Toyota ‘dealerships’ Turners here to stay introduces · 2019-09-24 · loyalty scheme that...

MONTHLY MAGAZINE OF AUTOTALK.CO.NZ – VOLUME 9 | ISSUE 3 | APRIL 2018

T H E V E H I C L E D E A L E R ’ S N E W S S O U R C E

INSIDE4 13

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

The market leader for over a decade.Shift to the Autohub Team and

experience the Autohub difference.

Confidence for the road ahead.

A loyalty scheme that hands out Turners shares to dealers who are successful at selling

the company’s finance and insur-ance products is well under way.

Turners recently issued 30,914 shares for business referred from July 1, 2017 to Decem-ber 31, 2017.

“We were look-ing at ways we could have a point of difference in the market,” Turn-ers Automotive Group chief execu-tive Todd Hunter told AutoTalk.

“We’ve got just over 200 dealers signed up to the scheme.”

If dealers achieve certain per-formance goals, they receive $10 worth of shares for every $1000 in insurance policies and $5000 in finance loans sold through Turners’ Oxford Finance and Autosure Insur-

Turners introduces F&I loyalty scheme

Todd Hunter

Continued on page 3

Industry responds to Takata recall 4Write-offs rising 7ITS comes to the fore 13Kia goes electric 18

Toyota New Zealand has stressed it still intends to have dealerships in New Zealand towns and cities,

despite its Drive Happy Project rewriting the way it does business - though they will get a change of name..

As predicted by AutoTalk more than a year ago, the brand has shifted to an agency model with fixed prices.

Dubbed the “Drive Happy Project”, the move comes with a raft of updates to the brand’s operations, including a revised website, test drive systems and fixed-price service plans with offers of warranty extensions.

“Our way of business needs to evolve to align with our customers’ expecta-tions,” Toyota New Zealand chief execu-tive Alistair Davis says.

“As a result of the changes we are making, customers will save time and money, and have more choice.

“We want to put the pleasure back

into buying a brand-new vehicle. We are taking a more customer-centric approach to car buying and the entire ownership experience.”

Davis says the vehicle selling process has not changed much in the past 50

years yet today most custom-ers are using online tools to research options before pur-chase.

“We’re not alone in having made new vehicle purchases a drawn-out affair which takes the gloss off the experience,” he says.

“We’ve observed and listened to customer feedback and are re-shap-ing the purchase experience.”

“I want to make it clear Toyota has no intention of eliminating the local dealer,” Davis says.

“But we also think there are some challenges with the dealer model.

“The dealership is a significant eco-

Toyota ‘dealerships’ here to stay

Alistair Davis

Continued on page 12

http://www.autosure.co.nz

http://www.autohub.co

2 | AUTOTALK APRIL 2018 | www.autotalk.co.nz

AutoTalk acknowledges the support of our foundation sponsors:

FOUNDATIONSPONSORS

www.autosure.co.nz

ADTORQUEEDGE

http://www.motorweb.co.nz

http://www.autohub.co


http://www.nichibojapan.com

http://www.autoplay.co.nz

http://www.udc.co.nz

https://www.adtorqueedge.com/services/

http://www.vinz.co.nz

http://www.tsigroup.co.nz

http://www.repco.co.nz

AUTOTALK APRIL 2018 | www.autotalk.co.nz | 3

NEWSTALK

AutoTalk Magazine and autotalk.co.nz are published by Auto Media Group 8/152 Quay Street, Limited. P.O. Box 10 50 10, Auckland City, 1030. Ph. 09 309 2444.

autotalk.co.nz

autotalk.com.au

transporttalk.co.nz

transporttalk.com.au

evtalk.co.nz

evtalk.com.au

wheeltalk.co.nz

identicar.co.nz

INDUSTRY SUPPORTERS RECOGNISED BY

GROUP EDITOR AUTO TRADE TITLES

Scott Morgan

021 240 2402

[email protected]

MANAGING EDITOR

Richard Edwards

021 556 655

[email protected]

ASSISTANT EDITOR

Geoff Dobson

021 881 [email protected]

BUSINESS MANAGER

Dale Stevenson

021 446 214

[email protected]

ADVERTISING ASSISTANT

Fran Da Silva

021 933 279

[email protected]

GENERAL MANAGER

Deborah Baxter

027 530 5016

[email protected]

PUBLISHER/CHAIR

Vern Whitehead

021 831 153

[email protected]

Auto Media Group Limited makes every endeavour to ensure information contained in this publication is accurate, however we are not liable for any losses or issues resulting from its use.

Annual subscription: $84 + gst ($96.60)

Printed by: Alpine Printers.

The import system is slowly getting back to normal after months of disruption caused by stink bugs hitching a ride to

New Zealand on vehicle carriers.The Ministry for Primary Industries

(MPI) has confirmed to AutoTalk enhanced inspections of vehicle carriers will end on April 30 at the end of the stink bug season.

And Imported Motor Vehicle Industry As-sociation (VIA) chief executive David Vinsen says the situation is slowly being resolved.

“The worst is over. It’s been a hugely stressful time for everyone involved,” Vinsen says.

“Initially there was quite a bit of pressure. MPI is taking an extremely careful look at the ships.”

The situation has been difficult for compli-ance shops in particular to manage, going from a dearth to a glut of stock.

“The compliance shops have been desper-ate to keep their staff. Everyone knew there was a huge amount of volume coming.

“The logistics of it has been really difficult to manage. Ports of Auckland has had to jug-gle around berths, with fresh stuff coming in.

“We’ve heard of people being stood down as volumes were cut but they have been re-

engaged. It was a close-run thing.”A research group has also been formed to

look at the best treatment methods to deal with the bugs, Vinsen says.

“We’re not sure what to expect next year. It might have been a one in ten-year event.

“We’re in preparation for the next season so we’re ready for it.

“There’s a lesson to be learned as we’re aware of the seasonality of these bugs. We think there’s going to be much closer scru-tiny.”

On a positive note, he says it has fostered closer cooperation between different indus-try sectors and government departments.

Meanwhile, MPI is promising to keep a close eye on ships coming in after April 30.

“Enhanced levels of scrutiny will continue to apply to any vessel that MPI believes has a high risk of stink bug contamination after this date,” a spokesperson told AutoTalk.

Businesses recovering after stink bug delays

“The worst is over. It’s been a hugely stressful time for everyone involved”.

ance businesses.“It’s a case of getting people signed up

and enjoying the rewards of building up ownership in a company,” Hunter says.

“Essentially, there’s no restrictions on the shares. If they want to sell them straight away they can, but we’re hoping they will hold on

to them.”Some businesses that run similar schemes

put time restrictions on when shares can be sold.

However, Hunter says Turners didn’t want to overcomplicate the situation.

“Our view is keep it as simple as possible, without hooks or conditions.”

Turners introduces F&I loyalty schemeContinued from page 1

http://www.poal.co.nz

http://www.trademe.co.nz/motors

http://www.driven.co.nz

http://www.jevic.co.nz


NEWSTALK

Andrew Simms Mitsubi-shi in Botany is officially open but it needs more

staff to complete the team.Mitsubishi has replaced

Haval and Great Wall at the Te Irirangi Drive site, with the showroom getting a major overhaul.

The 15,000 square-metre site includes a 1024sqm Mitsubishi showroom and a 36-bay workshop and needs technicians, sales consult-

ants and groomers.Dealer principal Matthew

Wales says the new dealer-ship was only approved by Mitsubishi Motors New Zea-land on March 1.

It has been a quick turna-round to get the dealership up and running, with “all hands-on deck”.

Wales says the new roles might appeal to East Auck-landers working in other parts of the city who want a shorter

commute to work.“It’s been a team effort to

get the dealership up and running. We didn’t want to let any time go begging.

“We welcome new team members to help us make Mitsubishi Botany the success we know it will be.”

Initially, Wales expects about 23 or 24 bays of the service bays to be in opera-tion at Botany.

But the business will “move

rapidly to grow the service operation to fill all 36 bays,” Wales says.

The new Mitsubishi dealer-ship joins Kia and Jeep at the Botany site, Mitsubishi, Kia and Jeep in Newmarket and the new Great Wall and Haval dealership in Greenlane.

Email [email protected] for more infor-mation about the vacancies at Andrew Simms Mitsubishi Botany.

New recruits needed for Mitsubishi Botany

The Government’s decision to implement a compulsory recall

of all vehicles with alpha Takata airbags has received a positive response from the industry.

Almost 50,000 vehicles have the alpha airbags that need to have their inflators replaced.

People have died around the world after being hit by shards exploding when the faulty airbag deploys in a crash.

Of the vehicles that still need the parts replaced, 45,622 are used imports and 4795 are New Zealand-new vehicles.

The Imported Motor Vehi-cle Industry Association (VIA), Motor Industry Associa-tion (MIA) and New Zealand distributors are working to-gether to sort out the issue.

“We will support our membership in adhering to their compliance obliga-tions,” VIA chief executive David Vinsen says.

“We thank the MIA and New Zealand’s new vehicle distributors for their as-sistance in dealing with the [voluntary] recall so far and will continue working with them to ensure all vehicles in the New Zealand market

meet the appropri-ate safety criteria.”

Progress on the recall has been hampered by a lack of replacement air-bags, Vinsen says.

That means com-pleting the recall

will need the cooperation of government and industry bodies over some months.

Motor Industry Associa-tion chief executive David Crawford says the airbag problem is a “massively large and complex logistical issue”.

“The alpha-type airbag inflator fitted to vehicles between 2001 and 2006 is more at risk of failure if activated than other types of Takata airbag inflators.”

The MIA has a code of practice that encourages

New Zealand distributors to recall used imported vehicles when they have been im-ported prior to a recall being announced.

But it isn’t acceptable for importers to be bringing in vehicles with a known recall in the market they are being sourced, Crawford says.

“MIA welcomes the Government’s deci-sion to prevent any vehicle with an open recall from passing compliance and entry into the New Zealand fleet.”

Legally, importers who bring used vehicles with an open recall on them are obliged to replace the faulty airbags, although that responsibility has generally fallen to New Zealand dis-tributors under what was the voluntary Takata recall.

Consumer affairs min-

ister Kris Faafoi says he will be keeping a close eye on whether a compulsory recall is needed for the 257,000 vehicles with faulty Takata airbags.

About 116,000 non-alpha airbags have been replaced already.

“The motor vehicle indus-try has recalled vehi-cles with the Takata airbags with varying degrees of success, but more must be done to ensure that the highest risk alpha-type airbags are

removed from our vehicle fleet.

“I would like to acknowl-edge the effort some of the new vehicle sellers have made – both in replacing airbags in vehicles they have sold as new and in replacing airbags in vehicles from their

Industry bands together after Takata recall

David Crawford

Kris Faafoi


“We will support our membership in adhering to their compliance obligations,” VIA chief executive David Vinsen says.

