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PremiumGoAutoNewsEDITION 8 MAY 27, 2016 THE BUSINESS PAGES OF GOAUTONEWS

Chinese buy 51 Mercedes dealerships in 12 monthsLSH owns two Australian dealerships, now adds nine in the UK

AHG on $18.5m buying spreeLong-running family dealership Lance Dixon Group sold to Automotive Holdings

Volvo’s mini showroom pops upAnnlyn Motors Volvo debuts pop-up store at Westfield

Move to build autogas conversion plant in VictoriaStudy finds emissions and fuel cost gain outweigh new vehicle conversion costs

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Mercedes markets the sizzle, not the sausage

Australia’s first Mercedes-Benz experience store to open in

Melbourne next year

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PUBLISHER: John Mellor

EDITOR: Neil Dowling

JOURNALISTS: Tim Nicholson, Daniel Gardner, Ron Hammerton, Ian Porter, Terry Martin, Byron Mathioudakis, Tung Nguyen

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Chinese buy 51 Mercedes dealerships

in 12 months

Lei Shing Hong, which owns two Australian dealerships, snaps up

nine more in the UK

Page 3

AHG on $18.5m buying spree

Long-running family dealership Lance Dixon Group sold to

Automotive Holdings

Page 5

Volvo’s mini showroom pops up

Annlyn Motors Volvo debuts pop-up store at Westfield

Page 6

Move to build autogas conversion

plant in Victoria

Study finds emissions and fuel cost gain outweigh new vehicle

conversion costs

Page 10

How to deal with highly emotional people in the dealership

Just what can you do when someone doesn’t want to play ball?

Car pooling is new target for Uber, Google

JLR to boost dealer numbers

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Chinese buy 51 Mercedes dealerships in 12 monthsLei Shing Hong, which owns two Australian dealerships, snaps up nine more in the UK

By NEIL DOWLING with JOHN MELLOR

n FEARS that Chinese car makers would swamp the Australian vehicle market with shiploads of cars may have been premature but a new trend may be emerging; cashed-up Chinese conglomerates are embarking on direct purchases of international automotive retail businesses.

In less than 12 months, diverse Chinese company Lei Shing Hong (LSH), the same company that recently announced plans for a five-storey waterfront Mercedes-Benz dealership at Breakfast Creek in Brisbane, has bought 51 Mercedes-Benz dealerships in three countries from Daimler AG.

This includes two in Australia and 40 in Germany.

This month the Hong Kong-based company added nine dealerships in the UK cities of Birmingham and Manchester that employ 600 people.

LSH, the world’s biggest Mercedes-Benz retailer, now controls 190 outlets in total. It already owns Mercedes sales operations in China, South Korea and Cambodia. It also has Porsche outlets in South-East Asia and is a major

Caterpillar distributor and dealer in the same region.

Daimler established the Mercedes-Benz Retail Group of factory-owned stores more than a decade ago as real estate costs in London, Birmingham and Manchester boomed in the 1990s. This made it difficult for dealers to operate with such high rental overheads.

Daimler stepped in and established 18 retail sites, eight

used car sites and 12 smart centres in those three cities.

Mercedes-Benz Retail Group says that the sale of nine of the 18 Mercedes-Benz dealerships is part of “a planned reduction of the car maker’s exposure to the retail and property markets” but added that it did not indicate that the company would sell all its retail operations.

Continued next page

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Continued from previous pageA company spokesman told

Automotive Management (AM) Online: “This is very much a one-off deal with an established and well-respected business partner and comes as part of a European project and a new strategic plan for sales and aftersales Europe”.

LSH last month announced it would build a five-storey autohaus-style Mercedes showroom at Queensland’s Breakfast Creek wharf site in the Brisbane suburb of Newstead.

This was in addition to its purchase in 2015 of two Mercedes-Benz dealerships

– one in Alexandria, NSW and the other in Fortitude Valley, Queensland – from Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific. It leaves the local arm of the car maker with one company-owned dealership in Melbourne and its Airport Express service centre.

The proposed Newstead dealership – which has been approved by Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific – is at the entrance to the Brisbane CBD on a major transport route from the airport.

As reported by GoAutoNews Premium last month, when completed next year, it will house showrooms, a 539

square metre automotive museum, staff training centre, shops and cafes, rooftop restaurant, dining and function area, and a garden pavilion.

LSH made its first foray into Australian property in February 2015, buying an office building on Adelaide Street in Brisbane for $45 million.

It followed up with the purchase in June 2015 of a 7000 square metre property and showroom on Wickham Street in Fortitude Valley for about $40 million.

The purchase of the Breakfast Creek land this year cost LSH $26 million.

As reported previously in GoAutoNews Premium, serial Mercedes dealership acquirer, Lei Shing Hong, is building this five-storey Mercedes Benz dealership at Breakfast Creek in

Brisbane to add to the two other Mercedes stores it already owns in Australia.



