THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE VOLUME 6 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2019
Auto Franchise Code: Dieselgate Patience is a virtue settlement ‘beggars belief’ he Australian Automotive Dealer give as much input and advice to the Association continues to wait department as possible, and the min- ederal Court Justice Lindsay Tpatiently in Canberra as the depart- ister has said that we can expect draft Foster gave the consumer ment of industry, innovation and science regulations by the end of the year. We Fwatchdog a scathing as- has focused on recycling, space and have been told that a new standalone sessment of its teaching STEM. automotive code for our industry could agreement over While important, the automotive code take significantly longer than a schedule Volkswagen’s which has been in its inception, concep- to the existing code, for our industry has Dieselgate scan- tion and embryonic stage for over two to be written from scratch, another two dal in October. years, and according to her news feeds, years has been suggested,” he says. He lambasted federal MP Karen Andrews hasn’t spoken We think there needs to be a balance the Austral- to the issue since March. between getting a timely resolution and ian Competition Justice Lindsay The consultation process into auto- a set of regulations with teeth which lev- and Consumer Foster motive franchise retailing closed in Feb- els the playing field for dealers,” Voort- Commission for ruary and AutoTalk reported in September man explains. accepting the auto giant’s $75 the legal counsel for the AADA is vehe- We have listened to the government million fine which Foster describes mently offering additional information to on their suggestion of an annexed code as “not a lot of money for Volk- the department advising that the draft bill under the existing franchise legislation, swagen”. needs to be a standalone proposal in an but because it will the first ever industry Foster says based on the “scale, ideal situation. annex to a code we would need more impact and deliberateness” of However, there are whispers through detail,” he highlights. Volkswagen’s emissions-cheating the corridors of Parliament that could “We completely understand the frus- misconduct and the ACCC’s see another two-year wait for a full- tration for our dealer members out there acceptance of their account “beg- bodied, long-legged automotive who have been more than patient, giving gars belief”. franchise code of us feedback and supporting the cause – He dismissed Volkswagen’s conduct. and we pass that same gratitude onto the position of being unaware of the AADA chief execu- rest of the automotive industry for trying emissions testing defeat device, tive James Voortman to make it a fairer and more equitable asking, “Doesn’t that mean that says the notion of system – it’s just a matter of waiting for the corporate governance of this another two years is more detail from the Government,” he very large corporation was hope- hard to stomach. continues. less, because this decision to build “We are trying to James Voortman Continued on page 5 these engines in the way they did is a massive enterprise in itself?” INSIDE The Sydney Morning Herald Land tax killing metro automotive business P5 also reports Foster mocking the Dealers have a new friend in Carly P10 ACCC’s counsel in regards to ac- Motorclassica’s decade of success P12 cepting the settlement proposal,
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2 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
Government confirms data-sharing
he federal government has consumers, and that he will be “reading prehensive submissions to parliamentary confirmed a mandatory servicing every word” of the draft bill to ensure inquiries and investigations by govern- Tand repair data-sharing scheme aftermarket business are charged “a fair ment departments, agencies and regula- will become law in one of the biggest price” for their data access. tors, including the Australian Competi- changes to the automotive industry. “This is an incredible tion and Consumer Commission (ACCC), Assistant treasurer Michael Sukkar’s result for our mem- of the need for stronger government office has released a statement confirm- bers, who came to us intervention. ing the “Coalition Government is com- with their concerns, Charity explains the association has mitted to progressing the design of a put competitive rival- worked “tirelessly” to push for govern- mandatory information sharing scheme ries aside and fought ment action to address the “important for motor vehicle service and repair alongside us to have competition issue”. information”. Stuart Charity the law changed for “We have personally met with over Where countless independent work- their customers, their 75 federal MPs, facilitated hundreds of shops and repairers have had to access businesses and the wider industry,” he workshop visits by MPs all around the information from overseas, disguising says. country and had countless early morning themselves as dealers from Europe or The Victorian Automobile Chamber of and late-night discussions with ministers the US, the new scheme will include Commerce has been at the forefront of and other industry stakeholders,” he says. conditions such as mandating that a long campaign to bring about change The AAAA has also passed gratitude independent repairers must be able to for consumers and automotive service to fellow stakeholders, some of whom purchase all service and repair informa- and repair businesses. were once staunchly opposed to the tion car manufacturers share with their “VACC, along with its national body idea of sharing proprietary OEM servicing dealership networks. the Motor Trades Association of Australia, and repair information with aftermarket Sukkar says the laws will form “part of worked hard to gather insights and case workshops. our commitment to support appropriate examples from businesses, including “This has been an industry wide effort commercial dealing and competition in independent repairers, new-car fran- and I would like to acknowledge the the new car retail supply chain for the chised dealers, motor body repairers, invaluable role played by automotive benefit of both small businesses and and dismantlers and recyclers, on how industry associations, Motor Trades As- consumers”. restricted access to critical vehicle man- sociation of Australia (MTAA), Australian It’s the biggest affirmation the auto- ufacturer service and repair information Automotive Dealer Association (AADA), motive industry has officially had from hampers consumer choice and contrib- Victorian Automobile Chamber of the government since Sukkar announced utes to an uncompeti- Commerce (VACC), Australian Automo- his support for the programme at the tive and unfair playing bile Association (AAA), and the Fed- 2017 AutoCare convention in Sydney for field,” chief executive eral Chamber of Automotive Industries the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Geoff Gwilym says. (FCAI),” Charity says. Association. VACC arranged “I’d like to personally thank the as- “It will also remove grey areas in business and work- sistant treasurer Hon Michael Sukkar the current voluntary arrangements shop visits for many for his leadership on this issue and by explicitly setting out a list of safety, parliamentarians and commitment to introduce a mandatory Geoff Gwilym security and environmental information stakeholders, analysed data sharing law that will benefit small that must only be released to appropri- international jurisdictions, and engaged businesses in the automotive service ate businesses as well as clear criteria for experts from the US to assist in preparing industry as well as every Australian car access,” the minister’s statement says. a draft Code of Conduct. owner,” he adds. The AAAA’s chief executive Stuart Through the Motor Trades Association AutoTalk understands an exposure draft Charity says it’s a long-awaited win Australia, VACC facilitated an industry could be ready as early as December. for both the automotive industry and Heads of Agreement, and provided com-
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 3 NEWSTALK
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EDITOR Scott (Muzza) Murray [email protected] +61 426 365 774 Economic smoke signals:
ONLINE EDITOR Geoff Dobson Distrust, skewed wealth, [email protected] +64 21 881 823 evolving consumers BUSINESS MANAGER Dale Stevenson he latest survey report from Roy federal, and many of their departments [email protected] Morgan reveals some key indica- such as Centrelink and the Australian Tax +64 21 446 214 Ttors regarding why new car sales Office, are deemed untrustworthy. RECRUITMENT / figures continue to tumble. “We keep trying to rid ourselves of PRODUCTION SPECIALIST Despite the report indicating auto- the evils in the world around us, but yet Fran Da Silva motive is among the higher trust in- we’re all distrusting of governments as [email protected] dustries on a “Net Trust Score” with the the regulators to change things,” she +64 21 933 279 public along with retail, supermarkets, says. insurance, services and tourism, the “Trust is the foundation of all human economic situation in Australia is drasti- connections, but distrust causes cus- GROUP GENERAL MANAGER cally skewed in favour of the wealthy. tomer churn, it impacts on engagement Deborah Baxter According to the report, the top 10% and retention – it is a bellwether for a [email protected] of Australia’s wealthiest population holds sustainable future,” Levine explains. +64 27 530 5016 more than 47% of that wealth, which has In the gender pay gap, women have increased by roughly 10% since 2007. continued to gain wealth, both in real MANAGING EDITOR However, it doesn’t mean Australia terms and compared to their male Richard Edwards is entirely worse off because 90% of counterparts. [email protected] the population is wealthier than it was Where women once had an aver- +64 21 556 655 in 2007 as the Global Financial Crisis age personal net wealth of $236,000 in loomed, where actual net wealth was 2007, at 80% of their male equivalent’s PUBLISHER once $4.5 trillion, it is now at more than wealth ($296,000), in 2019 it has risen to Vern Whitehead $8.6 trillion. 88% and sits at $393,000. [email protected] But the reality for consumers, and This suggests women now more than +64 21 831 153 potentially their inability or reluctance ever are likely to have a stronger influ- Auto Media Group Limited makes to buy new cars, can be found when ence on vehicle purchasing decisions, every endeavour to ensure using a median Consumer Price Index given there are now more women in information contained in this publication is accurate, however adjusted figure, which finds Australians full-time employment now than in 2007. we are not liable for any losses are 2.2% poorer. Roy Morgan’s wealth research also or issues resulting from its use. Part of the problem lies, according finds removing the super-wealthy from to chief executive Michelle Levine, with the average figures shows most people’s the issue Australians have in the institu- wealth has gone down – as opposed to tions they trust such as the Royal Auto incremental wage/earnings increases autotalk.com.au motoring clubs and PayPal, which differs from wealth. autotalk.co.nz versus the ones they firmly Australia’s primary wealth is futuretrucking.com.au distrust like big banks, oil com- in the property market at around transporttalk.co.nz panies and certain insurers like $6 trillion, but so too is its big- evtalk.com.au CGU or Youi as presented in gest proportion of total personal evtalk.co.nz the report. debt which stands at $1.2 trillion, wheeltalk.co.nz The survey found all levels including 69% of that ($847 bil- of government, local, state, Michelle Levine Continued on page 18
4 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
Auto Franchise Code: Patience is a virtue
Continued from page 1
Voortman, whose experience includes as a key member of a federal minister’s advisory team, says for the AADA an- nexed legislation is somewhat breaking new ground. “The concept of an annex is unfamil- iar territory for us, and it needs to cover future distribution models, such as the agency model being considered by some OEMs,” Voortman concludes. Minister Andrews tells AutoTalk the Macpherson Kelley law firm national di- proof our code so it’s not restricted just draft bill will be under the AADA’s tree rector James Sturgess said it’s imperative to franchising only,” Stents explains. before Christmas. the automotive code does not become Stents says the current franchising “Draft legislation will be available for annexed under the franchise code. code of conduct falls under the treasury, industry consultation before the end of He stressed that “an annexed code is but suggests dealers should be working the year at which time relevant stake- a watered-down code” and suggested with the department of small business. holders will be informed,” she says. the tussle getting it over the line the way “If we have a standalone, it may well “The Morrison Government is com- dealers want and need it, has only just come under the auspices of the depart- mitted to implementing regulatory begun. ment of small business which is a much reforms to automotive franchising ar- “The AADA has done an amazing better fit than treasury,” he says. rangements to make the system fairer for job getting the code to where it is now, Stents says the inner workings of the consumers, dealers and manufacturers,” but the next battle is going to be even automotive code will be a “devil in the Andrews explains. harder – if the [federal] elec- detail” situation going forward for the Andrews reminds the industry tion had gone the other way, it association. the reforms will not be optional would’ve been easier,” Sturgess “The government is saying it doesn’t and passes her appreciation to all explains. want to mandate buy-back obligations, parties who’ve had input over the “This [Morrison] government but they’re already in place within the last two years. needs to give this real priority, dealer agreements, but the only reason “The Government is focused they’re saying the right things … dealers have those vehicles in stock is on making the reforms manda- Karen Andrews But keep the code separate,” he because of the requirements by OEMs in tory, as they will provide for more adds. that same agreement,” he explains. transparent and co-operative end of term HWL Ebsworth Lawyers lead partner “It’s a bit of a ‘furphy’ to say a dealer and capital expenditure arrangements,” Evan Stents says dealers need manda- must give reason to terminate the agree- she continues. tory buy-back terms, minimum-tenure ment, because the OEMs are under a “Stakeholders including the Austral- clauses with minimum notice; and no-fault arrangement and don’t have to ian Automotive Dealer Association, the stresses the importance of the code’s de- give reasons to dealers when they don’t Federal Chamber of Automotive Indus- sign to be handled by the right ministerial renew the dealer’s franchise,” Stents says. tries and the Motor Trades Associations department. “Dealers generally often enter into an have been engaged as part of the pro- “There are eight standalone industry agreement with more than one term, as cess and their contributions have been codes already out there already, there’s a right of renewal, but it’s an illusory right very important in shaping the proposed no reason our industry needs to be shar- and off the back of that right investments reforms,” Andrews adds. ing a code that doesn’t work,” he begins. are made thinking there’s more than one At the September AADA Convention, “We need to make sure we future- term,” he continues.