• Competitive rates• Floorplan facilities from $250k and more• Match payments to your cashflow with up to 6 months to repay• Backed by Nichibo, one of the industry’s most trusted suppliers

SIMPLE & TRANSPARENT. $250K+ FACILITIES.$100 cashback on your first 10 Nichibo purchases that go onto your floorplan facility. Receive an additional $250 cashback per vehicle if you retail finance 10 vehicles with Auto Finance Direct.

*Cashback payments up to total value of $1,000 NZD available to all new approved Auto Advance Finance (AAF) or Auto Advance Lite applications before March 31, 2018. $100 NZD individual cashback payment made after individual vehicles sold, limited to first 10 vehicles sold with AAF or AAF Lite floorplan facility. Cashback payments up to total value of $2,500 NZD available to retail deals settled with Auto Finance Direct (AFD). $250 NZD individual cashback payment made after individual vehicles settled through AFD, limited to first 10 vehicles sold. Vehicles must be added within a 6-month period from sign up to qualify and receive cashback. Existing AAF or AAF customers not eligible for offer. Normal AAF lending criteria applies.

With a floorplan to match your plan.

Grow your empire.

FIND OUT MORE

TEL +64 9 374 4436DDI +64 9 557 2005

http://autofinancedirect.co.nz


NEWSTALK

35 Years3,000 Clients10,000 Users can’t be wrong!Automotive & Industry IT

The New Zealand Automotive Industry’s software provider of choice

ADP Autoline: The world’s most popular Dealer and Distributor Management System from the world’s largest provider.

NZ’s most installed and fastest growing Dealer and Fleet Management System with over 400 installations.

NZ’s acclaimed Workshop Management System runs 50% of independent motor industry service and repair businesses.

TSI Group’s own computer hosting and cloud services division, and NZ’s largest automotive industry specialist IT services company.

Contact: Paul Wilkinson [email protected] 09 5832482 0274475514

proudly exports Kiwi know-how and expertise to the world with clients in 24 countries.

AUTOMOTIVE SERVICE IT

DEALER MANAGEMENT IT

Holden New Zealand managing director Kristian Aquilina has been called home to take over

the brand’s Australian marketing efforts.The brand is reeling across the Tas-

man after March sales results that were the worst it has experienced since it

began selling cars in 1948.Sales of both the new Commodore

and the Equinox SUV were disappoint-ingly low.

Holden Australia has confirmed its executive director of marketing Mark Harland has left the company with im-

mediate effect. He was relatively new to the role, being appointed in November 2016.

“Mark has brought a fresh perspec-tive to Holden during a difficult period of transition. We thank him for his passion and wish him well in his future

endeavors,” Holden managing director Mark Bernhard said in a statement.

The ‘For sure’ launch cam-paign for the Commodore has failed to fire for the brand, while the national motoring editor for News.com.au questioned why Australia did not get the ‘Here to stay’ campaign run in New Zealand.

AutoTalk had been led to believe Aquilina was heading to Australia to help out on a part-time basis. Since then, his move appears to have become more significant.

He is expected to continue to hold his New Zealand role - which also covers the Isuzu truck brand - until a suitable replacement can be found.

Holden NZ spokesperson Edward Finn insists that for now Aquilina will retain the position.

“I must stress for now he is maintaining his role as managing director of Holden New Zealand,” Finn says.

Aquilina was appointed New Zealand managing director in January 2015. He started his career with GM Holden (Australia) in 1997, working in corporate affairs.

In 2003 he was appointed the sales manager for Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. In 2005 he became the national man-ager for government relations and public policy, and in 2007 moved into a role as export sales manager, working with the Pontiac in the US and Buick brand China.

In 2008 he was appointed marketing manager for large cars, SUVs and LCVs before becoming Holden’s zone manager for Victo-ria and Tasmania in 2013.

Holden NZ boss recalled to Australia

Kristian Aquilina

http://www.tsigroup.co.nz


NEWSTALK

Full border inspections

Authorised MPI inspections

Authorised NZTA inspections

Odometer verification

Pre-export appraisal

Vehicle history reports

JEVIC NZ09 966 1779 www.jevic.co.nz

Specialists in pre‑shipment inspections

in Japan & UK

Vehicle write-offs are increasing as the age of New Zealand’s vehicle fleet continues to rise - and auction houses are set to benefit.

Ministry of Transport figures show almost 30% of the country’s light vehicle fleet is 20 years old.

And New Zealand Transport Agency statistics show 156,000 vehicles were written off or removed from the road in the past year, with the number of passenger cars written off by insurers up 25% year-to-date.

Turners Group chief executive Greg Hedgepeth sees it as an opportunity to sell the write-offs and the newer used vehicles that are replacing them.

“As more vehicles come on to New Zealand roads, there are increased opportunities for accidents.

“Older cars are becoming uneconomical to repair. As ve-hicles are written-off by insurance companies, we get to sell them.”

Turners general manager of damaged and end of life vehicles Shane Prince says the company sells more than 20,000 sal-vaged vehicles each year, including about 18,000 passenger cars.

“About 10% of that volume are late model vehicles and we sell a lot of those on Trade Me. It’s more eyeballs for models less than five years old.”

About 61% of damaged vehicles Turners sells are Japanese imports, compared with 39%, which are New Zealand new.

“That’s reflective of the fact there’s so many imports com-ing in.”

A big chunk of Turners’ buyers are trade buyers and auto-motive repairers, Prince says.

“They process the vehicles in their yard and take the parts they want for their shop.”

Any leftover scrap metal gets crushed and exported over-seas and other parts of the vehicles are recycled into prod-ucts like carpet underlay, Prince says.

But it’s not just trade buyers who pick up written-off vehi-cles, with 15% private buyers who often look to restore them.

Manheim national service manager Andrew Cox says the market for write-offs in New Zealand is growing.

In the 2017 calendar year Manheim NZ sold more than 27,000 salvaged vehicles, he says.

“Based on data over the last three years, we have seen growth in this market across all age ranges and vehicle types.

“With the weather events that have already taken place in 2018, we are already seeing a higher volume year-to-date than previous years.”

Older cars made up the majority of write-offs sold through Manheim in 2017, with 18% of assets sold more than 21 years old, 26.5% 16-20 years old and 33.7% 11-15 years.

Newer vehicles make up a relatively small proportion of the write-offs for 2017, with 7.5% 0-5 years old and 14%

Write-offs a business opportunity?

6-10 years old.Cox says the company sells a variety of salvaged vehicles,

from passenger and commercial vehicles to trucks, machin-ery, marine and motorcycle assets.

“They are primarily through insurance companies but are also selling on behalf of rental companies and also direct from manufacturers.

“Our buyers are quite varied but primarily come from auto parts recyclers and body shops and the occasional private buyer who is looking to repair or restore vehicles.”

Issue for insurers Vero motor claims executive manager Michael Burke says

about 12% of the company’s vehicle claims are written-off.However, there is no real pattern in terms of which vehi-

cles are written off.“It depends on the extent and type of the damage and the

value of the car.

Shane Prince

Continued on page 8

“Older cars are becoming uneconomical to repair. As vehicles are written-off by insurance companies, we get to sell them.”

http://www.jevic.co.nz


NEWSTALK

UK TO NZAS EASY AS1-2-3

Need to get your vehicle shipped to New Zealand from the UK?

That’s no problem at all with McCullough at your side with our easy 1-2-3 step, streamlined shipping process. You tell us what you want. We’ll have it picked up, packed, shipped (handling all relevant documentation) and delivered to your door. Fast and efficient

Talk to us today

MATT MCCULLOUGH [email protected]+64 9 303 0075 | +64 274 400 734

// Full shipping and logistics packages available including: - 20% VAT refunds available - UK internal logistics - Total ocean freight - Full NZ clearance & delivery - Marine insurance cover

// Access to sourcing agents & suppliers// Foreign currency and transaction facilitation

services available// Advise on NZTA approval & compliance// Proven systems to ensure quality & service// Experienced in the UK market

*Super Feature must be activated on the same day as your Turbo package.

with our Turbo package

Mark yourterritory

The first 20 dealers to sign up to the Turbo package using the promo code get a free month long Super Feature,

valued at $249 +GST.* Contact your Account Manager or email us on [email protected] today.

Freebies when you upgrade

Make your mark

Stand out. Display extra

branding on your listing

detail page and Extended

Showroom.

X marks the spot.

Pinpoint your yard on a

location map.

More options. Show

buyers what else you have

in stock.

Communicate your

dealership and team’s

strengths with additional

contact numbers.

MYT04

“In general, lower value vehicles over 20 years old would be more likely to be write-offs, because the value of repairs is likely to exceed the value of the car.”

However, newer cars also provide challenges.

“Increasingly, Vero has experienced a rise in the cost of motor claims, due to the rapid advancement of technology,

which is making collision damage in newer vehicles more expensive to repair.

“Any cars that have damage that can’t be repaired, such as vehicles that have

been burnt out, will be written off.”The company has started to look for

innovative solutions to lower the cost of repairs, by adopting new technology.

It has recently opened three S.M.A.R.T (Small to Medium Accident Repair Technology) repair shops in Auckland’s East Tamaki and Albany and in Hornby in Christchurch.

“[They] use advanced technology to dramatically reduce turnaround times

for small and medium collision damage, providing an exceptional customer experience and free-ing up panel-beating resource for larger repairs.”

The S.M.A.R.T shops only ac-cept small to medium repairs, avoiding vehicles with mechanical or major structural damage.

IAG’s national mo-tor assess-ing manager Richard Jones says most

vehicles it writes off are at least 14 years old.

“Based on last year’s data, vehicles manufactured in 2004 or prior made up 64% of total losses or write-offs.

“Approximately 16% of all mo-tor vehicle settlements are total losses. The value of the vehicle along with costs of parts and paint are key factors in determin-ing a total loss.”

The depreciation of older vehi-cles means they are more likely to be a total loss, he says.

What about the future?Although there’s money to be

made from write-offs at present, Hedgepeth isn’t sure how the future will unfold, given techno-logical advances.

“With some of the technology, the ability to sell it off for parts could be a challenge.

“If you’ve got a high-end luxury car with a wing mirror worth $15,000, with a bunch of sensors, does it work?

“There’s some interesting op-portunities and challenges coming as cars become more advanced.”

Write-offs a business opportunity?Continued from page 8

Michael Burke

http://www.mmnz.biz

*Super Feature must be activated on the same day as your Turbo package.

with our Turbo package

Mark yourterritory

The first 20 dealers to sign up to the Turbo package using the promo code get a free month long Super Feature,

valued at $249 +GST.* Contact your Account Manager or email us on [email protected] today.

Freebies when you upgrade

Make your mark

Stand out. Display extra

branding on your listing

detail page and Extended

Showroom.

X marks the spot.

Pinpoint your yard on a

location map.

More options. Show

buyers what else you have

in stock.

Communicate your

dealership and team’s

strengths with additional

contact numbers.