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AHG on $18.5m buying spree

Long-running family dealership Lance Dixon Group sold to Automotive Holdings

Picture: Google

By NEIL DOWLINGn ONE of Australia’s longest established family dealerships, the Lance Dixon Group, has been sold to Automotive Holdings Group Ltd (AHG) for $12 million.

The deal, finalised this week, includes both stock and assets of the Lance Dixon Group that was started in 1965 by its namesake.

The Lance Dixon Group owned many prestige brand dealerships in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs of Doncaster and

Collingwood including Bentley, Abarth, Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Land Rover, Range Rover and Jaguar.

AHG also bought the Sinclair Hyundai dealership in Penrith in Sydney’s west. The dealership, owned by Tony Pace and directors Ray Zerafa and Mark Dundler, has been operating since 1969 under founder Ross Sinclair (who retired in 2000) and became a Hyundai dealer in 1988.

Sinclair Hyundai was bought for $6.5 million plus goodwill, stock and assets.

AHG managing director Bronte Howson said the transactions represented an effective rebalancing of AHG’s portfolio of brands and gave an entry into the luxury vehicle sector in Victoria.

It also combats the 2015 purchase by AHG-rivals AP Eagers of a trio of Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Victoria that were previously owned by the Birrell Motor Group and was AP Eager’s first entry into the Victorian luxury market.

Mr Howson said the

purchase of Sinclair Hyundai filled gaps in AHG’s portfolio and that the dealership is expected to perform well.

“Hyundai is a strong volume brand and has been under-represented in our NSW operations,” he said.

Meanwhile, AHG has sold its Duncan Nissan dealership in Perth’s Victoria Park. It is the city’s longest-running Nissan dealer.

The business goes back to the days when the Duncan Motor Company was the Nissan

distributor for Western Australia and run by Gordon Crump. Mr Crump’s son, Phil, is the WA state manager for FCA Australia.

In a statement, AHG said that the sale of Duncan Nissan, for $3 million plus stock and assets, was part of a “rebalancing of AHG’s Nissan portfolio”.

It also has Nissan franchises in Perth at Clarkson, Cannington, Osborne Park and Wangara. Outside of WA, it has Nissan outlets in Brisbane, Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.





Volvo’s mini showroom pops upAnnlyn Motors Volvo debuts pop-up store at Westfield

By NEIL DOWLINGn FIVE-time Volvo dealer of the year Annlyn Motors Volvo in Penrith, NSW, is testing a pop-up store in the district’s major shopping centre.

Annlyn motors dealer principal John Dunn said although the store has only been trading for a week, he is optimistic about its success

to not only boost car sales, but to expose his business and the Volvo brand to the wider community.

“We’ve tried a few things before, like having cars in the shopping complex centre court,” he said.

“We wanted to take that further, so we opened the shop one week ago and

immediately, we were selling cars out of it.

“We’ve been in the area for 19 years – and 13 of those on the same site – in Penrith and we thought we had done a pretty good job of letting people know we were here. The pop-up has certainly improved our exposure.”

Mr Dunn – who admits his

dealership isn’t typical and is always keen to try new ideas – said the pop-up concept was discussed for about 18 months with shopping centre owner Westfield.

“We have a good site in the shopping centre, so that helps,” he said.

“It’s a high-traffic site, next door to Rebel Sport and

opposite the cinema entrance. It’s a fair size at 180 square metres, so it’s more like a mini showroom.

“It’s not what most people would expect and I have to say that with the TV sets on the wall and the two cars and the colour swabs, it looks pretty good.”

Continued next page





Continued from previous pageMr Dunn said he was

amazed at the inquiry rate.“It’s huge. Westfield said

17.4 million people visited the Penrith shopping centre last year. That’s about 335,000 visitors a week. These are huge numbers.

“A lot of people comment that they’re surprised to see a car in the shopping centre.

“I notice that the people who come in and talk to us are relaxed and more casual than those in the showroom.

“I would say that’s because

of the shopping centre surrounds and the fact that these people are in their comfort zone, without any stress and just looking at things for sale.

“At the shopping centre, customers are easy to engage and always happy to have a conversation.”

But Mr Dunn said there were some considerations.

“Here you can only get four of the six steps of selling. That is, the meet, greet, establishment of needs and static demonstration,” he said.

“The rest you have to do in the dealership.”

There is also the cost of the shop lease and the fit-out of the shop.

“But the biggest and most important is the staff,” he said.

“It is a seven day a week operation, so we have a hostess there most of the time, and then the sales staff are on ‘road days’ – and they really like coming down and working from the centre.

“It’s completely different to working from the dealership.

“What the pop-up does for

us and the Volvo brand is exposes us to our community.”

Mr Dunn said his business has taken the lease until September.

“I think that would be long enough for us to gauge how people react to the shop and for us to get an idea of the potential of pop-ups,” he said.