Dieselgate settlement ‘beggars belief’
Continued from page 1 gen’s corporate governance “just had considers contraventions”. saying “you’re actually on the same no idea what was going on”, Foster However, Foster tells Kirk, “You side”. suggests, “Someone had to know don’t have to agree with things that Foster says the decision will about it; someone had to write the are completely wrong”, telling Rich, remain for the court to decide, but cheques”. “It’s not any contravention, it’s con- suggested the $75 million penalty VW senior counsel Garry Rich said traventions of this magnitude and should be “multiples of that amount”. the penalty “sends a very, very clear standing.” Rubbishing the notion Volkswa- message … of how seriously this court
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 5 NEWSTALK
Taxing to extinction
he Victorian Automobile Cham- that number grows to 50, according to recently which is tough having to explain ber of Commerce has sounded a the VACC’s member locator, including that you just can’t afford someone,” he Twarning that Melbourne’s auto- franchised dealerships, independent reveals. motive industry is starting to echo in all mechanical workshops, tyre retailers and Sanchez will be 65 before Christmas the wrong ways. auto electricians. and employs two young mechanics and The chamber has found a fifth of Tony Sanchez, who a third with a family, but Melbourne’s metropolitan automotive owns and runs ALS he refuses to let the situ- small-medium businesses have closed Automotive in South ation dampen spirits. since 2014 as land tax skyrockets by Melbourne, has been “I’m working harder 130%. in his current property with less staff, but the The Sydney Morning Herald reported since 2012, has seen good thing is I can do it, in April land tax is one of Victoria’s larg- the cost to run his and the ones I do have est treasury troves, shovelling $3.1 billion humble workshop go Geoff Gwilym Tony Sanchez left I’m honest with and into the state vault, but the impost is stratospheric. we don’t pretend the killing Melbourne’s automotive trade. “My land tax bill has gone from situation isn’t difficult – we just find The results from a VACC survey finds $2500 to $23,000 in just seven years, a way to keep gong and making our “overwhelmingly” the increase in land and I’ve argued with the State Revenue customers happy, some of whom are tax is dramatically affecting automo- Office that I’m still doing that same as several generations of family still coming tive businesses, chief executive Geoff the last 40 years – fixing cars,” he tells to us,” he says optimistically. Gwilym says the Andrews Labor govern- AutoTalk. Pallas has been criticised by the au- ment has this information. “My business has grown, I do employ tomotive industry for rapidly introducing “We call this a hollowing out effect people now, but I make no more money the Victorian “super luxury tax” on new and we’ve alerted the government to from being in the premises and it’s vehicle sales over $100,000 this year, this,” he says, having sent the personal totally unfair they should tax me based which came into effect from June 30. accounts and data of automotive busi- on the potential it had should I sell it,” The VACC communicated directly nesses on the verge of insolvency, clo- Sanchez maintains. with Pallas saying the super tax would sure, bankruptcy or relocation directly to ALS Automotive, a 420 square-metre only tighten the economic grip around treasurer Tim Pallas. premise, is neighboured by an even the automotive retail sector’s neck. “Particularly over the last four years larger Spencer Panels business whose “We’re urging the state government more and more automotive businesses primary clients include warranty work to think about land tax which in some are selling out of metropolitan areas, and for major OEM brands like Subaru, Volk- areas of Melbourne has gone up 130% in moving out further, or shutting down swagen, Suzuki, Peugeot and Renault, two years. completely.” and insurance giants IAG and RACV, just “We’re telling them you’re going to Gwilym says there are several mem- two doors down but with roughly four tax the automotive industry out and the ber businesses telling the VACC they’re times the street frontage. Between them services will go with them,” VACC says. about to close because they cannot is an eight-story apartment block. “When you’re trying to attract afford to pay increasing land tax. “I’m expecting it to go up again next consumers into metro areas around “We’ve done a study of local govern- year because they [revenue office] base Melbourne, they won’t come if there are ment areas around metropolitan and in it off the City of Port Phillip council rates, no services.” some cases the removal rate of busi- which have also gone from $1500 to The new VACC data is the chamber’s nesses in automotive is up to 25%. $10,000 per year,” Sanchez explains, further attempt to prevent the collapse “Metropolitan Melbourne has 22% bewildered and somewhat deflated. of even more automotive industry. less automotive businesses than it did “This is why I’ve raised the problem “You could say building apartments four years ago,” Gwilym highlights. with the VACC – nobody’s asking for and growth is pushing businesses out, Roughly 20 VACC member automo- favours, just for the state government but the problem we can see is at some tive businesses encircle the Melbourne and councils to be more reasonable point you’ll be in metro Melbourne hav- CBD within just a 2.5km range, including and obliging to small businesses who ing to drive 10-15-20km out to get your Carlton, North and South Melbourne, pay everything and have never missed car fixed,” Gwilym spells out. Richmond, Kensington, Southbank and anything,” he attests. “That’s not good for car use, it’s not Abbotsford. “It makes it really hard; I employ four good for road use,” he adds. Less than a kilometre’s difference and people and had to let a fifth person go
6 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
Selling battery recycling
he CSIRO has already begun challenge is helping recyclers develop ficult to harvest and the purification detailed investigations into how a systematic approach to removing process produces waste, but it is 40 Telectric vehicle batteries can or those components in a similar way to times stronger than diamond, 100 times could be recycled in a long-term sus- the recycling of old lead-acid batteries lighter than aluminium and is 140 times tainable future not too far away. or tyres. more electrically conductive than lithi- Speaking to EVtalk at Nissan Aus- “We need to help recyclers come um – which is why it has the potential to tralia’s charging infrastructure trial an- up with novel ways of collecting revolutionise EV battery energy density. nouncement in Melbourne this month, those batteries, being quite big helps “Graphites are valuable, not as a raw CSIRO’s Christopher Munnings, the so you’re only collecting one or two material but in a battery, it is, and we team leader for electrochemical energy components. have a very active programme looking at systems and high efficiency thermal “How do they maximise the value in all those challenges,” Munnings adds. technologies says the organisation is removing those materials – graphites Harris says they need to establish working hard on establishing such an at the moment aren’t recycled because who and what the recycled compo- ecosystem. they’re difficult to remove,” Munnings nents are being recycled for; the pro- “We’re starting to look at battery re- reveals. cess needs a second-life demand. cycling in detail – a lot of it depends on Graphite is one of three naturally oc- “Are you recycling it back to the bat- their chemistry because a lot of EV bat- curring carbon materials on Earth and is tery manufacturers who make the same teries contain high amounts of cobalt used 40 times more in an EV Li-ion bat- thing, or are you recycling the compo- and that’s quite a valuable commodity,” tery’s production than lithium. Graphene nents to other opportunities which can he begins. is a single-atom sheet of carbon which vary depending on where you are in the “The cost therefore was only discovered world,” he asks. is less than throwing it and developed as “The other side is whether these ma- away, you make money early as the mid- terials are the things you recycle straight off the scrap, and when 2000s and is the away into their next second-life use,” you look at other tech- focus of significant Harris adds. nologies there’s less research because “Before you get to the point of pull- value; but essentially a it it’s unique ability ing the battery apart, you need to know battery is a big box of to help batteries what the next purpose is, and potentially aluminium and copper, charge quickly and whether it needs to be pulled apart at metals that are profit- sustain that charge all,” he explains. able to be recycled,” for longer – Sam- According to the CSIRO, Australia Munnings explains. sung announced in produces roughly 3300 tonnes of Together with early 2018 it would lithium-ion battery waste, of which research director for use the material in only 2% is recycled and growing by low-emission technol- its phone batteries. 20% per year; it’s expected our lithium- ogy, Dr David Harris, L-R: Christopher Munnings, Dr David Graphene is ion battery waste will exceed 100,000 Munnings says the Harris. unfortunately dif- tonnes by 2036.
