to Whangarei.

He’s reported as saying the cost of moving freight north would add about $300 or more a container.

That would translate into more business for Tauranga’s port, with Pearson adding a merger of the two ports is more a logical step, the Na-tional Business Review reports.

Toyota Racing Series moves Hampton Downs Motorsport Park is the new home of the Castrol Toyota Racing Series.

The series’ administra-tion, workshop and cars themselves have shifted from Otahuhu in Auckland to the North Waikato facility.

Toyota motorsport manager Mark Whittaker told a crowd of supporters at Hampton Downs the facility provides plenty of room for everything from maintenance of the cars to parts storage.

October 3 VW e-Golfs here soon Volkswagen e-Golfs are com-ing to New Zealand in mid-November.

A limited supply is expect-ed to be available from deal-

ers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Volkswa-gen New Zealand says.

The price will be around $61,990, plus on-road costs.

Toyota Australia bids farewell

Toyota Australia has held internal celebrations at its manufacturing plant in Altona, marking the last shift for 3000 workers after 54 years of car-making down under.

A celebratory parade of various models including the Toyopet Tiara, the first locally built Toyota, plus Celicas, Camrys, Corollas, Coronas, Avalons and Crowns made its way down the factory’s main road.

Thousands of produc-tion line workers, supervisors, engineers and managerial staff cheered and whistled with mixed emotions during the parade which lasted around 15 minutes.

October 4 Sales across the Tasman favour annual record Federal Chamber of Automo-tive Industries figures show Australia’s bumper 100,200 new vehicle sales recorded in September equates to a 0.2% year-to-date increase.

Despite the month’s 2.4% drop in sales compared with September 2016 – 2496 fewer sales – the total year-to-date figure stands at 889,168.

The light commercial vehi-cle and SUV segments led the way in new car sales.

Apprentices honoured Awards have been given to Motor Industry Training Organisation apprentices for their work in the automotive industry.

Abner Apineru and Anton Hamelmann were named Mo-tor Trade Association (MTA) Apprentices of the Year at the MTA Northern Region Awards at the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

Apineru, of Auckland Panel & Paint (city branch),

was named Collision Repair Apprentice of the Year, and Hamelmann, from Giltrap Audi, Auckland, received the Light Vehicle Apprentice of the Year award.

October 5 Velar scores top safety rating New medium-sized luxury SUV the Range Rover Velar has been awarded ANCAP’s top safety rating.

It achieved high scores across all areas of assessment.

“The Velar arrives to our market with strong all-round safety performance resulting in a five-star ANCAP safety rating,” ANCAP chief executive officer James Goodwin says

Fraudster denied parole The woman who defrauded the Ministry of Transport of $726,000 will remain in prison after being denied parole.

Joanne Harrison is serving three years and seven months after pleading guilty to three charges of dishonestly taking or using a document, the New Zealand Herald reports.

The board found Harrison poses “an undue risk to the safety of the community”.

Small growth for truck market Both new and used truck registrations recorded small rises year-on-year in Septem-ber, bucking usual pre-election slowdown trends.

The market for new com-mercials over 3500kg was up 3.2% for the month to 579 units, reaching 4723 for the year – nearly 1000 units ahead of the same time in 2016.

Isuzu was again the domi-nant brand, up 20% to 126 ve-hicles, a 21.8% market share.


DIARYTALK



Boost for used car arrivals in September The number of used cars that came into the country in Sep-tember was up almost 1000 on the August result.

Latest figures from New Zealand Customs show 13,401 used cars arrived compared with 12,455 in August.

In the new car segment, 7620 arrived during Septem-ber, the lowest number to date this year and a significant dip on the previous month’s 10,599.

October 10 SUVs dominate finalists Half of the finalists in the 2017 New Zealand Car of the Year are SUVs, reflecting the market’s love of the style of vehicle.

The Land Rover Discovery, Mazda CX-5, Skoda Kodiaq, Subaru XV and Suzuki Ignis are joined in the group of 10 by the BMW 5-Series, Holden Astra, Honda Civic hatch, Suzuki Swift and the electric Hyundai Ioniq.

The New Zealand Auto-mobile Association and New Zealand Motoring Writers’ Guild will announce the Car of the Year at the Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland on Decem-ber 12.

Hilux returns to Japan The Toyota Hilux has returned to the Japanese car market after a 13-year hiatus.