It also should prove the potential for sales.

“We generally sell 14 new Volvo cars a month at the dealership,” he said.

“We have only been at Westfield for a week so it’s too

early to tell. But if we sell two to three cars, or 25 per cent of the dealership sales, then I’d be delighted. That’s what I’m hoping for.

“But we have to give it time. I think that by about six weeks we will be able to see the trend and the possibilities.

“We can talk about an extension to the lease if it’s favourable.

“We’ve got a successful dealership on York Road, but we’re always keen to try something new. Maybe this is the future.”





Car pooling is new target for Uber, GoogleNEIL DOWLING

nGOOGLE is to trial its car-pool program, Waze, on 25,000 employees of selected San Francisco companies who will be able to access a lift to work from more than 700,000 drivers.

The car-pool system links motorists with people seeking a lift, matching times and destinations. The intention is to make personal transport more flexible and efficient while reducing traffic congestion.

The Waze Rider app has already been tested on Google employees and those of Google’s neighbouring businesses, including Adobe and Walmart’s Global eCommerce division.

Waze comes two months after Lyft – owned by General Motors – expanded its business to include a

car-pooling service in San Francisco.

Uber last year also tested its UberCommute service in China. It also has a car-pool system that helps people commute to San Francisco from southern centres including Silicon Valley.

Australia’s biggest car-pooling business is Coseats (www.coseats.com), founded by Torsten Herbst in 2011 as a free service, operates like a blackboard, where people go online to list their name and destination.

“I started it as a taxi-share from Melbourne airport but that didn’t really take off,” Mr Torsten said.

“So Coseats is used now mainly by backpackers and travelers who are looking for some company when travelling and reducing their travel costs.”

Coseats also earns income by organising people to shift rental cars and camper vans between towns and cities.

Though Coseats members offer money for a ride, in its San Francisco trial, people seeking a Waze ride will pay US54 cents a mile (about A46c/km) to the driver.

Waze has yet to announce its intention to charge for the service, though it is possible the charge would be levied on the driver.

Apps for car pooling are not new and even the concept goes back to the days of chalk and blackboards, promoted initially for commuting to work and then for students and their parents trying to find a cost and time-efficient way to get to class.

Free car-pooling apps available now include Carpool – School Edition.

By NEIL DOWLINGn JAGUAR Land Rover (JLR) is readying an expansion of dealer network facilities, with eight dealers currently building new or upgraded premises and 10 more planning work this year amidst rocketing sales.

Nine of the 18 dealers will be new to the JLR marque and many will bring the brand back to regional areas. By the end of 2017, Australia will have 43 JLR dealers.

JLR Australia managing director Matthew Wiesner said more than $120 million will be committed across its retail network in the next 12 months to meet increased customer demand.

“With Jaguar up 175 per cent year-to-date and Land Rover up over 43 per cent, it has never been more important to ensure that there are strong levels of

investment across all of our JLR retailer facilities,” he said.

Jaguar will also see a potential sales boost with the introduction of the F-Pace mid-size luxury SUV in July said Mr. Wiesner.

The retail investment will include seven new or upgraded facilities in New South Wales, eight in Queensland, two in Victoria and one in South Australia.

Many regional locations which will see a return of the JLR brand for the first time in over a decade include Rockhampton, Gosford, Wagga Wagga, Shepparton, Bendigo and Bunbury.

JLR this year added a $10 million dealership, Frizelle Group’s Springwood Jaguar Land Rover in South Brisbane, to its portfolio and was the first Australian dealer to use the new “JLR Arch” corporate identity.

JLR to boost dealer numbers





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Move to build autogas conversion plant in VictoriaStudy finds emissions and fuel cost gain outweigh new vehicle conversion costs

By NEIL DOWLINGn VICTORIAN Government support for a manufacturing plant to convert new vehicles to run on liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) has been put back on the automotive agenda following the launch last week of a favourable report.

The Autogas Vehicle Demand Study by Australian consulting firm ABMARC has found that vehicles fuelled by LPG, or autogas, could meet

the future fuel demand for fleets because of low operating costs and reduced carbon and noxious emissions.

The study, funded jointly by the Victorian Government, the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce (VACC) and Gas Energy Australia (GEA), is claimed to present a strong case for a dedicated conversion industry that would “reinvent” Australia’s declining car-

making industry.The latest report follows

VACC and GEA proposals in 2014 to establish facilities in Victoria to convert new vehicles to LPG in response to announcements by Ford, Holden and Toyota to cease local car manufacturing. Ford and Holden had LPG-fuelled variants of its Falcon and Commodore large car but both have since been discontinued.

The 2014 proposal said it

would create “up to 500 new jobs and make use of high-end skilled labour as conventional car manufacturing in Australia contracts”.