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 7 NEWSTALK Pedestrian detection not infallible he American Automobile Associ- avoided when two ation has performed independent pedestrians were Ttesting of pedestrian detection encountered walk- within autonomous emergency braking ing at the roadside, systems which reveals it may not save although the study lives. does not indicate While acknowledging the fea- whether the pedes- tures “are not intended to serve as trian dummies were a substitute for an engaged driver”, walking toward or in the investigation has found, among the same direction other results, at 48km/h, three out of as the vehicle. four test vehicles failed to reduce the EuroNCAP and impact speed by at least 8km/h. ANCAP testing of complacent about these relatively new The testing reveals pedestrian pedestrian detection safety assist technologies. detection systems were “significantly systems uses a dum- “It is important that consumers are challenged” when they encountered a my rig travelling in the aware that AEB and other collision child while travelling at 32km/h by only same direction as the avoidance systems are provided to as- avoiding an impact 11% – or just over vehicle, where on the sist the driver in emergency situations, one in 10 occasions – using aggre- recently scored Audi not replace the driver. gated results. A6 for example, with Rhianne Robson “ANCAP plays a key role in educating When test vehicles were presented the system operable the community on the availability and with a pedestrian while exiting a between 10-85km/h. benefits of these technologies, as well right-hand bend in the road, none of During the day the vehicle was rated as their limitations,” Robson says. their autonomous emergency brak- as “Good”. However, in night scenarios, ANCAP says despite the potential ing functions managed to mitigate the Audi was also scored as “Marginal”. drawbacks, the technology remains any impact speeds during five test ANCAP communications and essential for people’s on-going safety sequences per vehicle. advocacy director Rhianne Robson in and around vehicles in future. Only one in five collisions were tells AutoTalk drivers must never be Continued on page 12 ALICE ALICE ALICE ALICE MAKE BETTER ADVERTISING DECISIONS. SELL MORE CARS. GENERATE MORE PROFIT.
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8 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 DEALERTALK
Three decades of dependability
ver noticed how rare it is for automotive caper that the local dealer- priate location for a Toyota dealership people to stay working in a role ship is often one of the cornerstones of right before heading up into Marysville Elonger than five years? rural and regional communities, tipping and Lake Mountain for the snow sea- It’s never been easier to find work money back into sports clubs, nearby son, and beyond that, the bluffs, tracks thanks to resources like Seek, Facebook schools, employing young locals and and ruts into the Great Dividing Range and LinkedIn enabling you to pull up a literally keeping them mobile during – the places LandCruisers are built to potential direction change or times of crisis like bushfires or tackle. just the next step in a plotted floods. Most dealership Facebook pages career trajectory. When Adam took up the man- are filled with the same giant bow Yet there are still those tle of dealer principal in 2007, atop the bonnet and an awkward among us who have never not only was the Global Financial smile, but Healsville Toyota’s has felt the need to change Crisis not far away (small towns plenty of two-way traffic with owners lanes or who are simply hav- are often hit hardest by econom- posting photos of their exploits. ing too much fun – seem- ic struggles), but the ingly, Adam Pollock fits into Andy Pollock 2009 Black Satur- both those descriptions. day bushfires would He’s the dealer principal for come terrifyingly close to Healsville Toyota in Victoria, the last the town. of the brand’s impressively thorough Despite the hard dealer network before the beginning knocks, Healsville Toyota of the state’s High Country. continues to keep locals Can you think of a more brilliantly moving, like funeral positioned Toyota dealership? The director Gavin Herit- foothills of some of the steepest, hard- age, a young local tradie est, most gruelling off-road terrain in Brandon who was just 10 the entire country, with an ARB dealer when Adam first met him, right across the road. It’s sure genius. and return LandCruiser It’s also the region known for grow- lovers Michael and Ann who bought “Phil and Jacqui are on the road ing some of Australia’s best wine, the their first GXL from the same dealer- with their new Landcruiser 200 Sahara Yarra Valley. ship back in 1997. which they had converted to a dual Adam celebrated 10 years run- The business makes a good point on cab,” they say. ning the modest little dealership in its well utilised and properly executed And closer to home, during what the tourist hotspot known also for Facebook page, with an image of four was a record snow fall this winter, the Healsville Sanctuary and the 79-Series LandCruisers lined up in the Travis and Mandy ventured to Lake also-award-winning Four Pillars Gin waiting bays, captioned: “You’d think Mountain during an epic snow dump distillery. we only sold LandCruisers here”. and decided to share it with their local It’s been said time and again in the It’s hard to think of a more appro- Continued on page 10
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 9 DEALERTALK
Three decades of dependability
Continued from page 9 Toyota dealer. The Young family sent in photos fill- ing up their Sahara diesel V8 at $2.08/ litre … somewhere out there in the middle of nowhere, while “Brendan and Chelsea” also sent in a ‘79-Series GXL at sunset’ photo, but from exactly where they wanted to be – Fraser Island. How many people think of shar- ing their journey through life with a car dealer? Plenty judging by what appears to be a very active Toyota community. “They went to great lengths to book in our 2015 Prado in for its 50,000km service,” local Fletcher Lehmann says. “When you are booked out for 2-3 weeks, you know that you are in the right place,” the director of Maroondah Auto Electrics says. “The team truly go above and be- ing area for 30 years, and two years Repeat customers also appear to yond for their customers and always ago invested into major sponsorship of be something of a staple, as local Bec make us feel welcome and respected,” the Healesville Senior Football Ground. Chandler adds. she compliments. Perhaps it’s easier than first thought “We are up to our 5th purchase from The Pollock family has been selling to see why Adam hasn’t gone any- Healesville Toyota now,” she says. Toyotas to Healsville and the surround- where.
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10 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
Dealers essential for Carly subscription platform
ears new car subscription ser- change jobs, lifestyles change. already visiting a dealer’s website and re- vices would see the convention “If you buy a sports car now and have quires no additional marketing expendi- Fdealership retail model up-rooted twins in nine months’ time, you’re going ture, appropriate given several industry couldn’t be more misguided. to look pretty stupid, but also people are experts have said they’re encouraging Vehicle subscription business Carly, thinking carefully about where they’re dealers to spend more on digital market- which recently announced it has signed spending money now as their lives ing. Carly could be one of those oppor- on Hyundai Australia to supply assets, change,” Noone says. tunities. needs the franchised dealer network. Carly is being offered as an Noone says his firm has not Part of ASX-listed Collaboration opportunity for dealers to add just come up with a good idea, Corporation’s portfolio which includes value to their business model, by but ploughed ahead without DriveMyCar, MyCaravan and Mobilise, taking advantage of their exist- any investment and technical Carly has already begun substantially ing I-Motor services which give forethought. partnering with several major dealer them the ability to offer Carly “It’s not as easy as slapping groups and respective OEM franchisor subscription on their website. a ‘subscription’ sticker on a car Chris Noone brands. Noone says dealers can stop and saying, ‘Come and get it’,” Chief executive Chris Noone tells chasing the lowest possible he points out. AutoTalk more good news is coming price on sales, and it means no more “There’s a lot more you need to do; as there are plenty of big brand names turning to the service department prof- we have over 10 years’ experience doing they’re in discussions with, and many its for ad-hoc promotions and savings. long-term car rentals. irons in the fire. “Manufacturers are still going to make “We do a live hand-over with the “We can’t announce who those other cars, dealers are still going to distribute dealer or an agent, an inspection is done partners are yet, but we’re talking to a them, we’re just providing a different way on the vehicle, we’ve developed an app number of providers and subscription is to get to those customers. that manages the inspection to include certainly a hot topic at the moment,” he “Dealers and OEMs love digital, but details and pictures, which is uploaded begins. the current retail model still requires to our system, and when it’s returned “With the decline in car sales and the consumers to physically enter the we can cross-check no damage has oc- banking royal commission results, con- dealership to access vehicle ownership, curred,” Noone explains. sumers are looking at alternative ways but this is an opportunity to put unsold He says a great deal of troubleshoot- to get access to vehicles, and dealers assets to use by offering them as a true ing has gone into the business model and OEMs are looking for ways to meet subscription without having to leave the before testing it at commercial scale. that need,” he says. couch,” Noone highlights. “One of the most important things we But don’t think this is another nail in Car subscription enables franchised do is verify customers before they get the dealer’s retail business model coffin, dealers to seamlessly introduce a new into the cars,” he reveals. because it could be the best decision a revenue source to their dealership by “We’ve spent years honing our pro- dealer makes. providing their customers with the cesses, investing in the platform, to make “We’re not circumnavigating the opportunity to subscribe to the newest sure it works really well, really quickly and dealer because the car still comes from vehicles on sale. gets the maximum conversion without the dealership,” Noone says. It also means dealers can play to their annoying customers by saying ‘We’ll get “This is another way of presenting advantage in a shaky economic climate back to you’,” he says. the car to the customer because a lot of where finance is harder to approve after Carly says its verification has even people are on contract work now, they the Hayne Royal Commission. seen publicly reported incidents which might take an extended holiday, they The concept leverages web traffic Continued on page 12
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 11 NEWSTALK
Dealers essential for Carly subscription platform