MYT04



NEWSTALK

GET AHEAD IN THE RACE FOR BUYERSA new way for dealers and customers

// Fast and Easy to UseNo complicated processes and no inventory, comments or photos to upload.

// Reach More PeopleAccess customers outside of your typical area.

// Make a DealConnect with “ready-to-buy” customers and close a deal with quotes that are only valid for 24 hours.

FIND OUT HOW TODAY

WWW.CARDEALS2ME.CO.NZ

The similarities between commercial and pas-senger vehicle sales

are much closer than many in the automotive industry think.

Just ask Michael Doeg, who has recently moved within the Sime Darby Group from general man-ager at Hino Truck Distributors to group retail general man-ager for its Auckland passenger car dealer-ships.

Those dealerships include Continental Cars in Newmarket and Takapuna (BMW) and City Nissan in Takapuna.

“Everybody tells you commercial and passenger are so different.

Some things are different but some are very much the same across both environ-ments,” Doeg says.

One of the biggest differ-ences is the company acts as distributor and retailer

in commercial, while in passen-ger it just owns

the dealerships.However, Doeg says the

fundamentals of operating the two businesses are the same.

“We sell vehicles, parts and labour in both busi-

Doeg moves from trucks to carsnesses.

It’s important to make sure customer satisfaction rates are high.

“At the end of the day it’s not a complex business but it’s not an easy business either.”

Most of Doeg’s experi-ence has been in passenger vehicles with various roles at GM Holden before he became sales and marketing manager at Isuzu for GM and then moved to Sime Darby as general manager of Hino.

Doeg says he “loved” his time as general manager at Hino.

“There’s a great bunch of people in the commercial business and long-standing relationships with custom-ers that span decades.

“One thing working at Hino did do was solidify my belief that good processes will underpin any business from a volume and profitabil-ity perspective.”

Although the aim was to sell as many trucks as pos-sible and make a fair mar-gin, Doeg says there were significant changes to the landscape between 2016 and 2017.

“There’s been a significant market share increase for Fuso. At Hino we’re happy with our volume and profit-ability for 2017.”

New Zealand has a fairly small market for trucks by global standards and nearly every player has a presence.

“Hino Japan is very aware of that and spent a lot of time in New Zealand with us.”

Doeg says the role at Hino is a lot more hands-on than roles he’s had previously.

”Hino on an annual basis sells about 700 trucks. You’re far closer to transactions at the coalface.

“There’s an emotional

investment many commer-cial customers have in their truck fleets, although the key driver is fit-for-purpose specification.“

Move to passenger salesAs for his move to the

passenger side, Doeg says it was an obvious step for him to take.

“I was needed in another part of the business, which I felt I could contribute to. it was also a great career move for me while also remaining in the Sime Darby Group.

“The customers are slightly different sometimes but not all the time.”

Sime Darby’s mix of brands is varied, with Ferrari, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Volk-swagen and Nissan dealer-ships spread across sites in Newmarket and Takapuna.

“It actually gives us some strength with that mix. It’s always useful to have some visibility in different parts of the market.

“For someone who’s al-ways been interested in cars, to be involved in all these brands is a privilege.

“We want to make sure we represent those brands as best as possible for our customers.”

Overall customer experi-ence is the key to success, Doeg says.

“You can sell a customer a car and have a good relation-ship with them in sales, but if they don’t back it up with af-tersales and service, typically the customer is not going to come back to you.

“Service is just as impor-tant. Overall, a dealership couldn’t function without all the departments at our dealerships working together.

“If one of those depart-ments isn’t working, it affects

Michael Doeg


http://www.cardeals2me.co.nz


NEWSTALK

www.autofile.co.nz 13W W W . I B C J A P A N . C O . J PFor more information, call (09) 257 0050

Why are dealers

switching to IBC?

NZ-based IBC sta� ready to provide complete post purchase services when you need them.

Comprehensive Vehicle Inspection Report sent to you for every vehicle purchased, giving you full knowledge of vehicle condition.

Bidding at Japan auctions through iDirect is easy with IBC’s mobile app.Experienced sta� are available to manage your bids, provide feedback on vehicle condition and ensure a hassle-free buying process.

Communicate with and receive fresh stock o�ers daily from IBC.

Large selection of fresh vehicle purchased by IBC buyers experienced with the NZ market. Vehicles can be purchased in JPY, NZD or NZD with GST.Fixed price compliance available

the overall health of the dealership very quickly.”

As for the future, Doeg isn’t ruling out adding more dealerships if it makes economic sense, including outside of Auckland.

“We have very good brands and very prominent

Continued from page 10 dealerships around the Auckland region. We’re in the business of dealerships. There’s no reason not to look at opportunities outside of the Auckland market, if they make sense.”

And just how the market will perform moving forward is yet to be seen, with fast-paced growth since 2009.

“Everybody has been run-

ning pretty hard to keep up with market growth from a product perspective across trucks and cars.

“Will it continue at its current rate? My personal opinion is at some stage we will see a little bit of flattening in the market.

“When or how that will happen is a bit of an un-known.”

Doeg also acknowledges the automotive world is changing, with electric and increasingly autonomous vehicles on the horizon.

“We are reliant on the product provided by the distributor. It seems to be slowly moving forward.

“There are hybrid or electric options in all of our brands.”

marque which were im-ported by other parties.

“The MIA and VIA are working towards a memorandum of understanding to ensure this work is able to be appropriately resourced and, importantly for the consumer, completed as soon as possible.”

The compulsory recall will require alpha-type airbags to be replaced by December 2019.

“While I have been reassured by officials that the risk in New Zealand is comparably low – airbags are more of a concern in humid countries with extremes of temperature – I am not willing to allow any risk to remain while we can remove it,” Faafoi says.

Other agencies in-cluding Citizens Advice Bureau, Consumer New Zealand and the AA will be used to communi-cate the recall message and a website is also being developed to list the models of cars af-fected.

Industry bands together after Takata recallContinued from page 4

http://www.ibcjapan.co.jp


NEWSTALK

nomic presence. It provides employment, generates busi-ness, pays taxes, pays rates.

“It’s often the linchpin of the local business commu-nity and, of course, for the customer, most importantly, a dealership is the local, hu-man, expert, someone who can advise, supply, provide service, fix anything that goes wrong.”

Fixed pricing under a traditional dealer model would have anticompetitive regulation issues so deal-ers will no longer own or on paper sell new vehicle stock – they will work under an agency model, earning a fee, fixed across the network that varies by model. They are known now as “stores”.

All costs, including pre-delivery, floor mats, a tank of fuel and, in the case of diesel, road user charges, are included. Most models have been listed at promotional prices in recent months to soften the transition.

Toyota claims to do around half its business in direct sales to fleet and rental operators, and Davis has made it clear that’s not a trade it will be walking away from.

A similar system to TDP is already in use with those cus-tomers, with discounts based on volume and customer need.

Toyota will also offer a seven-day money back op-tion, as long as conditions are met, for customers who are not satisfied with their final purchase. Cars need to be returned in “as new” condi-tion with less than 500km travelled.

Vehicles will be kept in three “pools”, located in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Around 1000 will be held at any one time, with dispatch usually the day

after the sale and arrival at the dealer the day after that – except at the bottom of the South Island, which could take an additional day.

Unlike Honda New Zea-land’s agency system, Toyota stores will own their demon-strator stock and, although they can be sold, it will only be after they have served in the fleet for a fixed period.

More demonstrators will be on offer, with overnight road tests offered to custom-ers.

Salespeople have been re-trained as “vehicle con-sultants, “product experts”, or “store concierges” to help customers select the best vehicle for their needs. Although Toyota does not involve itself staff remunera-tion, it has an “aim” to have no more commission-only sales staff at stores.

The updated website features a vehicle builder, and although fixed pricing paves the way for online sales, that’s not currently planned.

Vehicles will be offered with four years of fixed price servicing, giving customers discounts of up to $2000 on commercial vehicles over the period. Meet the service structure for three years and customers will be given a two-year extension on their warranty.

Changes positive, dealer says.

Davis told AutoTalk at the launch of the Drive Happy Project, Toyota has been talking with dealers about the change for some time and al-though there were points that had to be worked through, the move has been seen as positive.

That was backed by Arm-strong Motor Group manag-ing director Rick Armstrong, who has three Toyota dealer-

ships in Auckland. He told Au-toTalk the changes have been coming for a long time.

They should be positive for business, he says.

“All brands have quite sharp retails and the room for discounting is a lot less. It’s arguably the best time to buy new cars at the moment.”

Prices hard to matchPricing was not released at

the launch.However, AutoTalk under-

stands the cuts in pricing are impressive.

A Corolla GX automatic will drop from $33,290 to $27,990 - a $5300 fall; a Prius XS tumbles from $48,790 to $38,990 - a $9800 reduction; the Highlander GX drops from $62,690 to $53,490 - down $9200; and an SR5 Hilux au-tomatic drops from $62,690 to $53,490 - a $9200 saving.

What could be more troubling to other distribu-tors is how the new numbers compare at first look to con-ventional prices.

The GX Corolla is now $4000 less than the already sharply priced Kia Cerato LX, the Highlander undercuts the Nissan Pathfinder ST AWD by $6500 and the Hilux is $9500 cheaper than the Ford Ranger XLT automatic.

The new models added to the range at the launch of Drive Happy show the impact fixed prices can have - the Camry has launched a month after the new Holden Com-modore with a $10,000 dif-ference in entry-level pricing. The Prius Prime undercuts the Hyundai Ioniq by $5500 to become the cheapest plug-in on the market.

Honda welcomes ToyotaThere are arguably dif-

ferences but Toyota is not the first distributor in New Zealand to shift to a fixed-

price system with dealers acting as agents - as Honda New Zealand has been keen to point out.

The brand launched its system, the “Honda Price Promise”, 18 years ago, something pointed out in marketing - including a full-page newspaper ad - that has appeared since Toyota’s announcement.

Honda New Zealand mar-keting manager Nadine Bell says the ads are coincidental and had been planned aside from Toyota’s move for the start of the financial year.

“It was something that was scheduled for the new financial year to refresh and remarket our price promise,” Bell says.

“Honda introduced our agency model in 2000 and we are pleased to see Toyota New Zealand is doing similar things.”

Like Toyota, Honda man-agement had noticed issues customers faced during the buying process and worked to remove them, Bell says.

“Customer expectations change - I think it is good that both Honda and Toyota recognised this and adapt.”

She says there are some differences between the concepts - Honda New Zealand owns its own dem-onstrators, has one central distribution point against Toyota’s three and a num-ber of its dealerships - but she doesn’t think they are significant.

The key difference is on fleet business - Honda’s system does not feature separate pricing for those customers. Honda New Zealand initially admitted that meant stepping away from some of this volume.

“We still do sell a lot to businesses and leasing is big for us as well,” Bell says.