The VACC and GEA called for a prompt business case analysis of such a facility after Holden and Ford wound down their original equipment gas-vehicle offerings.

However, the gas industry believes the future for such a conversion plant would revolve

around commercial vehicles rather than passenger cars.

GEA CEO John Griffiths said that with passenger-car fleets moving to smaller-engined vehicles to improve economy and with concerns about voiding warranties for new-car conversions, there was greater potential in the future for LPG in the light- and heavy-commercial vehicle sector.

Continued next page





Continued from previous page“It has been done before with

success,” he said. “The Holden Colorado was imported from Thailand and converted at a plant in Dandenong. That level of conversion is what is needed to get the process efficient.”

Mr Griffiths said buyers have been asking when OEM vehicles will be available with LPG but he said much of the market, particularly fleets, “had moved on from bigger cars”.

“Cars are smaller and fleets don’t want converted vehicles because it voids the new-car warranty,” he said.

“The question we have to ask ourselves is: Is there still demand for LPG vehicles and would people buy them or move on to hybrid or electric vehicles?”

Mr Griffiths said the study

shows that autogas vehicles can play a major role in meeting the nation’s transport needs, while contributing to a cleaner and more secure energy future.

He said the outlook for LPG pricing remains positive.

“Increased supplies from the US associated with shale oil and gas developments will soon start finding their way to the Asia Pacific market via the recently enlarged Panama Canal,” he said. “This will exert downward pressure on Australian wholesale LPG prices.”

VACC CEO Geoff Gwilym said the study indicated that between 160,000 and 430,000 vehicles could be fitted with autogas conversions over the next seven years.

Mr Gwilym said those figures were dependent on

vehicle availability and any change of government policies on environmental or fuel tax policies.

“The plant would create downstream opportunities for businesses that service the manufacturing industry,” he said.

“From a state and industry perspective, this initiative has the capacity to keep Victoria

at the forefront of industry innovation.”

Mr Griffiths said the study was supported by a trial of LPG-fuelled Toyota Camry Hybrid taxis in Melbourne.

“The six-month trial of 13CABS taxis with the latest autogas engines found carbon reduction of 14.5 per cent compared with the standard petrol Camry Hybrid,” he said.

According to the report, “an autogas manufacturing facility would help protect local jobs through automotive innovation, by delivering products that improve the environmental impact and on-road costs of Australian vehicles”.

GEA said there are about 3600 Australians qualified to work on autoga s vehicles, with about 1700 of them in Victoria.

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Mercedes markets the sizzle, not the sausageAustralia’s first Mercedes-Benz experience store to open in Melbourne next year

By NEIL DOWLINGn MERCEDES-BENZ is bringing brand experience to Australia, becoming only the seventh global outlet for the Mercedes Me concept that mixes marketing with hospitality in a non-sales environment.

The store, to be opened in the first quarter of next year, will be at the ground level of the Rialto towers on Collins Street in Melbourne. The

building is currently under a $100 million redevelopment.

Mercedes-Benz Australia-Pacific CEO Horst von Sanden said it was very prestigious to have a Mercedes Me store in Australia.

“We are proud to have one opening in Australia as they are only six others in the world,” he said.

“The intention is to attract the public – not just our customers

– to experience the lifestyle of Mercedes-Benz. It is not meant to be a showroom and it’s not designed to sell cars.

“In fact, it will be factory funded by us and operated by our marketing department with no involvement from our Melbourne dealership.”

Mr von Sanden said the

emphasis is on the store being a meeting point for people.

“It will be a hospitality centre, have interactive media

and give guests the opportunity to attend special events and functions,” he said.

“It allows people to experience Mercedes-Benz outside a dealership.”

He said the concept had proved to be very successful since the first shop was opened

in Hamburg in June 2014.“For us it has shown to

attract a lot of new people to the brand and it is particularly a young audience with a good gender balance,” he said.

“That is exactly the audience we are aiming to appeal to with our products.”

Each Mercedes Me store has a different emphasis, from fashion to fine dining or a coffee-shop atmosphere.

Continued next page

“It allows people to experience Mercedes-Benz outside a dealership.”





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Continued from previous pageMr von Sanden said because

the Rialto is still being developed, the project and its content had yet to be finalised.

But he confirmed it will have a coffee-shop flavor and that St Ali owner Salvatore Malatesta will be the operator of the shop.

“He is a colorful individual who is very well known and is a Mercedes-Benz ambassador – so he is perfect for the role.

“We have yet to announce a store manager. We estimate it will be three to four months before we complete the detailed planning.

“We are very happy with the concept and the Rialto is

perfect because it has a lot of foot traffic and will be of a very high standard when construction is completed.”

Daimler AG board member Ola Kallenius this year opened a Mercedes Me store in Beijing that spreads over two floors and covers 2400 square metres.

Since the first Mercedes Me store opened in Hamburg in 2014, it has been followed by outlets in Milan, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Moscow and Beijing.