Continued from page 11 Noone says there are other have been helped or reduced players in the space offering by the operation’s extensive what appears to be advertising vetting and security screening of as a subscription service, but applicants. has all the hallmarks of a typical Unable to find a verifica- finance model. tion platform around the world “When you see an Australian which suited their needs, Noone Financial Service licence num- decided to build their own. ber on their website and you “It’s called Peer Pass and al- dig further to find their product lows us to integrate third-party is locking customers into a services and our own technol- long-term, multi-year, payment ogy as well,” he says. Is subscription a dealer’s new best friend? scheme with high break costs “It means we can verify driver’s on a contract, that’s just financing and licences, Medicare cards, passports, we To most of us it would feel a momen- not subscription,” he warns. can do credit checks and potential fraud. tous occasion and a proud achievement “Generation-Y, which is getting “If we feel the customer is not going to sit in the room meeting with a major around the 40-year age, is aware that life to be suitable or not able to make pay- automotive brand showing keen inter- can change as soon as six or 12 months; ments or can’t look after the vehicle, we est in your arguably game-changing it’s not like the old days when your life won’t process that subscription,” Noone enterprise. changed in increments of 10 years and explains. But for Noone, stepping into the you had a different car for each era,” The commitment to get the business, room with Hyundai was more about Noone says. its programs and its technology matured being “in the zone”, having all Ts crossed “Consumers want to have flexibility and ready to implement for clients is and Is dotted. and a true subscription service offers Carly’s edge, Noone says. “We knew when we launched Carly that.” “It’s hard to launch this out of the earlier this year that this was exactly Carly announced back in June it box as an OEM and/or dealer because what was needed, but we had to wait would collaborate with the Sutton dealer you don’t have the benefit of experi- until the right moment for the market to group in Sydney by supplying vehicles ence,” he says. be ready; that is for consumers to want for the subscription program. “That’s why Hyundai has partnered subscription and for the industry to have The arrangement with I-Motor means with us because we have the track the incentive to look at subscriptions,” he Carly subscriptions can be readily added record – every question they threw at concedes. to over 700 automotive dealer websites us we said ‘Yes, we’ve come across that “It was great to get the deal with managed by I-Motor. before and here’s what we did in that in- Hyundai, but it’s even better to make it Noone says we’ll just have to “watch stance and what we’ve done to mitigate work, delivering it back to our partners this space” as even more news comes that going forward’,” Noone reveals. and our kick is getting cars out the door. out in the near future. Pedestrian detection not infallible
Continued from page 11 “The systems fitted to vehicles use tested by ANCAP – with the exception 3, and Toyota Camry. cameras, sensors [radar/lidar] or a of two models – all have been fitted The National Highway Traffic Safety combination of both to detect a po- with autonomous emergency braking Administration reports in 2017 nearly tential crash, and ANCAP’s independ- technology. 6000 pedestrians were killed in vehicle ent testing allows consumers to see “Of these, 53 models [93%] have crashes with 75% of pedestrian fatali- how different systems perform across been fitted with advanced AEB sys- ties occurring at night, compared to a range of vehicle makes and models tems capable of detecting and either 21% during daylight, just 2% at dusk and in differing conditions,” Robson avoiding or minimising the effects and 2% at dawn. highlights. of a crash with a pedestrian and/or “Never rely on pedestrian detection “To encourage the uptake of ad- cyclist,” Robson says. systems to avoid a collision,” the AAA vanced collision avoidance technolo- The AAA’s test declared: “Evaluated reminds. gies, ANCAP has been assessing the pedestrian detection systems were in- “These systems serve as a backup effectiveness of AEB systems on new effective during night-time conditions”. rather than a primary means of colli- cars entering the market since the The vehicles tested were a Chevro- sion avoidance.” start of last year, and of the 57 vehicles let Malibu, Honda Accord, Tesla Model
12 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
Motorclassica makes more than economic sense
elebrating 10 years of bringing Porsche, BMW, Mini, Jaguar go He admits the event met together car lovers of all ages to in order to keep not only their resistance early on because Cand economic circumstance, loyal followers engaged, but to of its appeal to become Motorclassica has defied critics, politics tease upcoming new models, or commercial, but Mathers and risen, despite the failures of Austra- completely reveal them for the says to become sustainable lia’s wider automotive industry. first time to the public. and gain industry-wide sup- In the current political and econom- Since Motorclassica began port, it couldn’t have worked ic climate where trade is in jeopardy, in 2009, at another time of Paul Mathers any other way. tensions between state and people economic uncertainty both “If we can keep brands and grow tighter, and businesses – espe- here and abroad, roughly 18 various dealers inspired and show the value cially in the automotive caper – find models and their respective local this show offers, then we’ll continue to making ends meet harder by the week, teams have ripped the silk off their grow and be successful – which means Motorclassica continues to inspire. next big thing. we can curate great collections like No less startling with its stunning Speaking exclusively to AutoTalk, this,” he says. location: Melbourne’s heritage listed Motorclassica director Paul Mathers “We have to make money through Royal Exhibition Building, this event says people’s fascination with the the door, through exhibitors and spon- is more than just a weekend gawping history of cars transcends politics, bu- sors, because you’re talking about an at polished chrome and getting ideas reaucracy and economic segregation. event which costs three-quarters of a – it’s an institution which supports an “The classic car movement interna- million dollars to put on, you can’t do enormous economic contribution. tionally has grown exponentially over Continued on page 12 Of particular highlight each year is the last 10 years, and the big motor the effort car brands like Mercedes, shows might still exist but all the others have closed down,” he says. “When we started Motorclassica, there was no real significant Con- cours event in Britain, now there’s three or four and all are very similar to us by attracting new car launches particularly from brands with a his- tory and a story to tell,” Mathers points out. Mercedes celebrates 125 years of motorsport Classic cars start conversations: Mathers.
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 13 NEWSTALK
Inspiration is worth every cent invested. Motorclassica makes more than economic sense
Continued from page 13 community that was sour and said it’ll producing really high-spec machines that at a club level without being stuck never happen, and then when we did, which is pretty cool. in a Maccas carpark or the local sports they said it’ll never happen again and it “Motorclassica has evolved to be all- oval,” he explains, not trying to be dis- went on for a few years,” he reveals. encompassing of the motoring indus- respectful to the smaller communities “There was a negative attitude try – everybody talks about the death of enthusiasts. against it being a commercial event, of the Australian car manufacturing, “Those grassroot events are great but it has to be commercial, and slowly but there are lots of cottage manu- because the classic car movement those naysayers have become advo- facturers like Brabham creating really needs that, but around 30% of the cates,” he says. exotic cars which defy that,” he says. Concours this year are interstate – this Mathers says Motorclassica works Mathers says he’s been dismayed event is national and to bring one of because it appeals to enthusiasts of by the pressures facing the classic car these Bentleys over here from Perth every era and doesn’t simply pit brand industry recently which could have cost a bloke $21,000,” he exclaims. against brand for sales. broken a less passionate community. For all the big-ticket entrants, “When we came out motor shows “This year’s been particularly hard – Mathers says there are also countless were in decline – just two years after the asbestos issues in bringing old cars low-key, leather-faced DIYers who do we started the Australian International into Australia means we’re losing more things on the cheap, dropping lots of Motor Show was gone – and then cars than we’re gaining. small amounts of their hard-earned there was a couple of abandoned at- “The drop in the Australian dollar money into trailering their pride and tempts to revive it which never work; hasn’t helped because the British and joy across the country just to compete. Motorclassica has grown despite all of Americans are buying up our cars, so With the launch of several new ve- that because it makes people smile,” he the pool gets smaller, and we’re not hicles into the Australian market from explains. able to grow it because of the asbes- the likes of Alfa Romeo, Alpine and “The Bolwell brand, which has tos issues which makes people scared Mercedes-Benz supporting the event, launched the new Nagari 500, has about importing cars they might own plus trade organisations and restorers, been around for 50 years, Mini is overseas here,” he stresses. exotic car dealers like Lorbek, Duttons celebrating 60 years, Citroen hitting “The Luxury Car Tax affects that as and Zagame exhibiting, Mathers says it 100 years, and a massive global brand well, in the new car market the Super hasn’t always been plain sailing. like Nissan is celebrating their herit- Luxury Tax in Victoria has added mas- “Back in 2009 when we started this, age, but we also have this underground sive cost to new cars which is passed there was a large portion of the car movement where small companies are Continued on page 15
Aussie sports car Bolwell Nagari 500 debuts
14 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
Motorclassica makes more than economic sense
grandparents; it’s a beau- ket, and it’s a chance for kids, teenag- tiful thing.” ers and boys-trapped-in-men’s bodies Despite reasons to be to get up close to their dream cars. furious, Mathers always Motorclassica and the thousands wears a smile and is quick of tiny classic car events held across to modestly heap praise Australia – the community itself - sup- on those who support the ports an immense network of spray event, rather than take it painters, panelbeaters, mechanics and for himself. engineers; old hands whose skills are a “The fact we’ve got en- dying artform; they keep businesses big trepreneurial OEMs here and small open, they support wreck- to celebrate their 50-year ing yards and online traders, attending history is very appropri- swap meets on long weekends. ate and it does wonders “Once upon a time, tribes would sit for their brand,” he says. around a campfire telling stories, and Continued from page 14 Dealers can learn from this event it was about passing down history; as brands reveal special editions and Motorclassica is one of those events onto consumers and dealers who are promote limited-run versions of vehi- that brings people together,” Mathers all hurting – the market is really, really cles selling through their showrooms. concludes. challenging and we’re bloody lucky Rare kitted-out Fords and Holdens of “It doesn’t matter if you’re a million- we’ve got brands here supporting us a bygone era, exotic supercars, quirky aire or a shift worker with one classic and thinking outside of the box to low-volume single-model brands, car – those two people can have a counter these challenges.” revived marques and even engineering conversation.” As the founder of Motorclassica who marvels like race cars, prototypes and has tirelessly brought not only swarms concept cars all of people from interstate and overseas have a place at into Melbourne, but also pulled media Motorclassica, as attention and encouraged the automo- well as in peo- tive industry to unite, Mathers says it’s ple’s hearts. the cars that do the publicity. Motorclassica “People are united by this passion, has seen mates interest and history – we’re so linked judge the best up together today but still so distant, vehicles in the texting at the dinner table – Motor- concours, it’s classica brings people together to seen car brands have conversations,” he says. launch new and “It breaks down barriers, strangers prominent mod- can talk to each other, kids talk to els to the mar-