Toyota dealerships here to stay


DEALERTALK

Anywhere. Anytime.Your most important dealership information

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

www.motorcentral.co.nz0800 623 687

Transport is undergoing a revolution.

City residents are already using a variety of ways to get around and the present-day vehicle owner-ship model is expected to all but disappear.

With little need for carparking, dwellings such as Auckland’s new “Daisy” apartment block are now foregoing private park-ing, especially with public transport close by, and are opting instead for a couple of car-sharing spaces and bicycle (including electric bike) spaces.

There’s even talk about how to use parking build-ings and spaces when they become vacant.

Though-provoking ideas around transportation and city living were presented by keynote speaker Greg Lindsay and others to about 150 delegates at the Intel-ligent Transport Systems (ITS) NZ “T-Tech” Conference in Auckland on March 19 and 20.

The New Cities Foundation senior fellow, Lindsay outlined a possible future where city residents could use a variety of trans-port options from ride-share and autonomous shuttles to cycling or other alternatives.

Cities will change as a result, Lindsay says.

He suggests forming steering committees to en-sure people get the transport they want rather than just waiting for companies like Uber to provide them.

He also urges people to know what data is needed and what can be done with it, cross-train staff and build

opportunities, rethink com-munity benefits and strate-gies, explore demand and reshape people’s approach to transport, create mobility as a service roadmap, launch a micro-transit pilot, transi-tion from transport operators to mobility managers and embrace connected mobility.

He broadly labelled transport as taxis, ushers, conveyors, buses, rovers and shuttles.

Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can drop people off and park themselves but operators need to work to-gether to ensure “no zombie

AVs” where empty shut-tles take up street space, he says.

He painted a picture of many possibilities, in-cluding AV “shops” com-ing to designated areas close to residents, and says it’s up to people to decide.

Those possibilities extend to how New Zealand can benefit from the $1.5 billion annual expected value to the national economy from ITS.

The value was highlighted in a new report “Unlocking Commercial Opportunities of Intelligent Transport Systems” released by Business NZ.

Transport minister Phil Twyford announced at T-Tech that a new Future Tech-nology Leadership Group

The transport revolution

could establish a 10-year roadmap to do just that.

Twyford says New Zealand is seen as a world leader in ITS, pointing to the self-piloted electric air taxi trial in Canterbury by Zephyr Airworks as an example.

Zephyr Airworks chief executive Fred Reid talks up New Zealand as a country with a “can do” attitude and the right sort of regulations

to allow that.It was selected for the trial

ahead of other countries, mainly on the basis of an 18-point checklist.

Dubbed Cora, the auton-omous vertical take-off and landing aircraft is capable of carrying two passengers on short trips and has an experi-mental airworthiness certifi-cate from the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority.

The Business NZ report, which also considered drones, smart logistics and AVs, says New Zealand has a good regulatory and busi-ness environment to benefit from ITS.

An example of how tech-nology can save lives was the NZ Transport Agency “hackathon” Save One More

Lyft’s interpretation of how a city streetscape could look.

Greg Lindsay


http://www.motorcentral.co.nz


NEWSTALK

Life which saw 120 develop-ers and technical, engineer-ing and transport experts spend 48 hours designing ways to make our roads safer, Twyford says.

It resulted in a new app to improve the driving skills of teenagers and those on restricted licences and is forecast to save 55 lives a year.

The use of ITS for road safety improvements was also outlined at the T-Tech conference by Minis-try of Transport safety and mobility principal adviser Iain McGlinchy.

But he says some people in the road safety community are “not so convinced” about the benefits of new technol-ogy such as ITS and few road

safety strategies have ITS as a major component.

McGlinchy says many parts of the world are see-ing road death tolls rising recently, despite decades

of improvement. Technology could help turn the tide, he believes.

A vehicle standards inventory includes a 47-page list of signifi-cant vehicle technol-ogies and production

standards. They include elec-tronic stability control (ESC) and anti-lock braking (ABS) – both for heavy vehicles with motorcycles included in the latter - and auto emer-gency braking (AEB) for all vehicles except motorcycles, McGlinchy says.

Increased safety features also soon need to be met for

the European new car as-sessment programme (Euro NCAP) to gain a top five-star rating. These include driver monitoring, AEB and autono-mous emergency steering.

Standards likely to be in-troduced by 2020 might also require vehicle-to-vehicle data exchange and vehicle to infrastructure communica-tion, McGlinchy says.

Informed discussion is needed around ITS and road safety, he says.

Another factor in ITS on the road is satellite position-ing, particularly for the many connected and AV applica-tions.

It’s usually known as GPS (global positioning system) or GNSS (global navigation satellite system) but the ac-curacy of such systems in Australia and New Zealand is not as good as it could be.

Improved positioning services, such as satellite-based augmentation systems (SBAS), are midway through a two-year evaluation by the New Zealand and Australian governments.

Initially, both considered the several hundred million dollars in cost of developing and operating SBAS out-weighed any benefits.

But now Australia is pro-viding A$12 million and New Zealand A$2m towards the two-year trial due to finish in June 2019, Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) posi-tioning and resilience group manager Graeme Blick told the T-Tech conference.

More than 30 projects have been commissioned to demonstrate the potential of SBAS technology across various sectors including road, rail, aviation, maritime transportation, agriculture and construction.

Blick says the study will determine whether a busi-ness case can be established to invest further in a fully operational system.

GPS (GNSS) is accurate to within about 10 metres whereas SBAS improves the accuracy, integrity and availability of satellite information and brings the accuracy down to a metre or less, he says.

One reason for the trials is the increased technical com-ponentry in new vehicles which would use such infor-mation, including mapping and improving safety.

“If someone is in the wrong lane on the motor-way or the wrong side of the road, they can be warned.”

Many other countries already have similar well-developed systems, such as the Galileo global navigation satellite system in Europe, which vehicles can be tai-lored for.

Glick says SBAS can be used to better chart harbours and ship locations, improving navigational efficiency. Train companies can also use it to determine what track a train is on and improve services.

Planning and urban de-sign expert David Dixon of Stantec North America says the real disruption will come from shared autonomous vehicles (SAVs) which he predicts will flourish in urban environments.

These will literally be an “app click” away, reducing parking needs and traffic generation while making transport more affordable.

Other speakers talked about transport changes helping reduce congestion, environmental pollution and carbon use, providing some answers to climate change and impacting on our health and wellbeing.

There’s no doubt ITS has a major role to play. The ques-tion is how well we all adapt.

If, as suggested at the conference, it is a customer-driven solution, then changes will be coming sooner rather than later.

The transport revolution

Iain McGlinchy

Continued from page 13

http://www.pentanasolutions.com/comtact

OB34

10NZ

H

Andrew Simms Mitsubishi Botany ARE HIRING NOW

Benefits of working for Andrew Simms include:

• Industry leading remuneration

• Flexible Rosters

• Regular factory training

• NZ owned business with the owners workingactively on the site day to day

• Industry leading lead generation andadvertising

• Achievable bonuses for technician’s

• Strong commission scheme for salespeople

• Outstanding team culture

• Sign on bonus available for qualifiedtechnicians

ANDREW SIMMS MITSUBISHI BOTANY IS OPENING ON 1ST APRIL AND WE HAVE MULTIPLE VACANCIES TO HELP LAUNCH THIS

VOLUME BRAND IN THIS NEW LOCATION

To find out more email our Dealer Principal Matthew Wales [email protected] ON BONUSES ARE AVAILABLE FOR THE RIGHT APPLICANTS FOR OUR TECHNICIAN ROLES

ROLES AVAILABLEExperienced Automotive Technician’s x 8If you are an experienced and capable Automotive technician or an exceptional apprentice we want to talk to you. Come join a high performing and stable growing workshop.

Sales People x 6Earn executive level of income in a hard working high performing sales team, specific industry experience is not a pre-requisite.

Groomer x 3We are looking for a yard groomer to help keep our vehicle display looking shiny.

Parts interpreter x 2We need an experienced intermediate parts interpreter to join our team, based in the workshop this role will be fast paced and rewarding.

350 Te Irirangi Drive, Botany

https://www.andrewsimms.co.nz/careers-mits-botany

SHOWROOMNEW VEHICLE INDUSTRY AND PRODUCT NEWS



The end of Australian car manufacturing has triggered a rejuvena-

tion of offerings in the me-dium to large car segment.

First, Holden rolled out its controversial new European-sourced Commodore. Now it’s Toyota’s turn.

A new Camry was launched into the market last month, though it was heavily overshadowed by the reveal of Toyota’s new Drive Happy Project.

That’s a pity because early impressions of the new model are that it has some qualities likely to impress those outside of its current key audience.

That audience? Fleets, taxis and Ubers. The outgo-ing model was as much a tool of trade as any van or ute - whiteware.

It was a great car, good to drive and super-efficient. However, bland and a prime example of why private buy-ers now prefer SUVs.

The company says the new platform allows greater freedom in design, resulting in a more athletic look with a lower bonnet and roof.

“Don’t think of this Camry like the previous eight gener-ations. There is a reason why the Camry is featuring as a

finalist of World Car of the Year - this is the best Camry ever built,” says Toyota New Zealand’s general manager of product planning and new vehicle sales Neeraj Lala.

“New levels of power and efficiency have added fun to Camry, all wrapped in a stun-ning yet aggressive exterior bound to turn a few heads.”

The model now comes to New Zealand from Japan and because of that we think it feels tighter and the inte-rior of higher quality.

The Aurion model is gone, with the six-cylinder option now available with a Camry badge. Four-cylinder and hybrid options continue, the latter significantly revised.

“The new V6 and hybrid Camrys are completely new models from the ground up. They are a true showcase of what is to come from Toyota,” Lala says.

The hybrid’s CVT trans-mission now includes sequential shifting, mimick-ing a quick shifting six-speed automatic transmission via paddle shifters (on the ZR grade) or with a console-mounted shift lever.

It has an overall com-bined fuel consumption of between 4.2 and 4.5 litres/100km depending on

the variant. It also features a new “Auto Glide Con-trol” system that promotes smooth and efficient coast-ing, helping fuel economy.

The direct-injection 3.5-litre six-cylinder engine produces 224kW and 362Nm of torque, increases of 24kW and 26Nm respectively over the V6 used in the Aurion. The improved engine has direct injection technology with a wide camshaft timing variation to improve torque across a wider rev range.

In addition to the Otto cycle, the engine uses the Atkinson cycle where ap-propriate to enhance fuel economy.

The four-cylinder is car-ried over, a 2.5-litre unit producing 133kW and a revised six-speed automatic transmission that incorpo-rates auto-blipping on the downshifts.

There are two “looks” for Camry with the GL and GX including a horizontal front grille, and a sporty black mesh grille and large front air intakes for the other three variants. All models include LED headlights and daytime running lights.

The SX, V6 and ZR variants feature a sports body kit, and a boot lip spoiler is added to

the V6 and ZR. Buyers have a choice of 17, 18 or 19-inch alloy wheels, depending on which grade is selected.