The Rialto’s 8000 square metre redevelopment comprises five storeys that encase the frontage along Collins Street and King Street.

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How to deal with highly emotional people in the dealership

What can you do when someone doesn’t want to play ball?By PANCHO MEHROHT

n HOW do you deal with highly emotional people who make all their decisions based on knee jerk reactions?

These people react on instinct rather than using reason or knowledge and often they are in positions

(as a boss or a car buyer) that are beyond them. Emotional responses are their only defense against revealing their weaknesses.

So dealing with them is just not easy; whether you are selling to them or working for them.

Because they are acting from instinct built on their own personal experiences, these people usually refuse to see things from any other viewpoint than their own. To do otherwise becomes a challenge to their life scripts and their comfort zones.

The problem is they are a hostage to their non-rational emotions, so all their decision making gets filtered through this process.

Imagine a sieve and the only things that can get through this sieve are defensive or negative thoughts, emotions

and untested or unreasonable perceptions.

They therefore have to be right. Worse, their instant reaction is to often make problems bigger than they are. They even see problems where none exist.

Continued next page

MANAGEMENT WORKSHOP





Continued from previous pageWhat does not get through

the sieve are any positive ideas or thoughts. They feel so vulnerable they are incapable of looking at a situation from a different viewpoint or a different lens because that might challenge their instincts and beliefs. The chances of actually thinking about the situation from a different angle are limited. Therefore so are any solutions.

The sad thing is many of these people are in positions of power. They hold power

over you either as a superior at work or a person with whom you want to do business and make a sale; and they abuse this position.

From my experience, it is often because they don’t have the skills needed for that position or the situation in which they find themselves. Their social skills are sadly lacking. You see, it takes a lot more to be a leader than reading numbers; it takes the ability to think and not over-react. But their life’s experience does not include

these tools.A knee jerk response is

often the result because sometimes the over-reaction hides something else going on in their lives. It accumulates and then they erupt.

Often you will see these people calm on the outside but inside they are churning with anger because they don’t have the ability to address the underlying problem in the first place. They often display a passive aggressive personality.

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How do you spot them?The first thing to do is to learn to spot this person. So, what are the signs that allow you as the salesperson or manager, to pick or read their signals?

The key is the tune your listening skills to hearing what they are not saying.

Some of the signs are:• They are not willing to listen to you at all• They are not being reasonable• Most of their sentences start with an “I”• They cannot seem to back up what they are talking about with facts• They usually have no in-depth knowledge of what is actually going on with the team or

themselves or their business• They often make irrational decisions that are primarily very emotional

You can get fairly quick at picking up these signs based on daily experiences.



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AUDIFounded in 1910 by August Horch, who moved on from his previously established German luxury car-brand Horch. Audi would form one of the four rings of the Auto Union brand, along with DKW, Wanderer and Horch. Auto Union continued to make small two-stroke cars and motorcycles under the Auto Union and DKW names. The company was bought in 1959 by Daimler-Benz until sold in 1964 to Volkswagen which reintroduced the Audi name in 1965. Audi was to have been broken up but its 100 model of 1968 was a sales success. Audi’s front-wheel drive layout would become the platform for future Volkswagen products. The Audi Group now includes Italdesign Giugiaro, quattro GmbH, Lamborghini and Ducati. Audi is working with Sanyo to develop electric vehicles and shares some of its components with Volkswagen products.

ALLIANCES: NEXT PAGE

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ALFA ROMEOPart of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Started car production in 1910 and is noted for making one of the longest-serving engine designs, the twin-cam four-cylinder launched as a 1.3-litre in 1954 and retired as a 2.0-litre in 1995. Now producing product only in Italy and will move to front-engine rear-drive and front-engine all-wheel-drive layouts to promote its sports heritage. Planned drivetrains shared with Fiat and Ferrari. New mid-size prestige Giulia model was delayed to production because FCA boss Sergio Marchionne didn’t like the styling.


ALF

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BMWMajority (46.7 per cent) owned by brother and sister Stefan Quandt and Susanne Klatten and the remainder (53.3 per cent) in public hands. Owns Mini, Motorrad (motorcycles) and Rolls-Royce. It bought the Rover Group in 1994 and in 2000, sold MG and Rover to a capital equity group Phoenix, then Land Rover to Ford. It retained Mini. It bought Husqvarna motorcycles in 2007 and sold it to KTM in 2013. Has agreements in place to use Toyota fuel-cell technology and co-develop a sports car range. It supplies Toyota with diesel engines for mid-size cars in Europe and is in a joint-venture with Toyota for at least two new sports cars. BMW’s rear-drive philosophy has been dumped as it adopts the Mini front-drive platform to some segment BMW products.