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 15 NEWSTALK
Never miss an opportunity with “always-on” advertising
a customer is able to easily become can be extremely effective. By Gavin Cox, engaged and interact with the busi- Programmatic video ads - such Managing Director, ness. as Youtube’s TruView - run before or AdTorque Edge Display network and social adver- mid-stream of an online video, and can tising also play an important role in present an opportunity to convert then getting a dealership’s brand in front of and there through action buttons such onsumer behaviour is ever- potential customers, as well as retar- as “visit a website”, “schedule a test changing, and in the automo- geting those who may have shown drive” or “learn more”. Ctive industry it is becoming some earlier interest. Their targeting capabilities are based increasingly evident that, unless dealers The sophisticated targeting capabili- on users’ digital behaviours including adapt with customers’ expectations, ties of big digital players (eg, Google, searches, app downloads and video they will be left behind. Facebook, Microsoft etc.) allow adver- views, which, like all signal and touch- We’ve all heard the stats: 93% of car tisers to narrow down the audience point audience-building, makes for a purchases today are digitally influ- that sees an advert. This means that highly qualified group of prospective enced; customers are researching only those presenting key behaviours customers who are seeing the ads. more so can have as many as 130 digi- of a good quality prospect are shown tal touchpoints before they purchase the advert, equating to a higher chance Always be present and visible a vehicle; and dealership visits have of conversion. dropped from five per sale to two. Today’s customer is curious, So, how should dealerships be demanding and impatient. They advertising in this tough, com- want instant gratification, which petitive market, to ensure they is why, when looking to purchase, are reaching potential customers one in three SmartPhone users end before their competitors do? up buying from a brand other than The answer is, to be “always the one they intended. on”. Dealers need to shift their This means, that if your dealer- mindsets away from traditional ship is presented to a customer at marketing and ad-hoc online the right time, and is providing the campaigns, and establish the key information that they want, they are building blocks to implement an highly likely to engage you rather “always on” advertising strategy than one of your competitors. But, that continually targets custom- the converse is also true, and com- ers, reaching them earlier in the petitors could be taking business purchasing cycle. Such practices from you. have proven to be more effective So how do you ensure you and to deliver greater bang for never miss an opportunity? The their buck. key is to be always on. Gone are the days of running It all starts with a search … Video is a powerful selling tool, short sale campaigns and ad-hoc particularly in the automotive industry, promotional offers. This strategy no When a customer is considering a as it gives customers a detailed view of longer works for the modern con- new vehicle, or even when they are vehicle from the comfort of their own sumer who is on the internet 24 hours just interested in a make of car, the computer. From 2016-2019, Google a day, searching, researching, scrolling first thing they are likely to do is search reported a 65% increase in watch-time and viewing. in a browser. Search Engine Market- of test drive videos on YouTube. They The only way to ensure that you ing enables a business to appear at also found that 72% of people attrib- never miss an opportunity is to be the top of search results based on the uted a portion of their car purchase ever-present: Always running digital keywords typed by and geographical decision to online video. advertising through a variety of chan- location of the user. Not only do these findings highlight nels. The messages can be changed A dealership’s messages and listings the importance of dealerships produc- and the audiences optimised, but never are vital at this stage, as with the right ing video promotions of their vehicles, let your advertising sleep, because offer and clickable conversion points, they also point to a highly engaged au- search never does. such as a click-to-call phone number, dience on whom paid video advertising
16 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
Win on Sunday, sell Monday
fter losing local full-scale vehicle before a stint in the US as an apprentice an edge over the competition to win,” manufacturing and the tenuous doing development for Ford’s racing he concedes. Arelationship it gave motorsport division called Kar-Kraft. Searls, known as the “fuel man”, fans to the Commodore and Falcon, He’d caught wind of Ford says the idea to chill the 20-litre with the return of the Mustang as a Australia wanting to go motor drums of fuel before filling up the full-blown Bathurst front-runner after racing. larger Falcon fuel tank (versus decades of obscurity, it seems Ford has “I’d done a lot of work on the smaller Torana tanks) was found again, and backed, a winning the Cleveland engine in the their cunning idea to drastically formula. US for development on the shorten time spent in the pits at But half a century ago a very differ- Boss 351 Mustang of ’71, but Bathurst. ent beast was roaring down Conrod they brought that engine Robin Searls Selling cars and the glory of Straight, built by blokes in an ordi- here in late 1969 to put into victory depended on it, which is nary tin shed known only as “Lot 6” in production first,” he tells AutoTalk. why Lot 6 existed and was commonly Melbourne’s Thomastown industrial “It wasn’t a large team with only five working under lights strictly until mid- precinct, back when asbestos was eve- others on the floor working with their night. rywhere, speed cameras didn’t exist and own job on each of the three race cars, “Every second we saved made life Bon Scott was still a kid. one doing brakes, one doing gearboxes, easier for Allan Moffat, Bo Seton, This was Ford’s real sales strategy. a couple doing engines,” Searls explains. “Gibbo” (Fred Gibson) and other drivers The Mustang today is consistently Lot 6 for those who don’t know, was out on the track,” he says. the best-selling sports car in Australia the equivalent of Dick Johnson Racing “We never envisaged the work we by far, with 3584 sales this year, despite Team Penske building the most extraor- were doing would create a legend still being down over 30%. dinary V8 Supercar under complete there 50 years later,” Searls says. It outsells closest category com- secrecy from the rest of Ford’s organi- “We used to work in cubic inches petitor the Mazda MX-5 nine times, and sation. back then and nowadays we joke that with Commodore only on 5100 sales There was no public recognition, no race teams work with cubic money; (down over 35% in 2019) - for a mo- giant glowing sponsor logos out front it is very different, but people still buy torsport connection to road cars, the or gift shop racks of merchandise, you cars today because of what we did,” he Mustang is it. certainly couldn’t watch uniformed surmises. On the morning of the Bathurst 1000 engineers building next month’s highly- The Phase III GTHO was the fastest in October, AutoTalk had the opportu- strung machine like today. four-door production car in the world nity to chat with some of the unsung This was motorsport warfare. No in its day and there’s an entire genera- heroes behind what was the original leaks, no sharing with loved ones – the tion of car buyers today who will never Ford legend, long before it had an of- first rule of Fight Club type of thing. forget – even if they never knew - what ficial name. “It was called Lot 6 and it was all Robin, Al Turner, Ray Kennedy, John The expression “win on Sunday, sell hush-hush because you don’t want Gowland, Ian Stockings, David Thur- on Monday” was the driver of Aus- your competitors knowing anything, low, Peter Jeffery, John Mapstead, tralia’s formerly two biggest car brands, and if you weren’t one of the inner Colin Russell, Geoff Sharpe, John back when Monaros, Kingswoods and sanctum crew, you didn’t get in the Wynne, Alistair McNaughton, Bill San- Toranas sold hand-over-fist for Holden gate,” he reveals. tuccione, and Brian Mackellin achieved and the Falcon was the must-have Blue “Even top knobs from Ford head of- behind closed doors. Oval. fice would come down and knock on It was their efforts that took Leo and A crew of six men, brought together the gate and got told to go away,” Searls Ian “Pete” Geoghegan, Bo Seton, “Gib- by the special vehicles’ manager Al says. bo”, John French, Bruce McPhee and Turner, was tasked with building the “When you got to the race track, Allan Moffat to the greatest racetrack in fastest tin-top racing car Australia had everybody was looking over your shoul- the world –Mount Panorama. ever seen. The legends. The GT-HO der, photographers, recordings – it was It wasn’t just Scott McLaughlin and Phase I, II & III race cars. much easier back then with no mobile Dick Johnson who won on Sunday to Robin Searls started as “a gopher” phones – but we kept to ourselves sell Mustangs on the Monday morning. cleaning tyres and fetching burgers because you were always trying to get
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 17 NEWSTALK
Economic smoke signals: Distrust, skewed wealth, evolving consumers
Continued from page 4
lion worth) which is the result of owner-occupied mortgages. Fortunately, asset wealth is growing faster than our debt. Levine says in the moment of hurting new car sales – an unin- tended collateral victim of a flailing property market - the automotive industry needs to focus on what customers want – or don’t want. “The critical point for the car industry is consumers’ move away from things to experiences,” she says. “People are less defining them- selves by having things, and more From Roadside Assistance Supplier on the experiences they’re engag- ing in and I think with cars it’s to Solutions Partner going to be a downward trend. 365RoadsideAssistance.com.au “Where does the manufacturer and dealer sit as the model chang- es from owning to using; at the Your business can now connect with a leading national Partner of moment Toyota is so ubiquitous choice delivering nextgen roadside technology and service when you think ‘car’, and other brands need to be in that visibility space is incredibly important,” she advises. Levine says the economy could be facing early symptoms of a Global Financial Crisis in terms of consumers’ reluctance to splash out on big-ticket purchases like new cars. “In the US car companies just GROW TODAY couldn’t sell cars during the GFC, CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE so one brand realised people were too scared to buy a car they couldn’t pay for and therefore get a bad credit rating,” she highlights. “So that brand allowed people to lease the car with the arrangement to buy back the car at an agreed rate if the customer lost their job. “What is the next strategy the car companies and dealers can do to recognise where peoples’ fears We’re supporting Manufacturers, Dealerships, Finance and Insurance groups in are and address that?” she asks. launching white-labelled APP’s and custom portals that drive innovation through Mid-year the Center for Auto- seamless Customer experiences and a dynamic Provider network. motive Research in Germany pre- dicted global new car sales would drop from 83.7 million in 2018 to Partner. Connect. Grow. [email protected] 79.5m in 2019, and says the market isn’t going to recover to last year’s 02 8705 5497 figures until 2022.