The model returned to the brand’s home market last month after demand from us-ers. Around 9000 older mod-els remain on Japan’s roads.

“While sales in Japan ended in 2004, there are still around 9000 owners who mainly use the Hilux for work,” the

model’s chief engineer Masa-hiko Maeda says.

Aston Martin a snip at $4m A limited edition Aston Martin could be the most expensive car for sale in New Zealand.

The rare Aston Martin One-77 is on the market for $4 million at Giltrap Group’s new Aston Martin dealership in Grey Lynn, the New Zealand Herald reports.

A Giltrap Group spokesman says it “probably [is] the most expensive car for sale in New Zealand” and is one of just 77 ever made.

October 11 Apologies for “stupid” stunt 2CheapCars has apologised on social media for a marketing stunt which offered $10 Pak’n Save vouchers in exchange for five-star Google reviews.

“Despite our best inten-tions our recent marketing campaign to leave a review was not received kindly,” it posted on Facebook.

“We apologise for being so stupid.”

October 16 Three decades of A&P showsBay Ford dealer principal Ste-phen Salkeld is getting ready for his 31st Hawke’s Bay A&P Show.

However, the show’s changed significantly since his first event in 1987, he says.

“Back in those days the show was very social. I can remember families who would come and have their [car] boots full of picnics, a few wines and beers,” he told Hawke’s Bay Today.

Free servicing with new Stinger Owners of the new Kia Stinger will receive free scheduled servicing for four years or 40,000kms.

The five-door liftback is set to go on sale in New Zealand later this year although the

exact date is yet to be con-firmed.

“Buyers of the Kia Stinger will not only stand out from the crowd, they will also have the confidence of owning a new car that won’t cost them anything for scheduled servic-ing over the first four years or 40,000 kilometres, whichever occurs first,” says Kia Motors New Zealand general manager Todd McDonald.

Calls to ditch annual rego The need to register a vehicle every year has been called into question.

Labour’s associate trans-port spokesman Phil Twyford told Stuff it is an exercise in revenue gathering.

“I think most people think there must be a good reason for it, it’s about safety or what-ever, but no – it’s just about revenue gathering.”

October 17 MIA and VIA join forces The two organisations rep-resenting the new and used vehicle import trades in New Zealand have agreed to co-operate on matters of shared interest

A memorandum of un-derstanding between the Motor Industry Association and Imported Motor Vehicle Association (VIA) recognises their agreed working relation-ship while respecting each association’s autonomy.

It will be a united voice for the vehicle importing industry on matters of mutual interest, the organisations say.

October 18 Mitsubishi launches Eclipse Cross The latest addition to Mitsubi-shi’s SUV range – the Eclipse Cross – has been unveiled.

It will be available as a 2WD or AWD in XLS and VRX editions.

“The arrival of this smart and stylish compact SUV marks a significant addition

to our line-up – one which is sure to turn heads and spark imaginations,” says Mitsubishi NZ vehicle sales and marketing manager Daniel Cook.

“Switch” tax move for EVs Not-for-profit group Drive Electric is encouraging the new government to look at a fringe benefit tax (FBT) innova-tion to encourage corporate uptake of electric vehicles.

Drive Electric’s suggested “Switch” scheme would involve the incoming EV at-tracting the lower FBT rate of the outgoing fossil fuel vehicle.

FBT is lower on fossil fuel vehicles because they are much cheaper than EVs at pre-sent, Drive Electric chairman Mark Gilbert says.

October 19 Conference looks to the future The first ever Financial Services Federation (FSF) conference will explore opportunities and risks the industry faces moving forward.

The one-day conference – Financial Services Future-Proofing – will look at a range of topics, including advances in technology, the changing

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political landscape and regu-latory updates.

FSF executive director Lyn McMorran told AutoTalk the level of interest has been positive enough that plans are already underway for a two-day conference in Wellington next year.

Toyota to install free EV charging Free electric vehicle charg-ing points will be installed at Toyota dealerships around New Zealand.

It will start with Manukau, Greenlane, Auckland city, Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Wel-lington and Christchurch later this year, Toyota New Zealand chief executive officer Alistair Davis says.

The move will help over-come the challenge of limited availability of public charging stations.

October 20 Nissan production halted Nissan has announced plans to temporarily halt the produc-tion of cars destined for the Japanese market as it sorts out issues with pre-delivery inspection.