Toyota’s “Safety Sense” system is now standard and includes a pre-crash safety system with autonomous emergency braking, all-speed dynamic radar cruise control, automatic high beam, lane departure alert with steering assist and vehi-cle sway warning system.

The Camry scored a total of 36.16 out of a possible 37 in the Australian New Car As-sessment Program (ANCAP) testing, taking maximum points in the destructive pole and side impact crash tests.

Underneath, the MacPherson front end has been redesigned and at the rear is an all-new inde-pendent wishbone setup. The wheelbase has been stretched 50mm and the track is wide. The car is 25mm lower.

An electric parking brake with a brake-hold function maintains the brake fluid pressure without requir-ing the driver to stay on the pedal or apply the parking brake.

The previous model’s lacklustre touchscreen sys-

Fresh Camry no longer whiteware?



tem has been replaced by a new system that integrates smoothly into the centre console, at 7-inches for lower grades and 8-inches for the upper grades.

With the hybrid battery relocated from the boot to under the rear seat, luggage space has been improved in the hybrid variants by 103 litres to an impressive 524 litres.

The GL, GX and SX have black fabric upholstery, and the ZR and V6 come with black leather accented material. There is also the choice of red leather in the V6 variant.

Standard equipment on the GL grade includes wireless central locking, horn alarm, 17” alloy wheels with full-sized spare, tilt and telescopic adjustable

steering column, manual air-conditioning, six-way manual driver seat adjust-ment, four-way manual front passenger seat adjustment, automatic headlight levelling, 4.2” colour multi-information display, six-speaker audio system and reversing camera with dynamic guidelines.

The GX Hybrid adds four drive modes including ECO, Normal, Sport and EV, tem-porary spare wheel, smart entry, smart start and dual zone automatic air-condi-tioning.

The SX Hybrid adds leather steering wheel, sports exterior styling package, eight-way power driver’s seat adjustment, 7” colour multi-information display, satellite navigation with SUNA traffic channel, and front and rear parking sensors.

The V6 adds 8-speed

automatic transmission with paddle shifters, sports tuned suspension, 19” alloy wheels, boot spoiler, a twin exhaust system, sports front seats and a wireless phone charger.

The ZR Hybrid also has paddle shifters, 18” alloy wheels, powered steering column adjustment with memory function, tilt and slide moonroof, rain-sensing wipers, automatic dimming inside mirror, eight-way powered front passenger seat adjustment, driver’s seat memory, driver and front passenger seat ventilation, head-up display, blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic alert.

A brief drive in the six-cylinder and hybrid ver-sions showed it’s still good at what the old model did well - quiet city and highway

cruising. The hybrid system feels

less intrusive and the engine less prone to revving up when performance is called for. When pushed harder, including on the track, the steering is more responsive but it still feels front heavy, as you would expect in this kind of car.

The Camry’s pricing is arguably its most impressive feature, because the model is the first to be launched under the brand’s new fixed pricing, it is hard to com-pare with the competition.

The GL lists at $35,990 - a cool $10,000 cheaper than a Holden Commodore LT and $11,000 less than a Mazda 6 GSX. And compar-ing against the fixed price Honda Accord V6NT at $60,000, the Camry V6 is just $47,990.

Toyota New Zealand has launched the cheap-est new plug-in vehicle

available on the market - its Prius Prime model.

A single version is available at $48,490 drive-away, $5500 less than the retail price of a Hyundai Ioniq plug-in hybrid.

Toyota claims a 63km range and a speed of up to 135kmh. The RightCar listing for the vehicle gives it a fuel consumption of 1 litre/100km and a CO

2 rating

of just 22gm/km, against the fleet average for New Zealand.

Toyota staff indicated test-ing around Palmerston North showed that exceeding a range of 50km in normal use is possible.

The battery is an 8.8kWh lithium ion unit, twice the size of the existing used import Prius plug-in.

The charging lead is type

two and, on a standard socket, it will take 4.5 hours to charge at a RightCar-rated cost of 91 cents. Toyota also offers BYO cable public charging for around $600 and, at 16 amps, the car will fully charge in one hour and 50 minutes.

The battery features a warming system for optimum efficiency.

There are a range of drive

modes, with the main electric setting being “EV City” which works for maximum electric-only driving.

Specification levels are solid, with dual-zone air-con-ditioning, satellite navigation, premium JBL stereo, adaptive cruise control, autonomous emergency braking, lane keeping system and road sign assist. There is one main op-tion, a leather interior.

It also features a gas-injection heat pump, which can heat the vehicle with warmth captured from the outside air.

Although the drivetrain is similar to the standard Prius, it features a new one-way gear within the transaxle which allows the hybrid system generator to act as a second electric drive motor, increas-ing available electric-only power and reducing engine start-up.

“This is the $150 a year car,” Toyota NZ general manager of product and new vehicles sales Neeraj Lala says.

“That’s the yearly run-ning costs you’ll pay in New Zealand for the Prius Prime according to Energywise.

“We are quite confident with where this car is priced and its position in the mar-ket.”

New Zealand’s cheapest new plug-in




The relationship be-tween Kia, Korea’s oldest automotive

brand, and the Hyundai Mo-tor Company that absorbed it two decades ago is typified by the twin-towered corpo-rate headquarters of HMC in Seoul.

The smaller tower is oc-cupied by Kia, the higher one dedicated to Hyundai. Consider it concrete proof that where Hyundai goes, Kia always follows.

That includes entering the electric vehicle arena, something that Kia NZ has just done for the first time with the launch of the new Niro compact SUV range.

Hyundai Automotive New Zealand introduced a comprehensive range of similar electrically enhanced Ioniq vehicles last year, giving buyers the choice of three new alternative powertrain technologies.

There was a parallel hybrid using a 77kW four-cylinder petrol engine primarily for its motivation, a plug-in hybrid that could provide more than 60km of whispering travel between connections to the grid before igniting its ac-companying combustion en-gine, and a fully electric Ioniq that could roam for 200km-plus between recharges.

It’s a highly promising line of environmentally respon-sible cars that hasn’t really lived up to its sales potential in this country, despite good reviews.

HANZ sold just five of the most-affordable Ioniq model ($46,990) with the parallel-hybrid powertrain in 2017. Will the same Kiwi market indifference affect the mechanically similar Niros?

Kia New Zealand manag-

ing director Todd MacDon-ald says the Niro’s SUV-like design will make all the difference.

Although the Niro has no off-roading abilities and is driven by the front wheels only, MacDonald says it has a “shape” that is currently in vogue.

“All of New Zealand is tak-ing to the small SUV, which makes the success of the Niro a surety.

“By the end of the year it’ll be New Zealand’s best-selling hybrid SUV.”

To do that, the Niro range needs to beat both the best-selling plug-in hybrid SUV (the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV) and the best-selling parallel-hybrid powered range (the Lexus 300/400).

Fortunately, affordability will be on the side of the Niro. The base parallel-hybrid model, the Niro HEV EX, is expected to list for $39,990 later this year.

It launches with a $5000 incentive at $34,990, and includes a three-year free servicing plan, five years of

roadside assistance, and a seven-year warranty for the 1.6kWh battery.

That’s a launch price posi-tion that places the Niro HEV EX right in the sweet spot of the compact SUV seg-ment, the mid-thirties, where most brands are opening their sales negotiations with customers.

It’s a segment dominated by a gang of five – the Mit-subishi ASX, Nissan Qashqai, Mazda CX-3, Suzuki Vitara and Honda HR-V. Yet the Niro EX has several trump cards to play when compar-ing it to these.

Its equipment levels are relatively high with cellphone projection to the central touchscreen (Apple CarPlay and Android Auto), autonomous emer-gency braking, rear-view camera and smart camera-enhanced cruise control along with some of the most voluminous passenger and luggage space in the seg-ment.

Although 125mm shorter overall than Kia’s mid-sized

Sportage, the Niro has a wheelbase stretched 30mm further apart, blessing the interior with a roominess not usually associated with small SUVs.

The smallest battery in the model range means the EX can have a lower luggage bay floor, allowing 401 litres of stuff to be stashed behind the rear seat or 1399 litres of luggage room with the second-row seating folded away.

Thanks to New Zealand-specific changes to larger-diameter rear disc brakes and larger radiator cooling fans, braked trailer towing capacity is also competitive at 1300kg.

The Kiwi distributor’s re-quest to the factory for more tow shows just how keen Kia NZ is to present the Niro to the buying public as an SUV rather than as an electrified hybrid vehicle. And it is also reflected in the driving expe-rience of the EX.

As the lightest vehicle in the range, the EX comes

Bright future for Kia’s electrified SUV




the closest of any new Niro to driving just like its con-trolled-explosion competi-tors.

Parking and crawling along can be done just using the 33kW/170Nm electric motor alone and when get-ting off the line, the acces-sible torque of the electric motor snuggled between a 1.6-litre direct-injection four-cylinder petrol and a six-speed twin-clutch gear-box gives the Niro an extra nudge forward denied to its combustion-only rivals.

At open road speeds, the electric motor and the at-

tendant 64-cell, 33kg battery under the luggage bay floor mostly become ballast, but, at least in the battery’s case, it is ballast well located.

Most drivers will feel right at home, enjoying hushed wind noise levels, ride quality that lasts over a wide range of speeds and, most of all, extremely satisfying fuel economy.

Used round town where the hybrid powertrain has most advantage, the EX will return fuel use figures close to the advertised 3.8 litres per 100km. Expect extensive open road use to add a litre to that figure every 100km

or so.Meanwhile, the plug-in

hybrid version of the Niro is evidently capable of achiev-ing 1.3 litres per 100km fuel economy, thanks to its larger 96-cell, 117kg, 8.8kWh battery.

It also gains the increased equipment levels of the upmarket version of the Niro HEV Limited parallel hybrid ($43,990), with leather upholstery and the addition of extra crash-savers such as blind-spot monitors, lane keeping assistance, rear cross traffic alert and front parking sensors.

Open the alloy tailgate

of the $55,990 Niro PHEV Limited and you’ll find two charging cables. One is for 8-amp domestic house plugs and it can recharge the battery in four hours; the other is for three-phase charging stations and can reduce the time taken to full power storage to 2.5 hours.

By the time I got to drive a Niro PHEV at the launch, the previous pilot had drained all the power from the battery.

If you’re serious about driving electrically, perhaps it’s better to wait for Kia’s fully electric version of the Niro.


The Lamborghini Urus will soon be available to New Zealand motorists after first making its appearance as

a concept vehicle in 2012.The marque is promoting it as the

“first super-sport utility vehicle in the world”.

Auckland Lamborghini general man-ager Greg Brinck says he is thrilled with the buying public’s reaction to the four-

seater, which was officially launched this month.

“Our 12-month allocation is already sold,” he says.

Although he wouldn’t reveal how many cars that represented, Brinck says the demographics of those buying the $339,000 vehicle are surprising.