18 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 NEWSTALK
365 Roadside Assistance chief executive Peter Richardson (left) with Toyota Financial Services head of insurance Ian Slater. Dealers at the core of 365 Assistance’s network next-generation technology tions in the industry to the next level. have developers who sit in-house build- platform, focusing on delivering Its Uber-style provider network plat- ing IoT infrastructures such digital plat- Aa customer-centric experience, form gives providers flexibility such as forms, communication cycles, payment is taking on the automotive industry. choosing rates, picking the job alloca- gateways and mobile apps on behalf of 365 Assistance was selected as tion and receiving ongoing industry our partners including Toyota Financial Toyota Financial Services’ (TFS) national support. Services and more location-specific roadside assistance partner after a com- “The result is we need to further our dealer groups.” petitive tender process. Now one year continued investment into our platform,” Richardson says he sees a bright into a contract with TFS, 365 is continu- Richardson says. future in this space. ing to build strong, ongoing partnerships “In our view, having a 365 in one “We are beginning to see success with major OEMs and dealer groups. place of operation limits us in terms of now and understanding where our niche “We believe in consistent approach, time it gets to the clients, and secondly, fits. Roadside assistance can no longer and we have strategically aligned our it’s expensive and not an efficient means be transactional, it needs to be a more vision to dealers across Australia,” Road- of supporting customers spread across focused solution.” side Assistance chief executive Peter Australia.” “Dealers and OEMs are at the core of Richardson says. Richardson does not see this as the this.” “365 is an agnostic next- way of the future and does not 365’s key point of difference would gen tech platform and service support the dynamics of the be that it is not transactional and invests operation, and the way we industry. in IT. look at dealers and servicing 365 Assistance originally “We are investing in technology and are integral to us. Without the started with a retail focus to will have some exciting announce- servicing relationship with motor traders, but quickly real- ments in the coming months,” Richard- the dealer, you don’t have a ised the missing opportunity in son says. customer.” Peter Richard- the market was not on the retail He spills that there will shortly be a “We understand virtues and son side, but to align to businesses home assistance option, which will be we make sure everybody that to needed to support custom- the same as roadside assistance, further comes 365 has a positive experience.” ers. leveraging power in the environment. Working with 365 allows dealers in “The retail sense is a well-understood “We are using major support partners locations across Australia to work and and accepted challenge and there are to provide home assistance.” have a voice with the 365 network. players in the market who do this rea- A rewards program will also be of- With the launch of its new Uber-style sonably well,” Richardson says. fered in an app, allowing access to re- Roadside Assistance app, it enables the “We’re not a traditional roadside as- wards like petrol, restaurant and clothing 365 repair network to pinpoint exact sistance provider, rather, we approach discounts to reward customers. driver location to create the fastest pro- our vision as being a solutions tech A number of completely new pro- vision of services in the market. specialist partnering to drive business jects, with TFS and other brands, is in Richardson says 365 has been building to business, and as part of this journey the works, as well as plans to expand in the driven-Uber-style motoring and we’ve invested heavily in IT. overseas – first stop New Zealand. financial services space and takes opera- “This strategic shift now means we
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 19 SHOWROOM NEW VEHICLE INDUSTRY AND PRODUCT NEWS
Don’t cut down tall timber of an off-roader not permanently Like the LC, Pat has an enormous based in suburbia’s outer-rim and cavern where your 12 kitchen sinks can Scott Murray, beyond, I simply didn’t have time to get travel in supreme comfort, or half that Editor it off the blacktop – with exception to if you need to use the third-row seats, a short strip of gravel road leading to a which fold up and down with a firm park in Anglesea. but fair-enough clunk. They’re thickly What a weekend visiting this blink- padded, covered in leather and there’s f you’re not familiar with the very and-miss-it seaside town along the even curtain airbags to protect little under-rated song from Australian Great Ocean Road offers is a chance scones from side impacts. Not that Irock royalty Skyhooks, then you may to take the usual cubic metres of one’s you’d likely feel much unless you’re not fully understand the wonderful household stuff needed for keeping a being T-boned by an Abrams. dichotomy of the Nissan Patrol. one-year-old alive and “happy”. The seven-speed auto may be Here in Ti-L form, at a chin-de- So Big Pat spent 95% of its loan time delivering 560Nm of torque down the scending $98,000 driveaway, when – courtesy of Nissan Australia – on drivetrain, but using all 298kW doesn’t it’s not your two-metres-wide “luxo bitumen, which offered plenty of op- kick in until 5800rpm, so when you four-bee-four” you’re trying to thread portunity to grow not only accustomed belt the throttle, yes, it is like launching through cramped suburbia, it can be to it, but unexpectedly fond of it. the Delta IV Heavy, but gliding through easy to forget to breathe. Unlike the rest of Grey Nomad Aus- traffic reveals a short, rev-happy wait The last Nissan Patrol yours truly tralia, I’m not psychologically married time before changing up. drove was mum’s long-wheelbase MQ to the Toyota LandCruiser and let’s Unable to ignore that colossal tank which we dubbed the “Bronze face it, not all marriages are healthy, 5.6-litre V8, it would save a little bit of Bullet” because once it was up to sustainable or destined to last. fuel money changing gear sooner, but speed, you sure-as-heck didn’t want Patrol sales have been doing I guess if you’re buying one of these anything to step out in front. surprisingly well this year, improving 2.5-tonne-plus continent-crossers, Matching its horizontal presence is 44% for 1458 reported units (VFACTS); those drops of fuel might as well be in its length, surpassing more than five admittedly it’s a 10th of what its direct the ocean. metres of garage space without the rival is doing, but only one has DPF Sitting like a lord in what feels like 3.5-tonne tow bar which you’ll cer- problems. Picard’s Galaxy Class chair, you tower tainly smack a shin on if you are half over hatchbacks and look down at as clumsy as me. project managers in their Hilux Rogues, Unfortunately, the outgoing Y62 and casually switch on the heating or Patrol doesn’t get much in the way cooling function depending on the of colour choice; it’s titanium silver, temperature. It’s impossible to not find gunmetal grey, obsidian black or a or readjust to a comfy position. charcoal-ish Nutella-like hue called You’re surrounded by an engag- “Rich Brown”. ing command centre of mixed leather In the name of transparency, the and faux wood that absolutely has not Patrol’s off-road repertoire remains gone out of style in my book, so long as untested because, like the real world Patrol Ti-L offers LC Sahara performance Continued on page 21 with change.
20 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 SHOWROOM NEW VEHICLE INDUSTRY AND PRODUCT NEWS
Don’t cut down tall timber
Continued from page 20 you’re in touch with the way the world was before brushed aluminium and gloss black gear selector shrouding. The ratios in the electric steering rack are on the lighter side, making virtually zero effort of directing its bow according to the sextant (sorry, satnav) which is surprisingly accurate for an old OE system not offering Android CarPlay. I love the inclusion of a CD player and continue to praise a car- maker which leaves it there just in case. The integrated headrest DVD screens A 700mm wade depth makes flooded roadways mere puddles. are also old school but praiseworthy, likewise the 12 drink holders through- potential 3.5 tonnes of braked cara- going toe-to-toe, but let’s face it; out, charging ports all over the joint van/boat/meteorite behind, to a total they seldom actually go as far as the and tri-zone climate. seven-tonne gross combined mass, it’s brochure’s CGI backdrops entice you Conscious of the potential for very affordable. to go. And for those that do, you can fit inter-desert travel, Nissan has stuck And when yet another 200 Series all the Safari4x4 snorkels, ARB bull- UV-reducing glass in the first-row rolls up beside you at the servo, you bars, Warn winches and Rhino Rack doors, and when the sun goes down can smile to yourself knowing you’re roof trays you like with the 20 grand the auto-levelling xenon headlights 35mm taller, 215mm longer, 25mm you saved. There are even people with cut through the night. wider, 47mm higher off the ground the nerve to fit a Harrop supercharger As you power down the highway, it and, thanks to Toyota’s recent an- because they upgraded the meteorite feels more appropriate to play com- nouncement, you’ll always remember to a moon. poser Hans Zimmer’s theme from you’re in what will soon be one of the If you have a personality you will be Crimson Tide than actual songs, only petrol V8 luxury off-roader wag- happier with the characterful, interest- because unless you’ve got the cruise ons that isn’t a Range Rover. ing and odd-one-out Nissan Patrol, control set, it’s so easy to temper the Negotiating small roundabouts otherwise you can simply follow the USS Alabama’s snarling powerplant. can be a little embarrassing when you nomadic herd into a potential DPF Should anyone try to commit mu- have two goes getting around, as too depression. tiny and remove you from the driver’s is having to reverse-park the gargan- But going with the crowd, being seat, they wouldn’t be surprised if you tuan Alabama into the cabin’s tiny slot part of the louder majority doesn’t reacted like Captain Ramsey - it’ll do where a regular car might park at the mean there isn’t a place for the tall 0-100km/h in about seven seconds Anglesea Big4. This isn’t a criticism; timber. The 60 Series Patrol first arrived for goodness sake. That’s the kind of it’s preposterously good fun. in 1951, like the Toyota, and going on power you want a calm, rational Lt It feels like the whole campsite is Australian sale in 1960, it was the first Cmdr Ron Hunter in charge of. watching, but fortunately Nissan’s vehicle to cross our Simpson Desert. Filling the 140-litre tank with pre- 360-degree birds-eye camera helps Australian society might have a cul- mium 95RON might seem expensive at you avoid touch-parking (or simply tural xenophobia for the tall poppies, $1.50/l – that’s $210, thank you kindly flattening) the clapped-out Fiesta yet we regard Skyhooks as one of the – but when you look at the 900km beside, and stops you turning the cabin greatest rockbands in our history, and range, consider how much gear/chil- into the Cairns Marlin Marina. one could argue Australia wouldn’t be dren/kitchen sink you can shove into Essentially, the Patrol will undoubt- what it is without either, nor wonder- this thing (750kg of payload FYI) with a edly match the LandCruiser Sahara ful machines like the Nissan Patrol.
Serious off-roaders should watch for Base model Ti offers 360 Chilled console actually chills beer. low-lying important bits. camera for mooring. Take my money!