BM

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DODGEPart of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Brothers John and Horace started making cars in Detroit in 1910. John was also vice-president of the Ford Motor Company. The brothers died of pneumonia and influenza in 1920. The company continued to slide from second to fifth in sales before being bought by Chrysler in 1928. It entered the muscle-car market in the 1960s with Charger, Coronet and Super Bee nameplates. When Chrysler merged with Daimler in 1998, the Plymouth brand was dropped and Dodge became the entry-level brand. Dodge is now integrated into Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

ALLIANCES: CHRYSLER, FIAT

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GENERAL MOTORS


Founded in 1908 as a holding company for two car makers, Buick (US) and McLaughlin Car Company (Canada) owned by businessman William C Durant. GM bought a string of car and truck companies but by 1910 the new-car sales fell and company debt escalated, leading to banks taking control of the company. Durant left and founded Chevrolet in 1911 and rebuilt his GM shareholding to again take control in 1916. The car market collapsed in 1918 and Durant left

the company. Under Alfred Sloan, GM Corporation expanded and only slowed in the 1980s. It led global sales from 1931 to 2007. GM’s innovation made it the first with electric starter (1911), turbocharger (1962), automatic transmission (1939) and mass-production V8 (1914). GM now produces vehicles in 37 countries and has 13 brand names. It owns 82.9 per cent of Daewoo Korea (SAIC owns 9.9 per cent) and 20 per cent of Tunisian carmaker IMM (Isuzu 10 per cent, Tunisian company GMT

70 per cent). It has joint ventures in China with Shanghai-GM (GM has 50 per cent), FAW-GM (GM has 50 per cent) and SAIC-GM-Wuling (GM has 44 per cent). Has joint ventures in Russia (GM-AvtoVAZ with GM at 50 per cent), Pakistan (Ghandhara Industries), General Motors Egypt, General Motors India, GM-Uzbekistan (GM 25 per cent) and Isuzu Truck South Africa. As part of its restructure after financial collapse in 2009, it borrowed money from the government and closed

three brands - Pontiac, Saturn and Hummer - and sold Saab. GM also partners with other companies in technology. It shares its fuel cell and hybrid technology with Honda. It sold 7 per cent of PSA Peugeot Citroen in 2013 to Dongfeng. It previously held shares in Subaru (1999-2006), Suzuki (1981-2008), Isuzu (1971-2006) and Fiat (2000-2005). GM plans to import from China for the first time, bringing in the Buick Envision SUV from its joint-venture SAIC factory.

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HAVALHaval Motors started as a sub-brand of Great Wall Motors making vehicles in 2002 and has been the biggest selling SUV brand in China for the past 13 years. In 2014 it sold 519,000 vehicles - up 23 per cent on 2013 - putting it in the Top 10 SUV makers of the world. Its new factories make it capable of producing 1.8 million SUVs a year. Haval became an independent company in 2013. It now has a factory-owned distribution presence in Australia, separate to that of its parent, Great Wall Motors. Haval is an SUV manufacturer with eight models with three currently in the Australian market, the H2, H8 and H9.

ALLIANCES: GREAT WALL

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SMARTPart of Daimler. Originally a concept by watchmaker Swatch, it entered a development arrangement with Volkswagen (1991-1994) then with Daimler AG. Daimler took control in 1998. It ceased sales in Australia in 2015. Smart continues making the two-seater ForTwo coupe and cabrio. The new ForTwo and ForFour (four seats) models for Europe are based on the Renault Twingo platform with engines from Mercedes-Benz.

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MITSUBISHIThe Mitsubishi conglomerate includes Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (MMC) that had its beginnings making its Model A in 1917 that was a copy of a Fiat sedan. Only 22 were built. It next produced a vehicle in 1937, the 4WD PX33 sedan, that was intended for military use. After the war it made scooters and three-wheeled vehicles and Willys Jeeps and sedans in knock-down form. Licensed Mitsubishi Jeeps remained in production until 1998, 30 years after Willys dropped the model. It made the Mitsubishi 500 in 1960, then the

Minica kei car in 1962, the Colt 1000 in 1963 and the Galant in 1969. MMC was formed in 1970 and uses the same three-diamond logo as Mitsubishi’s 40 other companies. Chrysler bought a 51 per cent share in 1971, then sold its Australian arm to Mitsubishi (1980-2005). Mitsubishi increased its global presence and pre-empted the SUV wave in Japan with models that were instant successes. Chrysler sold all its shares in MMC in 1993 and Mitsubishi took over their joint-venture US factory. It will close this factory in 2016. The Daimler-Chrysler merger of 1998

was followed by the pair buying a 37.3 per cent share in MMC in 2001 before selling out in 2005 with a $US800 million loss. Mitsubishi was a partner with Volvo to built the Mitsubishi Carisma and Volvo S40/V40 in the Netherlands from 1996. Mitsubishi also collaborates with PSA Peugeot Citroen to make the i-MiEV electric car as a Citroen, the Outlander as a Peugeot 4007, the ASX as the Citroen AirCross and Peugeot 4008, and diesel engines. Proton of Malaysia made Mitsubishi cars under license and later adopted major components for use in Proton cars. Hyundai