“Less than a quarter of those who have bought one are traditional Lam-

borghini buyers.”Lamborghini Australasia manager An-

drea Ruggiero told motoring media the company is excited to have the vehicle on the market.

“The idea was to put the key charac-teristics of a Lamborghini into an SUV.”

The Urus has a V8 4-litre twin turbo engine that can produce 850Nm and can go from 0-100kmh in 3.6 seconds.

Urus set to hit NZ


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

CRAWFORD’S CASE

Provided by Heartland Bank Limitedmarac.co.nz heartland.co.nzMARAC is a division of Heartland Bank Limited. Lending criteria, fees and charges apply.

Drive away with finance from MARAC

Crawford’s Case

brought to you by

MARAC, a division of Heartland Bank Limited.

INDUSTRYTALK

The Government’s decision this month to issue a compulsory recall for vehicles fitted with the

“alpha” Takata airbag inflators is neces-sary and welcome – but it does create more questions.

The Motor Industry Association (MIA) and its members have long struggled with the apathy of New Zealand con-sumers, many of whom file important recall letters in the round bin.

MIA chief executive David Crawford, who normally pens this column, says the Takata airbag recall is unprecedented in scale.

“It is a massively large and complex logistical issue affecting new and used vehi-cles with two different types of Takata airbags,” Crawford says.

“The alpha type airbag inflator fitted to vehicles between 2001 and 2006 is more at risk of failure if activated than other types of Takata airbag inflators.

“Completion of the recall will require the co-operation of government and industry to undertake, and the MIA welcomes the Government’s decision to make the alpha type airbag recall mandatory.”

An MIA stocktake of affected vehi-cles in New Zealand in March revealed around 11,280 New Zealand new vehi-cles had the alpha type inflator.

Of that total, 6485 have had the in-flator replaced and the remaining 4795 are to be completed.

But there are also 68,116 used ve-hicles with the alpha type inflator and although 22,494 vehicles have had the inflator replaced, another 45,622 remain to be completed.

Crawford has been keen - quite

rightly – to reopen debate on the role used import vehicles play in the issue.

He has again called for importers to stop bringing in vehicles without recalls being closed off in Japan.

From my experience in Japan, I can’t see how such a change would be implemented on a broad and perma-nent scale. The sentiment of this is not always being a cross for the new vehicle

distributors to bear, though it has legs.“Contrary to common misunder-

standing, under New Zealand legislation New Zealand distributors of new vehi-cles are not obliged to undertake recalls of used imported vehicles,” Crawford says.

“New Zealand consumer legislation places consumer obligations, including recalls, on the supplier of the goods, which in this case is the importer of the used vehicle.

“The MIA is not opposing imports of used vehicles, but these vehi-cles should not be on-sold to consumers with outstanding (open) recalls.”

Under Australia’s com-pulsory recall rules, a dealer cannot sell a car with an open recall. That could be an option for the New Zealand trade but it would require a shift forward in the speed at which airbags are being supplied and replaced.

The import industry, for its part, is saying it is behind the compulsory recall and is trying to help.

It is meeting the MIA and distribu-tors this week to agree the process and terms for managing the replacement of recalled airbags in used imports. They will then meet with government officials so the plans can be put forward.

All of this is progress but none of it really answers the big question - how do you motivate Kiwi motorists to take recalls seriously?

David Crawford is taking a brief break from his column. This month our managing editor Richard Edwards steps in.

Intervention welcome but it’s not a fix

http://www.marac.co.nz

http://www.marac.co.nz

http://www.heartland.co.nz


INDUSTRYTALK

0800 42 88 [email protected]

www.trademe.co.nz/motors

New Zealand’s#1 vehicle listing site.

Natalie BeckhamCustomer Support Manager, Trade Me Motors 04 897 [email protected]

Online listings should be thought of as additional salespeople - each one tells a story and each

listing presents a tailored option to a potential buyer.

Consider the following elements to ensure your listings stand out from the competition.

Stand out with great photosYou wouldn’t put a vehicle on your

yard if it hadn’t been groomed so make sure you have a few great photos of the vehicle before listing it for sale.

Online selling is fast paced and “coming soon” placeholders are not what buyers want to see.

The first image on your listing is key to making the vehicle you’re selling stand out in search results. Make sure the vehicle is the hero in the photo by keeping the background clean and uncluttered.

Potential buyers want to virtually walk around your vehicle so help them by taking photos from all angles and in-clude close-up shots of special features such as a reversing camera, charging port, tow bar or wheels.

Including photos of any dam-age helps reassure buyers that you’re providing them with all the information, giving them confidence they won’t be in for any nasty unexpected surprises.

The interior is just as important and images should highlight the condition

of the vehicle as well as any additional extras and demonstrate how they can be used. For example, if your vehicle has two extra fold down seats, fold them down and take a photo to show buyers exactly how they work.

Another great trick is to “window dress” your vehicle. For example, if it would make a great family car, take a photo of it loaded up with all the things a family would pack to go on holiday - this will help buyers relate to how it could work for them practically.

And don’t forget the engine bay shot - buyers want to see under the hood even if they’re not sure what they’re looking at.

A detailed vehicle descriptionA well-structured description should

be tailored to suit the audience by mentioning what sort of applications it would be great for.

Draw the audience in - the same way you would align your sales pitch to a buyer on your yard. For example, “great solid ute; perfect for working hard Monday to Friday, and ideal for loading up the ‘big toys’ on the week-end”.

If you’re selling EVs or hybrids, talk about how far one can drive on a charge and how long it takes to charge at a charge station. With commercial vehicles, it might be towing capacity or load volume.

Take the time to get your pitch right and appeal to the right target audience - speak their language but make sure you stick to the proven facts.

Don’t just focus on additional extras - listing standard features might feel like you’re stating the obvious but not eve-ryone is aware of what comes standard. If you fail to mention something that is a deal-breaker to a potential buyer, you run the risk of losing their interest.

It goes without saying that an hon-est and comprehensive description of the car’s condition, both cosmetic and mechanical, should also always be in-cluded to provide a complete picture.

Tell buyers why they should buy from you

So all said and done, why should buyers consider buying from your busi-ness?

List the things that make your busi-ness stand out, explain how you can help them and how you’ve helped oth-ers in the past.

Many customers still don’t under-stand the Consumer Guarantees Act so put their minds at ease and explain why

Are your Trade Me listings working as hard for your business as you are?





MARKETINGTALK

With February being a short month, it was always likely activity would be down on a full 30/31-day month.

As it turned out, leads generated by Kiwi dealers actually increased slightly by 3.9%. But test drives decreased by 9.6%

and sales recorded a 12.5% fall.The top 3 sources of leads for AutoPlay customers were

the same in February as in January.However the order changed with leads generated by

“Brand” rising by 48.2% from January and “Web – Dealer” leads by 20.9%.

In line with the overall number of test drives dropping by 9.6%, the top 3 sources of test drives also fell in February.

Web – Dealer continued to be the number one source of test drives but January’s 20.9% increase was wiped out with a 19.2% fall in the number of test drives from this source in February.

Similarly, after a 21.9% increase in January, February saw test drives from the “Direct” source fall by 22.2%. Brand retained the third spot but also decreased by 11.3% from January.

The short month can account for some of the decrease in test drives in February but March should see a rebound because of the solid number of leads being captured by Kiwi dealers.

“Web – Dealer” continues to be the main source of sales for Kiwi dealers yet it still fell by 23.7%. “Repeat” was fairly stable but decreased by 3.2% and sales from Web – Classi-fied decreased by 12.3%.

Check out next month’s AutoTalk article to see which sources account for the most leads, test drives and sales in March.

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

Short month but leads still up –test drives take a fall




MARKETINGTALK

1Top 3 Sources for Leads, Test Drives and Sales - New Zealand Dealerships February 2018 ( vs January 2018)

Web - Classified 12.3%

Repeat 3.2%Web - Dealer 23.7%

SALE

S

Brand 11.3%

Direct 22.2%Web - Dealer 19.2%

TEST

DRIV

ES

Web - Dealer 20.9%

Web - Classified 5.4%Brand 48.2%

LEA

DS

Peter [email protected] or 021-940 318

I confess to succumbing to an endless stream of TV news emanating from

the United States political arena since Donald Trump assumed his presi-dency.

If nothing else, it makes for enter-taining reality view-ing unlike any other live political theatre witnessed in my lifetime.

In the past two days, there has been an uncovering of work undertaken in 2016 by the United Kingdom’s Cambridge Analytica for both the Trump campaign as well as organisers in the earlier “Brexit” campaign.

For me, this story un-earthed two rather scary fac-ets. Firstly, Facebook should never have sanctioned the manipulation of personal information of 50 million Facebook users.

Mark Zuckerberg and his Facebook cohorts hopefully will now face long-overdue detailed official scrutiny by both the US Congress and the UK Parliament.

Secondly, this action demonstrated the degree of sophisticated manipula-tion applied by Cambridge Analytica.

The psychographic user information it acquired was subjected to tuned algo-rithms to frame and pitch Facebook advertisements to influence the thought pro-cess of voters.

Seemingly, the advertise-ments were pitched either to influence pro-Brexit or pro-Trump or anti-Clinton voting.

So what, you might ask?

What relevance does this have to my dealership busi-ness?

The outcome might not have any direct influence but it does demonstrate the degree of data manipulation that is possible in today’s on-line consumer-driven world.

It is awareness we all have to face at some point. Un-fortunately, in this instance 50 million Facebook users unwittingly and innocently shared their personal infor-mation.

A common operational is-sue facing many dealerships is determining how to main-tain accurate customer infor-mation. Too much customer data can be overwhelming.

Numbers, customer de-mographics, pricing informa-tion, colours, specification variations are just some of the variables that contribute to data complexity. Unfortu-nately, a successful Cus-tomer Relationship Manage-ment (CRM) system demands 100% data accuracy and detail; there are no short cuts to success.

It will be not good enough to have, say, 70% accuracy or 65% of the required detail in your CRM data. The old ad-age “garbage in, garbage out” is as relevant today as it was 50 years ago.

Who is responsible for data collection in your dealership? Do you leave all customer information to be collected by the sales team? Is there a possibility you could hire a part-timer a few hours a week to work with the data available through your relationship with digital marketing providers or, in the case of franchised dealers, from the relevant franchisor.

A dedicated and compe-tent data analyst contracted for two hours a day could provide valuable data-driven insights to help your market-ing programmes.

Chuck Baker, the presi-dent and founder of Impact Marketing & Consulting Group in Virginia and a Dealer magazine contributor, has a number of valid data thoughts that throw light on making sense of big data.

Baker highlights the need at all times for factual information. Factual does not mean: “I think we handled around 20 incoming tel-ephone inquiries yesterday and sold a couple that came in on an appointment.” This statement has no act or action process associated with it.