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 21 STATSTALK
Top 10 Brands October sales see history repeating
ven Shirley Bassey’s golden voice Private sales are depressed by a further couldn’t put a glint in the eye of 5.2% over October 2018 which was also EAustralia’s new car retailers who a shocker month that saw a 12% slump 1. Toyota 16,988 must be asking “Where Do I Begin?” as against October 2017 figures. big spenders stay away from dealerships. Government and business fleet buys The Federal Chamber of Automotive are also in retreat, down 17.5% collec- Industries described a “lax market” on the tively against October 2018. publication of a 5.3% drop in October Number one seller Toyota Hilux might 2018 reported sales, and October 2019 be sold as “unbreakable”, but its 3516 just recorded another decline of over 9%. reported sales couldn’t crack its October FCAI chief executive Tony Weber 2018 results of 4401 reported units sold says the inability to secure vehicle loans and took a 20.1% thumping in the dealer- has devastated dealers to lose ship, with only the Corolla taking 78,000 sales over last year. a bigger hammering of 20.5%. “While the drought and Ford’s Ranger is down 10%, 2. Hyundai 7,455 other domestic conditions are Hyundai i30 managed to gain impacting the market, our key 8.2% on reported October 2018 concern is the effect over-reg- sales, Toyota’s RAV4 in fourth ulation of the financial sector appropriately enough was up is having on new vehicle sales,” Tony Weber 34.8% followed by a Toyotathon he reports. of a forementioned Corolla in “The FCAI and our members have fifth, and LandCruiser in sixth thanks to a been concerned about the risk-averse 6.6% gain on October 2018 to the tune of approach to lending in Australia for some 2101 reportedly sold units. time and see improved access to finance Kia Cerato stays true to form with a as a key to driving economic growth in 36.5% gain in reported sales - 1827 versus 2020,” Weber explains. 1338 last year - and the Mazda CX-5 3. Mazda 6,370 Sales in all three major segments held on in eighth place after a 14.6% fall, have been hit yet again, with the typical- meanwhile Hyundai’s Tuscon is up 10.7% ly most popular segment, SUVs, losing to hold Nissan’s X-Trail (down 3.2% over 3%, and the formerly glorious passen- October 2018) to tenth place. ger market has been kicked in the guts All brands held a stalemate in the top again, losing over 15% of its October 10 rankings with Toyota tack-welded in 2018 reported sales. first,Mazda moored in second, Hyundai Light commercial vehicles lost what heeled in third, Mitsubishi fourth, Ford could be described as the sales equiva- firmly in fifth, Kia sixth, Nissan seventh, lent of a ladder and two sheets of plaster Volkswagen vexing ninth-placed Holden off the roof on the freeway - down 11% as it holds on and holds back Honda 4. Kia 5,062 on last year’s October reported sales. honourably taking up the rear.
22 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 Top 10 Brands continued p23 Top 10 Brands continued
2019 sales in October
Top 10 SUV Small Top 10 SUV Large 5. Ford 4,891 under $40K under $70K
1. Mitsubishi 1. Toyota Prado ASX 1,513 Top 10 Brands 1,517
2. Hyundai Kona 2. Toyota Kluger 1,367 1,087 6. Mitsubishi 4,811
3. Isuzu Ute 3. Mazda CX-3 MU-X 1,216 672
1. Toyota 16,988 4. Mitsubishi 4. Nissan Qashqai Pajero Sport 891 574 7. Volkswagen 4,220
5. Toyota C-HR 5. Ford Everest 780 553
6. Hyundai 6. Honda HR-V Santa Fe 777 551 8. Nissan 4,011
7. Subaru XV 7. Mazda CX-9 703 526
8. Subaru 8. Suzuki Vitara Outback 462 436
9. Holden 3,086 9. Hyundai Venue 9. Kia Sorento 386 376
10. Mitsubishi 10. Volkswagen Eclipse Cross Tiguan Allspace 375 361
Top 10 Brands continued p23 AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 23 10. Honda 2,761 NEWSTALK
The Tesla Model 3 seems to continue having an impact in the latest EV sales. Tesla Model 3 still influences EV sales he Tesla Model 3 still appears to trend in the SUV categories. The only other electric/PHEV sales be having an impact on EV sales Electrics and PHEVs go from 32 to sector shown is the light commer- Tin Australia, latest VFACTS figures 75 (134.4%) in October comparisons cial non-private category which went indicate. for private SUVs, increasing YTD as well from three in October 2018 to just one More than 2400 were expected to from 145 to 678 (367.6%). in October 2019 (down 66.7%), but be delivered in Australia in September, Hybrids here went from 61 in Octo- increased slightly YTD from 14 to 25 and although Tesla doesn’t reveal exact ber 2018 to 567 in October 2019 – up (78.6%). amounts, the October figures tend to 829.5%, while YTD sales soared from However, the figures also show most show that while the number of Model 3 564 to 4090 - a 625.2% jump. diesel and petrol vehicle sales in the sales may have slowed it’s still helping In the non-private SUV sector, various categories continue to decline. push EV sales along in the passenger electrics and PHEVs also rise from 39 In releasing the latest VFACTS figures, categories. in October 2018 to 75 in October 2019 the Federal Chamber of Automotive For instance, private passenger EVs (92.3%) and from 436 to 879 in YTD Industries (FCAI) chief executive Tony increased from 14 in October 2018 to comparisons (101.6%). Weber says new vehicles have now 69 in October 2019 (up 392.9%) and Hybrids took off in this SUV category seen the 19th consecutive month of de- rose in year-to-date (YTD) sales from also. They went from 70 in October creasing sales in the Australian market. 208 in 2018 to 381 this year – an 83.2% 2018 to 459 in October 2019 (555.7%) October 2019 sales were down 9.1% increase. and YTD from 807 to 2922 (262.1%). overall compared to October 2018. Likewise in the non-private pas- senger category, electrics and plug- NEW VEHICLE SALES BY BUYER TYPE AND FUEL TYPE OCTOBER 2019 in hybrids (PHEVs) went from six in October 2018 to 53 in October Month YTD Variance +/- Vol. & % 2019 – up 783.3%, and increased Total Market 2019 2018 2019 2018 MTH YTD MTH YTD YTD from 346 to 428 (23.7%). But hybrids continue to make ELECTRIC big strides, dominating EVs in Passenger Private 69 14 381 208 55 173 392.9% 83.2% Passenger Non- many categories. 53 6 428 346 47 82 783.3% 23.7% Private In the private passenger sec- SUV Private 75 32 678 145 43 533 134.4% 367.6% tor, hybrids chalked up 456 sales SUV Non-Private 75 39 879 436 36 443 92.3% 101.6% Light Commer- in October 2019 as against 289 for 1 3 25 14 -2 11 -66.7% 78.6% October 2018 (57.8%) and went cial Non-Private from 3111 to 5339 in YTD compari- Sub Total 273 94 2,391 1,149 179 1,242 190.4% 108.1% sons – up 71.6%. HYBRID For non-private passenger vehi- Passenger Private 456 289 5,339 3,111 167 2,228 57.8% 71.6% Passenger Non- cle sales, hybrids soared from 669 1,267 669 10,823 6,501 598 4,322 89.4% 66.5% Private in October 2018 to 1267 in October SUV Private 567 61 4,090 564 506 3,526 829.5% 625.2% 2019 – up 89.4%, while YTD sales SUV Non-Private 459 70 2,922 807 389 2,115 555.7% 262.1% went from 6501 in 2018 to 10,823 Sub Total 2,749 1,089 23,174 10,983 1,660 12,191 152.4% 111.0% in 2019, a 66.5% increase. EVs and hybrids also carry on the TOTAL 3,022 1,183 25,565 12,132 1,839 13,433 60.9% 110.7%
24 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 DIARYTALK
Chamber of Commerce says celebrates 10 years of bring- AUSSIE TALK DIARY Victoria’s roads authority must ing together car lovers of all AutoTalk Australia’s editor act now to prevent injury or ages and socio-economic Scott Murray looks at the month death resulting from a faulty circumstances, but 2019 has gone by on autotalk.com.au Takata airbag. been hard on the classic car The VACC says VicRoads industry. needs to follow other states Speaking exclusively to Eight million Australians in blocking re-registration of AutoTalk, Motorclassica October 1 have checked if their vehicle vehicle VIN numbers identi- director Paul Mathers says is fitted with a faulty Takata fied as having a Takata airbag people’s fascination with the ACCC urges airbag. fitted and not yet replaced by history of cars transcends regulated transport On October 4, 20,000 a dealership. politics, bureaucracy and vehicles involved in the economic segregation. infrastructure spend Takata airbag were declared Car dealership to The Australian Competition “critical”. spend $200k on and Consumer Commission is safety culture after October 14 urging governments to take a Pedestrian detection death regulated approach to how it potentially Royal commission allocates and spends transport A car dealership in Australia could force consumer infrastructure. dangerous will spend A$200,000 im- ACCC chairman Rod Sims The American Automobile proving its health and safety spending increase has told the Australasian Association has performed culture after a man died at the New car buyers financing Transport Research Forum independent testing of pe- scene in 2015. their next new car could be the spending framework destrian detection within au- Farm hand David Jenkins forced into a higher interest needs to directly result in tonomous emergency braking was crushed to death by an rate or to shop overseas if safety and community out- systems which reveals it may improperly repaired horse point-of-sale exemptions are comes. not save lives. float from Wagga Motors. made law. While acknowledging the The Victorian Automobile features “are not intended to Nissan Australia Chamber of Commerce and October 3 serve as a substitute for an ‘wants’ Titan Down Australian Retailers Associa- engaged driver”, the inves- tion are warning the indus- tigation has found, among Under try and legislators that the More details for Nissan Australia manag- other results, at 48km/h Hayne Royal Commission’s ing director Stephen Lester electric Volvo XC40 three out of four test vehicles report recommendations to says the local market is ready SUV failed to reduce the impact ban point-of-sale exemp- for the full-size Titan pick-up Volvo has revealed new speed by at least 8km/h. tions (POSE) could shift features to its electric XC40 truck. further costs to consumers. SUV. Speaking to AutoTalk at a Unique to the electric October 8 product event today, Lester XC40, a front-load compart- says the production of Titan October 15 ment located under the front Holden dealers to may be restricted to right- hand drive, but a new relation- hood provides around 30L of honour Colorado free Ford Australia extra space. ship the brand has made with long-term servicing Premcar could change that. manufacturing plant Holden dealer customers breathes new life October 4 will be given a seven-year First five star for Ford Australia’s Broad- free servicing schedule on the SsangYong meadows factory on Sydney AutoNexus gains 2020 Colorado 4×4, Acadia The Australasian New Car Road in Melbourne’s northern and Trailblazer but the dealer Assessment Program has industrial precinct will make Suzuki logistics association warns car brands awarded SsangYong its first cars again. business to think before getting carried five-star safety rating. Blue bloods who lament Suzuki Australia has signed away with promotions. The Korando has been the demise of the Falcon and on with AutoNexus as the Any customer’s 4×4 Colo- given an overall score of 88% Territory in late 2016 will see small-car brand’s logistics and rado or Acadia/Trailblazer in adult occupant protec- the high-performance Mus- supply chain partner. SUV bought or ordered tion, 86% in child occupant tang R-Spec built by Herrod The fleet of Suzuki’s press before the end of the year protection, 68% in vulnerable Performance in a section of and marketing fleet as well as will receive the $3000 incen- road user protection, and 72% the old Ford heartland. dealership stock delivery will tive in addition to Holden’s for safety assist performance. be prepped, delivered stored standard five-year unlimited and fitted-out as required by kilometre warranty. October 17 AutoNexus. October 11 Judge condemns October 9 Joy to the world: regulator’s October 7 Motorclassica’s VACC: VicRoads Dieselgate deal decade of economic The court approval sought FCAI pushes for must block Takata contribution by the Australian Competition faulty Takata airbags and Consumer Commission registration The Motorclassica event checks The Victorian Automobile Continued on page 26