It recently recalled 1.2 million vehicles having discovered dealers failed to correctly undertake pre-delivery inspections. The vehicles were sold between October 2014 and September 2017. The inspections, which include steering and brake checks, were not undertaken by trained technicians.

As in New Zealand, Japa-nese dealers are responsible for inspecting and registering all new vehicles when sold.

Focus on transport Industry leaders are urging the new Government to keep pace with fixing the country’s transport system.

VIA chief executive David Vinsen says more will be known once policy detail and ministerial portfolio alloca-tions are released.

However, he says it’s impor-tant whoever takes over as transport minister keeps their eye on strategic objectives such as increasing the number of electric vehicles and push-ing for intelligent transport solutions.

Immigration cuts could hurt dealers Concern is being raised about the new Government’s inten-tion to cut migrant numbers.

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has confirmed that Labour’s policy of trimming migrant numbers by 20,000-30,000 is part of its coalition agreement with New Zealand First, although specific details are yet to be released.

However, Auckland City BMW managing director Ian Gibson told AutoTalk the pol-icy will have a negative effect on his business and the entire luxury car market.

October 24 New boss for Buy Right Cars Julian Stone has been named as the new general manager of Buy Right Cars by its parent company Turners Group NZ.

Stone will be responsible for eight dealerships across Auckland.

He has held a variety of positions, including new cars manager at Manukau Nis-san, New Zealand manager of

Autoselect and most recently dealer principal at AHG-owned John Andrew Mazda.

Port move one step closer Winston Peters’ plan to move Ports of Auckland operations to Northport in Whangarei could become a reality.

As part of its coalition deal with Labour, New Zealand First has negotiated a feasibil-ity study on moving the Ports of Auckland.

That includes giving “seri-ous consideration” to moving its operations to Northport.

October 25 New ministers announced Labour’s Phil Twyford has picked up the key role of transport minister in the new Government.

The role ties in with his other portfolios of hous-ing and urban development minister.

Green MP Julie Anne Genter backs up Twyford as associate transport minister, sitting outside of cabinet.

October 26 Port study ‘doesn’t change anything’The new Government’s deci-sion to put together a study that will look at the Ports of Auckland’s future isn’t a con-cern for the company.

Labour’s coalition partner New Zealand First secured the study after it promised during the election campaign to move all port operations to Northport by 2027.

However, Ports of Auckland spokesman Matt Ball told Au-

toTalk the move “doesn’t really change anything” in terms of the Auckland Council-owned port’s future.

October 27 Cox Automotive leadership shuffle Cox Automotive Australia has made two senior appointments as chief executive Gary Martin departs.

Rob Whiten, formerly Man-heim national retail director, has been appointed to replace Martin as chief executive of Cox Automotive Australia New Zealand, overseeing Manheim, Dealer Solutions, CarsGuide and AutoTrader, and Xtime businesses.

The open position for Man-heim Australia New Zealand has been filled by Charles Cumming, previously director of operations at Manheim. He started with the automotive auction giant in 2001.

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October 2 Shocking security measures Bunbury Honda and Kia in southwest Western Australia has applied to the City of Bun-bury for an electric fence to protect its vehicles.

The family-owned Bun-bury dealership has suffered $30,000 worth of damage in a year and a half on vehicles by vandals, forcing dealer principal Scott Jones to look at alternative ways to stop trespassers, the West Austral-ian reports.

Vandals have thrown rocks over the dealership fence into cars, lobbed bottles at vehicles and tossed rubbish into the yard.

October 2 Blackwell to head Australian Motors Shelley Blackwell is Austral-ian Motors Group’s new chief executive.

She is the first female chief executive at the South Aus-tralian automotive company, which represents Mazda, Mit-subishi, Suzuki and Isuzu Ute across five Adelaide sites.

Blackwell was previously chief financial officer at AP Eagers South Australian Car Group.

October 4 LDV network set to expand Ateco Automotive, the Austral-ian distributor for Chinese-made LDV vehicles, has deal-erships waiting in line to sign to the emerging brand.

Speaking to AutoTalk after the recent LDV T60 ute and D90 seven-seat SUV launch

in Sydney, Ateco’s public relations spokesman Edward Rowe says the brand has huge interest from Australia’s dealer network.