built its first car, the Pony, from 1975 using Mitsubishi components and Mitsubishi held a 10 per cent stake in the Korean company until 2003. It has a joint venture with Indian car maker Hindustan to produce the Pajero 4WD, a joint-venture with the South African Motor Corporation, and four joint ventures with Chinese car makers. It has a joint-venture agreement with Nissan-Renault that is yet to be activated and makes its Triton 4WD dual-cab ute for Fiat in South America, returning the favour first made at Mitsubishi’s beginnings in 1917.

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OPELA German bicycle company that produced its first car in 1899 then built Darracq cars from 1901 until its own cars were made from 1906. By 1914 it had grown to be Germany’s biggest car maker. In 1929 General Motors bought 80 per cent of the company, increasing this to 100 per cent in 1931. It started building trucks again in 1946 and cars from 1948. It mass-produced the world’s first monocoque (unibody) construction with the 1931 Olympia, made rocket-propelled speed cars (1928), lost the toolings for its Kadett small car to the Russians in 1945 and plays the major role in GM platform design and engineering. Opel now has 11 factories in seven countries. In its own name, it had a brief presence in Australia in 2013. Its products, including Insignia and Astra, are now badged as Holden.

ALLIANCES: GENERAL MOTORS, HOLDEN

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PORSCHEStarted in 1931 as an automotive design and engineering consultancy by Ferdinand Porsche. His son Ferry made the Porsche 356 car in 1948. It was the first Porsche-badged car and the first sold by Porsche. The 911, designed in part by Ferry’s son Ferdinand “Butzi” Porsche, was launched in 1964. Its rear-engined origins were challenged with the V8-engined 928 of 1977 (until 1995), the Volkswagen-partnered 914 (1969-1976) and 924 (1976-1988), the 944 and more lately its SUVs, Panamera and mid-engined Boxster/Cayman. It is the world’s largest race-car manufacturer and has won Le Mans 17 times, Targa Florio 11 times, the Paris-Dakar twice and had a Formula One win in 1962. It became part of the Volkswagen Group in 2013 and the collaboration formed from the company’s inception continues. Porsche is now two companies - SE which is the holding company (including the Porsche family members) that owns 50.7 per cent of Volkswagen AG - and Porsche AG that is owned by Volkswagen AG and is the car manufacturer.


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RENAULTStarted in 1899 by the three Renault brothers after selling its first car the previous year. It started making its own engines from 1903, expanded into trucks and buses and during WW1, as well as machinery, ammunition, tanks and V8 aircraft engines also made by Rolls-Royce. After this war it made cars ranging from very small to limousines that competed with Cadillac. During the second war it made trucks. Owner Louis Renault was accused of collaborating with the Germans and died in prison and the French government took control of the company. It launched a successful line of cars including the rear-drive 4CV in 1946 (until 1961), Dauphine

(1956-1967), the 8 (1962-1973), 10 (1965-1971), 16 (1965-1980), 12 (1969-2000) and 5 (1972-1996). It formed a partnership with American Motors Corporation and built the Rambler (1962-1967) under license in Belgium. In 1979 it bought a 22.5 per cent stake in AMC, upped to 47.5 per cent in 1980 and resulting in Renault cars sold in the US and AMC-owned Jeeps sold in Europe. It sold the AMC share to Chrysler in 1987. It owned 44.6 per cent of Mack Trucks in 1983, transferring this to a subsidiary in 1987. It also bought Dacia of Romania, which had built Renaults under license since 1968, in 1999 and forged a partnership in 1974

to produce V6 engines with Volvo and Peugeot. It established a factory in Australia from the mid-1960s until 1981, also making Ford Cortinas and Peugeots. Cost-cutting in the 1980s saved the company from bankruptcy and in 1990 introduced new models. In 1996 it was privatised with the reduction of the French government stake. It sought a partner and signed as an ally of Nissan in 1999, took control of Samsung in 2000, sold its shares in Volvo in 2012, and in 2010, Renault-Nissan formed an alliance with Daimler to supply diesel engines in return for Mercedes petrol engines. The French government increased its stake in Renault-Nissan to 19.73 per

cent in 2015. Renault has a 43.3 per cent stake in Nissan, 1.55 per cent of Daimler, 25 per cent of AvtoVAZ of Russia and controls Dacia (Romania) and has an 80 per cent share of Renault Samsung (South Korea). Renault has, since 2012, been supplying engines for the Mercedes A-Class and B-Class. The Renault Twingo has shared components with the Smart ForTwo. It has a joint venture with Mitsubishi (yet to be activated). Renault bought back its Formula One team from Lotus Team owner Genii Capital for only about $2 (plus about $5 million paid to extinguish its UK tax bill).