What “factual” should

consistently represent or imply is: “We handled 23 incoming telephone inquiries yesterday and converted 14 of those into appointments of which eight showed and four of those were turned into deliveries and we are following up the six no-shows in an attempt to re-schedule an appointment as well as the four who did not purchase and we have a solid follow up strategy regarding four of the 23 inquiries that held potential for a future appointment.”

A rather long-winded factual statement but one that is a rock-solid business initiative proving clear and precise information and how it is being acted on.

Baker also share his for-mula for data success: AD + T + A = C or Accurate Data + Thought + Action = CASH.

He makes the point that accurate data, live intelli-gence and knowledge gives you the power to make better decisions than your competitor across the street and that equals more money in your pocket.

Big data in reality pro-vides the means to improved results.

I recommend you visit www.autoplay.co.nz to learn more about how to maximize the big data opportunities within your dealership sales operation.

Making sense of big data



APRIL 2018

ADVANTAGE

WHAT DO WE DO?

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

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

The February advent of the stink bug crisis caused major, well-publicised disruptions to shipping.

Vessels have had to be treated and then put through controlled discharge, while others have been diverted to overseas ports for treatment before returning to New Zealand, all at a cost of millions of dollars to shipping companies. Further downstream, there have been added costs as a result of these redirections, and other measures to contain this threat to our biosecurity and primary indus-tries.

Ports of Auckland was the first hit, with major disruptions caused by vessels oc-cupying berths while being fogged and inspected. This caused knock-on delays to other RORO vessels, and the port had to reorganise its berthage schedule to accommodate affected vessels for much longer than normal. Other ports (Wel-lington and Lyttelton) were also affected as vessels did until much later than expected, disrupting their work flow.

Next were the car transport com-panies, with no vehicles to transport from the wharves, and the real concern that their drivers would seek employ-ment in other parts of the booming transport industry. Compliance shops have also suffered, with many report-ing major drops in volumes of 75% or more. Other businesses that rely on the supply of used imports have also been affected, including vehicle groomers, panel beaters and mechanical work-shops, who have likewise reported major disruption to their businesses and cash-flow.

Last, but certainly not least were the car dealers, who are still in some cases waiting with anxious customers for stock to arrive.

From famine to feastThe changes to shipping schedules

have now led to two vessels, which would normally discharge mixed new and used vehicles, discharging

very large numbers of used cars. These will be urgently needed by their importers, and the wharf space in April will be pres-sured considerably.

The concentrated movements mean that the monthly total of cars into Auckland for April will be around 30,000, which will

be the largest ever. Vehicles will need to be moved off the port seven days a week, Monday through Sunday, if demurrage is to be avoided.

Demurrage is currently $60 per car per day. For most importers that means simply that their compliance centres are going to have to work seven days a week, or large costs will be incurred.

VIA is urging its members to assist by making sure that documents are in order, compliance centres are open, re-ceiving yards and transport companies are aware of shipments, and that they all have everything they need.

The next step: a longer term solutionFrom the onset of this crisis, VIA has

coordinated a pan-industry working group and the formation of a techni-cal research group. This is made up of representatives of Japan’s biosecurity inspection organisations, POAL’s bios-ecurity expert and representatives from

Stink bugs: the downstream effectsMPI. This technical group has been tasked with researching the efficacy of various treatments, and advising MPI on which of these prove most practical.

The Technical Research Group is industry-led and will be industry funded, with seed funding coming from both VIA and the MIA. The industry was able to initiate this group very quickly, whereas for MPI to have carried out this research there would have been delays and possible further disruptions to trade.

There is no doubt that the costs of biosecurity processes are going to have to increase, to cover the research, treat-ment and inspections, to ensure that no vehicle that is imported into New Zealand poses a biosecurity risk.

UPDATE

Are you prepared for the new Health and Safety framework?

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

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

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

Email: [email protected]

Health and Safety

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

Advice and advocacy for the used vehicle industry

CORPORATE PARTNERS

After an eventful start to 2018, the Government has now announced a mandatory recall for at-risk (al-

pha type) Takata airbag inflators. Minister of consumer affairs Kris Faafoi made the announcement on Wednesday 4 April, in line with the Government’s increasing focus on consumer safety.

Worldwide, the Takata airbag recall is unprecedented in scale; it is a large and complex logistical issue affecting more than 100 million vehicles with two dif-ferent types of Takata airbags. The alpha type airbag inflator fitted to vehicles between 2001 and 2006 is more at risk of failure if activated than later models of Takata airbag inflator.

While the task is undoubtedly signif-icant, VIA supports decisive action be-ing taken. There has been a voluntary recall in place since 2013, but the suc-cess of this was patchy at best – mostly due to a mixture of public complacen-cy, and a lack of definitive information. Progress has also been hampered by a lack of replacement airbags.

On the road alreadyThere were over 11,000 New Zea-

land-new vehicles with the alpha type inflator, of which 6,500 have had the inflator replaced, with approximately 4,500 remaining to be completed. How-ever, there are also still 45,000 imported used vehicles with the alpha type infla-tor yet to be completed.

For some months, VIA has been working with the MIA and new vehicle

distributors to deal with the challenge of replacing airbags in vehicles already in New Zealand’s fleet. Completion of the recall will require the cooperation of government and industry to un-dertake over some months, and VIA will continue to collaborate with our membership, the wider industry and the relevant Government agencies to effect a resolution.

Fresh stock – the view going forwardKey to the Government’s announce-

ment was also the point that, after a grace period of 40 business days (or eight weeks), no affected new or used vehicles will be able to enter into New Zealand if they have not been reworked.

In this instance too, we are already working with the Government-accred-ited inspection agencies on the export side to develop processes for achieving this. The inspection agencies are now working on organising the systems to identify vehicles subject to recall, and which of these have been reworked, before they are approved for export. This exercise is essential, as vehicles with alpha-type airbags that have not been reworked will be “prohibited imports” and subject to seizure by New Zealand Customs.

When it comes to purchasing these vehicles, this new Government measure (while seemingly a short-term barrier) is likely to incentivise the Japanese sellers to ensure that they keep up with the necessary replacements and record-

keeping. Japan has recently ruled that no car in its own fleet can get a Shaken (Japanese WoF equivalent) while it still has this outstanding safety recall against it, and many of their destination markets are following suit. It doesn’t work for anyone to have these vehicles piling up at the border, so while the short-term administration of the new criteria may mean more work, it will mean that standards overall will be improved for everyone.

Once again, VIA endorses this posi-tion, and as always we will support our membership in adhering to their compliance obligations. We all knew that these inflators would have to be replaced eventually, but we had hoped that this would be done progressively – on a voluntary basis – as supplies of replacement inflators became avail-able. The Government’s decision has placed considerable pressure on supply and logistics to complete the recall in a considerably condensed timeframe.

We acknowledge the help of the MIA and New Zealand’s new vehicle distrib-utors for their assistance in dealing with the recall so far – in keeping with our recent MoU – and will continue work-ing with them to ensure all vehicles in the New Zealand market meet the ap-propriate safety criteria.

The goal here is not just to comply with the letter of the law, but to give our consumers comfort, so that they are safe, and they know that they are safe.

Total Recall

JAPANESE MARKETPLACE


March was yet again anything but a con-ventional month for

buyers in Japan of stock for export to New Zealand.

Although the used import industry is by no means down and out, it would be fair to say the first quarter of 2018 has been unrivalled in the sheer level of disruption, uncertainty and a genuine lack of planning ability avail-able to the trade, given the number and magnitude of events that have beset buy-ers and importers.

Mid-month, with the worst or at least the imme-diacy of the brown mar-morated stink bug (BMSB) crisis now seemingly past, buyers turned their atten-tion back to the effects of the Japanese financial year-end sales to hopefully make up for lost opportunities.

Prices for good–quality, later–model and lower-mileage cars in Japan saw continued strong pricing demand all the way through the winter.

There was hope the March 31 asset taxes would force enough additional dealer inventory into the auctions to provide pricing relief.

There was certainly good signs in the weeks leading up to the date, with auc-tion exhibit numbers well up on previous months and some peak days seeing up to 40,000 vehicles going under the electronic gavel.

However, despite encour-aging signs, prices for stock sought-after by Kiwis never

really fell, even in the days leading up to April, leaving importers little choice but to secure stock at market-peaking levels.

The alternative - as it always has been - was to source from the older and higher-mileage vehicles on offer, little affected by the market variables and in good enough supply that volumes across the wharves in April and May are still likely to be substantial.

The reality of the Japa-nese domestic market as a supply source for the New Zealand mid-level fleet is that our ability to purchase is usually a direct consequence of the pricing and exchange rate on the day.

Although most importers would be happy to cherry-pick nothing but late-model vehicles, reality dictates the market “sweet spot” here requires cars to a value that are currently older and with higher mileage than opti-mum to meet the financial circumstances of consumers.

Looming up behind the BMSB crisis, the Takata airbag saga reared up once again, this time firmly on the radar of the minister of consumer

BY GRAEME MACDONALD

Stink bugs and buying uncertainty

affairs, and it sent ripples throughout the supply chain.

The first few days of April have seen the rumblings turn in to an all-out Takata alpha airbag mandatory recall campaign, coupled with enforced recall close-out conditions to be met in the country of export before acceptance into our fleet.

Suffice to say, as this article was being written, the recall has been announced with no agreement yet between the used imported industry and the new vehicle distributors.

Given the sheer num-ber of models affected in Japan, even only the “alpha” examples, dealers we spoke to in the hours post recall have retrenched significantly, awaiting the outcome of the following meetings before com-mitting to purchase more stock.

April 5 might have turned out to be an excellent day to be at a Japanese auction - if only you could guarantee an easy solution to on-shore recall close-out!

An interesting example of how the demand and tastes of New Zealand can strongly

influence pricing in Japan is the 30kW Nissan Leaf, with the crisis developing a couple of weeks ago over accusations of rapid battery degradation.

Normally priced between Y1.3 and Y1.5 million, last week saw 30kW Leaf prices plummet close to Y1.0 mil-lion levels as Kiwi buyers viewed them with extreme caution.

And with ESC inclusion now firmly entrenched in the over-2000cc brackets, we are watching to see if prices of compliant stock such as Odyssey Absolute, LY-series Turbo MPV, late-model Estimas and regular Serenas creep up to fill the demand left wanting after the demise of popular models such as 30-series Estimas, MPV, El-grand and Alphard from our shopping lists.

With stink bugs, Leaf batteries, ESC struggles and now Takata airbags all simultaneously battering the ability of the import trade to conduct “business as normal” it is a testament to the resil-ience of the trade that New Zealand buyers managed to secure stock at all during the month.

JAPANESE MARKETPLACE


Japan has unveiled the next stage of plans for regulating self-driving vehicles as it cautiously moves

forward on the key technology.Its draft policy has been released by

the Council on Investments for the Fu-ture and will go before the Government early next year.

“By taking con-crete steps toward a legal framework, I would like Japan to take the lead in creating international rules,” prime minister Shinzo Abe told a council meeting.