“We have had a number of approaches from existing companies wishing to become dealers as we move from talking to 2% of the market to 25%.”

October 9 AHG expands with new acquisition Automotive Holdings Group (AHG) has agreed to acquire five automotive dealership franchises in New South Wales.

AHG is buying Rutherford and Maitland’s Hunter Mo-tor Group, which includes Isuzu Utes and Volkswagen Commercial dealerships in the former, and Volkswagen Passenger, Subaru and Honda dealerships in the latter.

The purchase adds to AHG’s portfolio in the region northeast of Newcastle which includes Nissan, Mazda and Kia sites.

October 12 Car smashes into new dealer The two-month-old Mer-cedes-Benz Unley dealership in Malvern, south of Adelaide’s CBD, has been damaged by a car.

A Subaru travelling along Cross Road in Malvern smashed into the dealer-ship at about 1.30am. It hit the kerb and was airborne just as it crashed into the dealer-ship.

“I got here at about 2am and at that stage he (the driver) had just gone to hospital,” Unley general manager Drew Ford says.

October 13 Ferrari speeding ahead Ferrari Australasia chief execu-tive Herbert Appleroth says the Italian luxury sports car brand is expanding in Australia exponentially, adding more dealers in the next 18 months.

Unveiling the LaFerrari Aperta (roadster) hypercar at Motorclassica, Appleroth says the brand’s record new car sales in Australia have encouraged the brand to begin new franchises across the east coast.

“We’ve never seen a point in time where Ferrari sales have been this successful,” he says.

October 16 New cafe concept store Mercedes-Benz Australia will make Melbourne the seventh global city to open the brand’s new “Me” lifestyle store con-cept.

Opening on November 3 in the newly-renovated Rialto Towers in Collins St, the new space combines Melbourne’s cafe culture with the lifestyle of its customers.

The venue aims to offer cultural experiences with a “Meet the Maker” showcase of boutique gin distillers, a watchmaker and milliners, but it won’t be selling cars directly.

Car-yard loan writer banned Daniel Wilson has been banned by the Australian Se-curities and Investments Com-mission (ASIC) from engaging in any form of loan-writing financial activity.

Wilson wrote and submit-ted customer loans for the purchase of vehicles from Cranbourne-based Combined Motor Traders between 2013-14, five of which contained false income and employ-ment information.

ASIC says it found five loans submitted by Wilson and ap-proved by Esanda contained misleading income verifica-tion and employment status information in order to see the loans approved.

October 25 Win one, lose one Echuca/Moama has sprouted a new Kia dealership along the Northern Highway while Deni-liquin is losing one of Austral-ia’s oldest Holden dealerships.

Previously a used car dealer, Echuca Auto Group dealer principal Duane Johns has locked in a franchise with South Korean brand Kia, the Riverine Herald writes.

“Previously there has been no representation for Kia in Echuca which was unusual,” Johns said.

October 27 Code of conduct sought The Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) wants the Australian Compe-tition and Consumer Com-mission (ACCC) to establish an industry-specific code of conduct for new car retailers.

When the ACCC pub-lishes its final New Car Retail Industry report in December, the AADA wants the consumer watchdog to lay proper foun-dations on which the sale of all new vehicles in Australia, both manufacturers and deal-erships, must adhere to.

AADA chief executive David Blackhall says the new car retail market study highlights concerns about dealerships being restricted in their ability to adhere to Australian Con-sumer Law without jeopardis-ing business obligations with carmakers.

Sparkling new showroom opens

Southport Jaguar Land Rover’s brand new showroom has opened on the Gold Coast with pep in its step.

The Bruce Lynton fam-ily owned business has been a Land Rover dealer for 22 years. Its old building was bulldozed to make way for a $9 million remodelled epi-centre in the heart of the busy auto precinct.

Dealer principal Beric Lynton says bringing the Jaguar brand into the business required investing in the British marque’s corporate image.


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October 2 Buy an Isuzu, win a trip Isuzu Trucks is announcing details of a promotion that will see six people win an unfor-gettable trip to Japan and the home of Isuzu.

“Isuzu Trucks have been helping Kiwis change the way they do business, an accom-plishment recognised by 17 consecutive years of leader-ship,” Isuzu Trucks general manager Colin Muir says.

“We want to celebrate this achievement with a promo-tion which will provide the winners a chance to see the home of Isuzu in Japan, as well as indulge in some exciting activities.”