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SUBARUIt is the car making division of Fuji Heavy Industries that was the post-war merging of five automotive business. It launched its first car in 1954, the 1500, followed by the 360 in 1958. It introduced its now-signature boxer engine design in 1961, the all-wheel drive layout in 1971 and the first boxer diesel car engine in 2009. It was 20.4 per

cent owned by Nissan (1968-1999) which led to component sharing and Nissan using Subaru’s bus designs. The first 4WD wagons used Nissan rear differentials and the four-speed Subaru automatic was used in the first Nissan Pathfinder. Subaru’s all-wheel drive design was shared with Renault. General Motors bought Nissan’s 20.4 per cent share in 1999,

leading to model sharing including the Forester becoming a Chevrolet for the Indian market and the Opel Zafira being rebadged the Subaru Traviq for Japan. GM sold the Subaru Impreza in the US as the Saab 9-2X. Subaru is now owned 16.5 per cent by Toyota. It has a manufacturing plant in Indiana that produces the Toyota Camry until 2016 when it

reverts to Subaru-only production. It also builds the Toyota 86 sports coupe (also known as the Scion FR-S in North America) and its Subaru clone, the BRZ, at the Subaru factory in north-east Honshu. Toyota flagged a convertible 86 but the coupe is so successful that Subaru doesn’t have the plant capacity to add another model.

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SUZUKIIndependent. Started as a loom-making company in 1909 and built its first car in 1937 but never reached production status. After the war, it returned to loom-making and diversified to motorcycles in 1952. By 1954 it was seling 6000 motorcycles a month. It produced its front-wheel drive 360cc two-stroke Suzulight sedan, with independent suspension and rack and pinion steering, from 1955. It expanded its motorcycle

division, adding outboard engines and industrial engines. Debuted its LJ10 two-stroke Jimny 4WD in 1970 (a bigger version sold in Australia in 1975), won the 1971 250cc and 500cc world motocross championships, launched the world’s first production rotary-engined motorcycle, the RE5, in 1974, the Katana 1100cc motorcycle in 1981 and the world’s first ATV quad-bike in 1982. General Motors bought 5.3

per cent of Suzuki in 1981 in a co-operative that included Isuzu (until 1994). GM increased its stake to 10 per cent in 1998 and to 20 per cent in 2000. Suzuki entered a joint venture with Fiat in 2003 to share an SUV (the SX4). GM sold its stake down to 3 per cent in 2006. Suzuki entered a joint venture with Nissan to sell the Nissan-made Frontier 4WD ute as the Suzuki Equator. Volkswagen bought 19.9 per cent of

Suzuki’s shares in 2009 and wanted to gain control of Suzuki but was stymied by a resistant Japanese board of directors. Volkswagen sold its shares back to Suzuki in 2015. Maruti Suzuki of India is 74 per cent owned by Suzuki and has three factories and a 50 per cent market share in India. FCA boss Sergio Marchionne said Suzuki was one company he would consider as a business partner.

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ALLIANCES: VOLKSWAGEN, FIAT, GENERAL MOTORS, MARUTI

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TESLAFounded in 2003 and produced its first car, the Lotus Elise-based Tesla Roadster, in 2008. It was the first electric vehicle to travel more than 320km on a single charge and the first to use lithium-ion batteries. It launched the Tesla S sedan in 2009. Daimler bought less than 10 per cent in 2009, selling almost half of that share (40 per cent) to Aabar Investments of Abu Dhabi to end with 4 per cent. Toyota bought a minor stake in 2010 and the two collaborated on the Toyota RAV4 EV. Tesla also sold batteries to Toyota. Toyota sold most of its shares in 2014. Daimler sold its entire 4 per cent stake in 2014 but buys the motor, batteries, charger, and supporting EV systems for its B-Class EV from Tesla. It also makes the EV drivetrain for Daimler subsidiaries, Smart’s ForTwo and for Freightliner’s inner-city van. Tesla also builds a network of fast chargers between cities (US, Australia, Europe, Asia) and storage batteries for homes and offices.

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ALLIANCES: DAIMLER, TOYOTA, LOTUS, SMART

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ABARTHStarted in 1949 by Carlo Abarth with cars bought from the liquidated Cisitalia company. It raced and modified cars for competition and made performance parts and accessories for European cars, though mainly Fiat. Fiat bought Abarth in 1971, selling the motorsports division and created a new competition arm that prepared the Fiat 124 coupe for rallying. It also developed the Lancia Beta Montecarlo for Group 5 (winning the 1980 and 1981 World Sportscar Championships) and the Lancia 037 Group B that won the 1983 World Manufacturers’ Championship. The Abarth name was shelved in 1981 and didn’t reappear as an independent model designation until 2007 with the Abarth Grande Punto. It is now part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.


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