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 25 DIARYTALK
Continued from page 25 initiative for regional NSW. and Volkswagen Australia has The trial will be extended October 23 October 25 been met with judicial disap- to include Wagga Wagga, proval this week. Tamworth, Port Macquarie, Autonomous Dealership bounced Justice Lindsay Foster has the Blue Mountains and the given the regulator a scath- emergency braking tens of thousands Southern Highlands, but ing assessment of its agree- A serial fraud has cost a won’t affect the fees involved adoption accelerates ment accepting the auto The Australasian New Car Queensland dealer tens of with pink slip bookings, how- giant’s $75 million fine which Assessment Program says thousands paying for a vehicle ever, RMS says “call out fees he describes as “not a lot of the adoption of autonomous using a dodgy cheque. may apply”. money for Volkswagen”. emergency braking is the Timothy Cuthbertson used highest it’s ever been. a bank cheque amounting October 21 In the last four years AEB to the $60,385 negotiated October 18 has grown to populate 60% with the dealer in 2018, but it wasn’t until the following day Regulator calls of new car models on sale Subaru factory today as a standard feature, the bank reversed the deposit. pause post-typhoon for strengthened up from just 18% in 2017 and won’t affect dealers consumer law only 3% in 2015. With 6.6 million consumer October 28 Subaru Australia says the products still in circulation, the company’s 10-day factory Australian Competition and October 24 Automotive business shutdown in the wake of ty- Consumer Commission wants hollowing out in phoon Hagibis shouldn’t hurt the federal government to im- Snails found in its dealer network. Melbourne plement a “new safety duty”. Director of public affairs Mercedes shipments The Victorian Automobile The changes, the ACCC David Rowley tells AutoTalk Exotic snails have been Chamber of Commerce has says, would enable the regula- Subaru dealers won’t notice found in shipments of 900 sounded a warning that Mel- tor to better enforce busi- any major stock droughts. Mercedes-Benzes bound for bourne’s automotive industry nesses to take “reasonable Australian dealers. is starting to echo in all the Regional NSW steps” to ensure their products The Department of Ag- wrong ways. are sold as safe, given 650 extends remote pink riculture has said this week The chamber has found a individual products – includ- “heath snails” have been fifth of Melbourne’s metro- slip trial ing cars and their component detected on board roll-on- politan automotive small- Roads and Maritime Ser- parts – are currently under roll-off vessels which are not medium businesses have vices will trial an extension of voluntary recall. under quarantine at Austral- closed since 2014 as land tax its mobile pink slip inspection ia’s major capital city ports. skyrockets by 130%.
THE DIARY Consumer.org.nz has con- NZ Car Of The Year AutoTalk New Zealand’s group ducted a survey to see which cars are reliable, have the Announces Finalists editor Richard Edward looks at the Among this year’s New Zea- most satisfied owners, and month gone by on autotalk.co.nz land Car of the Year finalists, which cost the least to main- three out of the top 10 are tain and repair. for the month, including electric vehicles. The Nissan Leaf came out October 2 trucks and buses, was 23,893 The candidates are the as overall best model, while compared to 26,063 in Audi e-tron, Ford Focus, the Ford Territory took out Scammers Nab More August. Holden Acadia, Hyundai worst model. Than $70,000 Santa Fe, Jaguar I-Pace, A scam has supposedly taken Mazda 3, Mercedes GLE, hundreds of thousands of October 7 October 22 Peugeot 508, Tesla Model 3 dollars from dealerships and Toyota RAV4. Vehicles Set On Fire across the country. Early Face Of Import Hamilton’s 4 Guys Au- On Two Turners Yards tobarn has been a victim New Zealand’s largest used ve- Trade Dies Aged 94 October 25 A prominent former leader of of the scam, with owner hicle company suffered from the dealer trade, and spokesper- Monte Wells saying a group two fires last week at two of its Kiwi Auto Technician son for the used import industry, of scammers have taken Christchurch car yards. John Nicholls, has passed away Wins Silver At Global $73,000 from his company. Three cars from the Turn- in Gisborne; aged 94. Hyundai Olympics ers Cars on Detroit Place, Nicholls was chairman of An expert level technician Used Cars And Addington were set alight on the Motor Trade Association from West Auckland Hyundai October 3, at 10.10pm. Commercials Lead in the 1970s and split out the has come second at the 2019 Drop In Imports dealer division to become Hyundai World Skill Olympics. Vehicle imports were down in the Motor Vehicle Dealers Held at the Hyundai Cheo- September lead by a decline in October 16 Institute in 1975. nan global learning centre used cars, vans and trucks, ac- in Korea, James George com- cording to New Zealand Cus- Survey Reveals Most peted against 66 of Hyundai’s toms Motor Vehicle Statistics. And Least Reliable October 23 automotive service experts The total number of vehi- Cars from 51 countries around the cles arriving in the country world.
26 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 DIARYTALK
EV TALK DIARY mous vehicles (CAVs) offer a EVtalk Australia editor Geoff October 15 potential avenue to reducing Dobson looks at the month gone those woes, according to a by on www.evtalk.com.au Australia build for report. Uniti One EV? L.E.K. Consulting’s report The Uniti One electric car Reducing Urban Road Con- October 7 October 10 being built in the United gestion — Are Connected and Kingdom could be made in Autonomous Vehicles (CAVs) the Answer? was launched at Cox Automotive Solar EV charging Australia as well. The three-seater city-style the Brisbane leg of its Future studies electric project begins car is expected to be deliv- Transport Series 2019. adoption Nissan Australia is host- ered in the UK and Sweden Over 2500 consumers and ing a joint solar EV charging in mid-2020 and may be also October 21 300 dealers have told Cox research project, funded manufactured in Australia, through a $210,000 grant Automotive what they think Mexico, the US, India, Dubai Wagga mayor does about the adoption rate of from the Victorian Govern- and Georgia under a fran- electric vehicles. ment’s New Energy Jobs chise model. EV dash to Sydney Not only is Tesla recog- Fund (NEJF). Wagga Wagga mayor Greg nised by 81% of respondents The solar charging stations Conkey is singing the praises as an electric vehicle brand, from Delta Electronics, which October 17 of his council’s all-electric it holds a superior lead over include advanced technolo- Hyundai Ioniq after driving it the 52% aware of Toyota, the gies developed by the Com- CAVs may increase to Sydney on October 14 and 47% who recognise Chev- monwealth Scientific and road capacity and back on October 16. rolet as an EV brand and Industrial Research Organisa- He took it on the 850km tion (CSIRO), are installed at relieve congestion business trip after being chal- the 42% who acknowledge Traffic congestion in Sydney Nissan. Nissan Australia’s national lenged to do so by sceptical headquarters in Dandenong and Melbourne is a hot topic, councillors. South, Melbourne. but connected and autono-
FUTURETRUCKING DIARY October 23 October 24 Futuretrucking Australia editor Scott Murray looks at the month gone Truckies have their Eaton to launch by on www.futuretruckingtalk.com.au say on heavy vehicle heavy-duty EV Transport and logistics law review transmission October 2 risk engineer Adam Gibson The Australian Trucking Asso- Power management giant has told the Transport and ciation says the voices of truck Eaton is launching a new four- ATA slams Austroads Maintenance Conference in drivers “have been heard loud speed transmission specially truck width study Melbourne this week engine and clear” in the first round na- designed for heavy-duty electric and cabin fires are the most tional truck law review with the commercial vehicles. The Australian Trucking Asso- common starting point for National Transport Commission. The new transmission is ciation (ATA) says it’s “bemused destructive truck fires. ATA chief executive Ben being tested with major OEMs and is set to hit the market in and concerned” at Austroads’ Australia to design Maguire says the campaign, decision to limit its study on carried out with transport 2022. A further announce- ment will be made at the North the allowable width of trucks. three Lockheed publisher Big Rigs, had a great American Commercial Vehicle Austroads, the research or- Martin submarine response with drivers engaged Show (NACV) in Atlanta, Geor- ganisation owned by the Com- and willing to share their components gia, USA from October 28-31. monwealth and state transport thoughts on the laws and what Safran Electronics and De- they would like to see fixed. departments, has completed fense Australasia will design a study showing that allow- three important components Tyre dump earns able width of trucks could be October 29 for the next fleet of Lockheed increased safely to 2.55 metres, nearly half-million Martin submarines. Tow truck operations excluding attachments. penalty A $36.77 million contract in the spotlight will be carried out until May The Environmental Protection October 16 2023 which will see Sydney- Agency has won its case against A discussion paper on alleged based Safran design the Used Tyre Recycling Corpora- shady practices and intimidat- optronics search-and-attack Truck fire figures ‘not tion which failed to clean up ing tactics in Queensland’s tow mast, navigation radar and its over 9000 tonnes of used tyres truck industry is being released getting worse’ but data distribution equipment. still costly despite warnings. by the Palaszczuk Government. UTRC was handed a It follows an independent National Transport Insurance Keep up with daily $400,000 fine by the Stawell investigation into the towing says truck fires may not be in- AU transport & Magistrates’ Court last week industry and measures carried creasing in alarming numbers and director Matthew Starr was out in 2018 by the Government equpment news ordered to pay nearly $40,000 to address community com- but it reminds the trucking in legal fees and a personal fine plaints about some operators and supply chain industry transport.com.au of half that. undertaking private property they are extremely costly. towing. AUTOTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2019 | 27
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