Carden in Hall of Fame Dave Carden has been induct-ed into the NZ Road Transport Hall of Fame.

The 87-year-old was hon-oured by the transport indus-try at an event in Invercargill on September 29.

The Tidd Ross Todd founder and director accepted the recognition with “great honour and pride” and thanked the Richardson Group for its dedi-cation to the national transport industry’s history.

New Iveco appointments Iveco Trucks New Zealand has announced two new appoint-ments.

Robert Woods is truck sales manager and Richard Field is daily van and bus sales con-sultant for the South Island.

Iveco general manager Ian Walker says he knows Woods very well from his time manag-

ing South African operations.

October 3 Port levy upsets truckies New charges to cover $2.16 million in increased insurance costs at the Napier Port haven’t gone down well with truckies, National Road Carriers says.

NRC chief executive David Aitken says it’s unfair to penalise members of the road freight transport industry which are not customers of the port.

“Our members are sim-ply delivering or collecting containers and other freight on behalf of importers, exporters and the shipping companies. The road freight transport industry is simply a service provider.”

October 4 Hino offers safety first Hino NZ will offer the first me-dium truck on the market here with stability control a standard feature.

Vehicle stability control (VSC) in its Wide Cab 500 trucks could be a real life-saver – and the stats back it up.

NZ Transport Agency research says around a third of heavy vehicle accidents involve rollovers. The VSC system senses loss of traction and au-tomatically stabilises trucks by applying braking to each wheel to regain control.

Bus builder signs new deals British bus builder Alexander Dennis has secured two new

deals with Auckland operators. The deals were both signed

at the Bus and Coach Asso-ciation Annual Conference in Rotorua.

Birkenhead Transport has placed an order for 20 new En-viro200XLB buses and Ritchies Transport Holdings, New Zea-land’s largest coach operator, has ordered eight Elite execu-tive touring coaches.

October 10 Blacklisted fire trucks to return Fire trucks blacklisted by the firefighters union over safety fears should be back in service by December.

The MAN trucks, which the Fire Service paid $13.5 million for in 2015, have been plagued by problems, Radio NZ reports.

Issues have included broken door handles, hinges and faulty throttles.

October 24 Stressed truckies back off highway Delays and problems with the upper South Island’s alterna-tive highway have prompted some truck drivers to refuse to use it or quit the industry, Road Transport Forum head Ken Shirley says.

“There’s a lot of pres-sure on the truck drivers and some are refusing to work that route and some are just quitting at a time when we’re desperately short of drivers,” he told Radio NZ.

Shirley says the industry is already short of about 2000 drivers.

East-West link scrapped Auckland’s controversial East-West link project has been cancelled as part of the Greens confidence and supply agree-ment with Labour.

The $1.85 billion project was projected to improve freight movements around traffic pinch points in Penrose, Mt Wellington and Onehunga.

Instead, the agreement aims to use the National Land Transport Fund to pay for rail infrastructure, cycling, walking

and work towards light rail from Auckland’s central city to Auckland Airport.

October 25 New ministers announced Labour’s Phil Twyford has picked up the key role of transport minister in the new Government.

The role ties in with his other portfolios of hous-ing and urban development minister.

Green MP Julie Anne Genter backs up Twyford as associate transport minister, sitting outside of cabinet.

October 26 Port study ‘doesn’t change anything’The new Government’s deci-sion to put together a study that will look at the Ports of Auckland’s future isn’t a con-cern for the company.

Labour’s coalition partner New Zealand First secured the study after it promised during the election campaign to move all port operations to Northport by 2027.

However, Ports of Auckland spokesman Matt Ball told Au-toTalk the move “doesn’t really change anything” in terms of the Auckland Council-owned port’s future.

October 27 Bethunes acquires TIL Bethunes Investments Ltd has announced it will buy New Plymouth-based transport and logistics business Transport In-vestments Ltd for $200 million.

However, once the pur-chase goes through, Bethunes will have a new board of directors and change its name to TIL Logistics Group Limited on the New Zealand Stock Exchange.

TIL, which generated revenue of $320 million in the last financial year, oper-ates several brands, including Hooker Pacific, TNL, Roadstar, Pacific Fuel Haul, TIL Freight, McAuley’s, MOVE Logistics and NZL.


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October 2 EV partnership Toyota and Mazda have formed a partnership to de-velop electric vehicles.

Automotive components company Denso is the third party in the joint venture with the mission to develop basic structural technologies for EVs.

The trio will develop several models together, establishing a new company to produce mini-vehicles and passen-ger cars, SUVs and even light trucks.

October 3 VW e-Golfs here soon Volkswagen e-Golfs are com-ing to New Zealand in mid-November.

A limited supply is expect-ed to be available from deal-ers in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, Volkswa-gen New Zealand says.

The price will be around $61,990, plus on-road costs.

October 4 More range for e-NV200 The Nissan e-NV200 has a

new 40kWh battery providing about 60% more range.

The size and weight of the high-voltage battery is unchanged but with almost double the battery capacity customers can drive more than 100km per battery charge.

The e-NV200 is now ideally suited for business custom-ers such as parcel and delivery services, Nissan says.

EV interest growing fastMore Kiwis are considering electric vehicles, particularly in Auckland, Wellington and Canterbury regions, Trade Me Motors says.

The number of views on EVs increased by a whopping 330% in the last year, accord-ing to its latest data.

Electric vehicles are be-coming “an attractive alterna-tive” for car buyers, Trade Me Motors head Alan Clark says.

October 9 Ioniq added to finalistsAn electric Hyundai Ioniq is included among the 10 finalists in the 2017 New Zealand Car of the Year.

EVs have their own cat-egory for the first time, too, although they’ve been in-cluded in the general line-up before with the BMW i3 taking top honours in 2015.

The new EV category re-flects the increasing numbers available and growing market interest.

October 18 Polestar first of new breed Volvo Car Group’s Polestar has

unveiled its first car as a new standalone electric perfor-mance brand.

The 600hp Polestar 1 is scheduled to go into produc-tion mid-2019 but custom-ers will rent rather than own one on a two or three-year subscription basis.

It’s the first of three models which will soon have a fully electric powertrain.

“Switch” tax move for EVs Not-for-profit group Drive Electric is encouraging the new government to look at a fringe benefit tax (FBT) innova-tion to encourage corporate uptake of electric vehicles.

Drive Electric’s suggested “Switch” scheme would involve the incoming EV at-tracting the lower FBT rate of the outgoing fossil fuel vehicle.

FBT is lower on fossil fuel vehicles because they are much cheaper than EVs at present, Drive Electric Chair-man Mark Gilbert says.

October 19 Globally compatible charging What’s the best way to deliver efficient, fast and convenient EV recharging?

Different infrastructures, vehicles types and appli-cations require different solutions so Continental has developed a portfolio of scalable, globally compatible charging technologies.

Many for cable-based and wireless charging were presented at the 30th Interna-tional Electric Vehicle Sympo-sium & Exhibition in Stuttgart, Germany.

October 19 Toyota to install free EV charging Free electric vehicle charg-ing points will be installed at Toyota dealerships around New Zealand.

It will start with Manukau, Greenlane, Auckland city,

Hawke’s Bay, Manawatu, Wel-lington and Christchurch later this year, Toyota New Zealand chief executive officer Alistair Davis says.

The move will help over-come the challenge of limited availability of public charging stations.

October 24 Tesla charger tally rising A Tesla Supercharger has opened in Taupo.

The supercharger is at 1 Kaimanawa St, next to Unison Charger.

It’s among several Super-chargers scheduled – the others are planned for Sanson this year and then Auckland next year.

October 26 BMW breaks 10,000 barrierBMW Group sold 10,786 plug-in cars globally during September, the first time it’s topped 10,000 EVs in a month.

And it says sales of electri-fied vehicles are higher in the first nine months of this year than for the whole of 2016.

A total of 10,786 (up 50.5%) BMW i, BMW iPerformance and Mini electric vehicles were delivered in September, bringing the year-to-date total to 68,687 (up 64.2%), BMW Group says.

Europcar NZ tests e-Golf Europcar NZ’s pure electric vehicle fleet is now available for rent to the public in Auck-land and Christchurch.

The new e-Golfs are part of Europcar NZ’s long-term sustainability strategy, a collaboration between the company, Volkswagen New Zealand and Auckland, Wel-lington and Christchurch airports.

The joint venture involved corporate travellers driving the e-Golfs on business trips free, instead of being taxied around.

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