The regulations cover up to level three automation, where a car can drive itself under certain conditions with a driver present. More levels of automation will be discussed in later work.

The Japanese Government’s posi-tion on liability for such vehicles is the owner will be liable for accidents while

the vehicle operates autonomously with automakers only liable if there is a clear systems flaw with the vehicle.

That confirmation will allow insurers to put optional plans in place for those vehicles.

Self-driving cars will be required to have devices that re-cord information such as location, steering and the operational status of autonomous driving systems.

Hacking of vehicle systems will be treated the same as a vehicle

theft - provided the owner takes proper security measures such as updating the vehicle’s systems.

The issue of criminal liability for ac-cidents has not been settled.

The Government will also have to create standards for control systems and resistance to cyber attacks. It plans to establish guidelines for the safety of self-driving cars this summer.

Japan moves forward on self-drive laws

Despite emissions, steel and ve-hicle compliance issues delaying sales and production for some

brands over the past year, Japan’s new car sales ended the financial year up.

The market broke the five-million barrier to sit at 5,197,107 sales - up 2.3% on the previous financial year, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association and the Japan Light Motor Vehicle and Motor-cycle Association say.

Sales of non-Kei cars totalled 3,338,234, down 0.6%, while Kei sales were up 8.1% to 1,858,873. It is the first time in four years the small car type has grown.

Both Nissan and Subaru saw pro-

duction delays caused by failures in their pre-delivery inspection systems, and Suzuki, Nissan and Mitsubishi had concerns over their emissions testing processes.

That was countered by high sales of new models such as the Toyota CH-R and Nissan’s eNote.

Nissan posted a 5% decline in new car sales to 396,727 after it was hit by the inspection scandal.

Subaru’s domestic sales rose 5.7% to 136,630 vehicles on the popularity of its new Impreza.

March saw new car sales down 3.5% to 667,275, with a rise in non-Kei vehicle sales of 4.9% to 438,084.

Nissan Leaf owners in Japan can soon exchange old bat-teries for refabricated ones

under a new, fee-based system.The 24kWh refabricated batteries

for the oldest Leafs will be offered for 300,000 yen (NZ$3893) apiece – less than half the cost of a new 24kWh pack.

The carmaker also plans to ex-pand the line-up.

“Exchange costs for new Nissan Leaf batteries are 650,000 yen for 24kWh, 800,000 yen for 30kWh and 820,000 yen for 40kWh,” Nissan says.

It is using the battery refabrica-tion capabilities of 4R Energy Corp, a company established through a joint venture with Sumitomo Corp, with a new factory in Namie, eastern Japan, serving as a global centre for 4R.

Old batteries are planned for energy storage systems and possibly for uses such as electric forklifts.

It is Japan’s first factory to spe-cialise in the reuse and recycling of EV used lithium-ion batteries, Nissan says.

“As demand for electric vehicles grows, the number of used batter-ies will increase significantly,” the company says.

“Nissan hopes that by reclaiming these batteries, it can help lower bat-tery replacement costs and heighten the used-car value of electric vehi-cles.

“This will enhance the electric-car ownership experience, which in turn will help promote their use, ultimately contributing to lower CO2 emissions.”

More than 300,000 Leaf electric cars have been sold worldwide.

Battery exchange for Leaf owners

Sales top five million


F&ITALK

James Searle is general manager of DPL Insurance Ltd

Autosure is very pleased to be all moved into

our new office. You can find us on the ground floor of the Canon Building, 28 The Warehouse Way, Northcote, Auckland.

What does it mean?You’ll continue to enjoy great service from our great team

and will be able to contact us on the same phone numbers and email addresses.

But the team will be able to welcome you to a great new office when you’re in the area.

Why did we move?The lease was expiring on our old place in the Vero build-

ing in Takapuna so we took the opportunity to move to a new place, where we stand alone as an insurance company with our own identity.

It’s a great new environment that supports our training development work stream for dealers.

When we planned our move, we decided we had to

consider not only the physical location but also how the new workplace would support our business objectives and how we could create a great place to work for our people and for our clients.

Our new offices are stylish, modern and attractive — and a vast improvement over our dumpy old space.

But they are also highly functional and are designed to maximise efficiency, productivity, communication and in-novation.

That means we now have a great space to house the big-gest and best claims team in New Zealand so they can do their best work for all our dealers, repairers and policyholders.

What’s the best thing about the move?We now have a purpose-built set-up so people attending

our finance and insurance training courses get the best bang for their buck in terms of a learning environment.

Feel free to drop by any time and join us for a coffee, soak up the views and ask us to show you how our com-mitment to innovation and training can help transform your business.

Autosure – we’re moving on up

This is where to come for Autosure finance and insurance training.

We’re so pleased to have a new home.

We have a great open-plan workspace for staff.

We have a dedicated boardroom for training.

www.autosure.co.nz | 0800 267 873

We have

MOVEDInto our new office...

Ground Floor, Cannon Building28 The Warehouse Way, Northcote, Auckland

What does this mean?We’ll be offering the same great service you enjoy, just from a shiny new office.

You can still contact us on all the same phone numbers and email addresses. We have a great new office to welcome you to when you’re in the area.



F&ITALK

By Jacques Gray of Provident Insurance


what drivesMerv Whiston?“Working with dealers, helping them to maximise F&I opportunities has been a passion of mine since I first started to sell cars. I’ve been in the auto industry for over 30 years, and known Steve Owens since 1989.

I joined the company when Steve established Provident Insurance. My clients are a great and diverse group of people, most of whom I have known for many years. They know that I’m highly motivated and they know that we are committed to helping them succeed in their business.

Why so many new dealers are partnering with Provident.

At Provident we have a strong partnership culture with our dealer clients. We don’t see ourselves as an insurance company but more a part of the motor industry.

We have a set of values that drive us and serve as our guiding principles. You can’t just talk about your values, you have to deliver on them every hour of every day. That’s what we do, with product training, systems and support to help generate higher levels of F&I profitability and customer service. We do what we promise and that’s our difference.”

Business Development Manager - Canterbury

There are a few impor-tant processes we all need to remember to

follow while on the road to any sale.• We all need to ask a few

basic questions so that we can drill down and offer a product that will suit our customers’ requirements.

• We should not pre-judge a customer’s circumstances and we should listen to their responses and be prepared to overcome any objections they may raise.

• If we don’t listen to what a customer is really saying, and we brush over an objection, it’s a high probability we won’t achieve the outcome we all desire. The outcome which we all want to hear from our customer is “Yes, I agree with what you are proposing” or, alternatively, that they are engaged enough to make a counter offer.

So this brings us to how we look to overcome a custom-er’s objection or maybe just a little bit of indecision. One of the best tools to help you engage and get buy-in from your customer is a technique called “Feel, Felt, Found”.

The techniqueFirst empathise with them, telling them you understand

how they feel. Then tell them about somebody who felt the same way. Then tell them how the other person found that when

they looked at the benefits of the product on offer, they de-cided to go on and complete the purchase.

Some examplesI understand how you feel about that. Many others have

felt the same way. And what they have found is that....I know you might feel you are currently only looking at a

five-seater motor vehicle to suit your family’s needs. I had a person in the dealership only yesterday for a service who felt the same way as you did initially when they bought their vehi-cle from me a year ago. They mentioned they had found their decision to change their mind and purchase a seven-seater vehicle had better suited their needs because their kids had grown so quickly. And the ability to transport extra friends and family around was invaluable.

How can I help overcome a customer’s objection?

http://www.providentinsurance.co.nz

http://www.cfsfinance.co.nz


OUR NEW TRADE

DIRECTORY

Phone: +64 9 309 2444

Mobile: +64 21 446 214

Email: [email protected]

DO YOU SELL YOUR SERVICE TO THE TRADE?Talk to Dale or Fran about advertising your business in

TRADE DIRECTORYThe comprehensive guide to every service a dealer could use

Go to dealer locator to find your local dealer

www.tyres4u.co.nz

Leading international provider of open platform software solutions to the automotive retail market.

[email protected] 623 6020

www.incadea.com

Cox Automotive™

AUCTIONS

HEIWA AUTO

+64 90 9614 [email protected] specialist of exporting quality used vehicles, provid-ing the best service in the car industry.

MANHEIM AUCTIONS

09 918 0500www.manheim.co.nzManheim is New Zealand’s largest provider of automo-tive auction services. Auctions held weekly.

NICHIBO09 374 4436www.nichibojapan.comWe have a wealth of knowl-edge and experience in auto auctions throughout Japan which we know will enable us to assist you in making your next purchase.

NIKKYO0211-740-258 http://www.nikkyocars.comDespite changing times in the industry our focus on customer satisfaction and quality cars has kept us going for 22 years.

SBL INTERNATIONAL VEHICLE BROKERING03 377 6578www.sbltd.co.nz“NZ owned and operated SBL continue to set the motor industry benchmark for importing vehicles”

FINANCE & INSURANCE

AUTOSUREPhone: 09 489 9107www.autosure.co.nzAutosure NZ has been a lead-ing provider of automotive-owner protection policies for the NZ retail motor vehicle industry since 1986.

OXFORD FINANCE

0800 263 [email protected]’s friendly team can offer you flexible solutions to finance the purchase of your new vehicle.

PROVIDENT INSURANCE

0800 676 [email protected]: Steve Owens Chief Executive OfficerHelping dealers “Make Profits Grow”. Specialist F&I training, support and products to retail motor vehicle traders.

UDC FINANCE0800 500 832www.udc.co.nzYour first choice in automo-tive lending. Fixed Rates. Fast Approval.

IT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS

AUTO-IT LIMITED 0800 776 [email protected] your DMS? Let Auto-IT help you, the leader in New Generation Dealer Management Systems.

SYSTIME 1800 221 [email protected] Autoline Drive DMS – World leading Automotive Dealer Management and Distributor/Manufacturer Systems.

ORION 1300 852 243 [email protected] Mid-range Dealer Manage-ment System installed in 500 business operations. Sales Workshop, Parts, Fleet, Rental, CRM

SAM 1300 852 243 [email protected] The ultimate specialist Work-shop Management System suite. Range of options to suit.

PENTANA SOLUTIONS09 478 [email protected]

20+ years of local experience and investment in the NZ market makes Pentana Solu-tions the No. 1 choice for your Dealer Management System

INFORMATION SERVICE PROVIDER

MOTORWEB0800 843 [email protected]’s leading vehicle history check provider, delivering online services to all sectors of the motor industry.

IT SERVICES

AUTOPLAY.CO.NZ09 361 [email protected] use the latest technology to deliver a suite of smart digital tools to our customers.

PARTS

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

PAINT & FABRIC SUPPLIERS

GARDX 0800 242 739www.gardx.co.nzNew Zealand Premier Paint & Fabric Supplier. Providing profit solutions that achieves results.

SHIPPING & LOGISTICS

AUTOHUB09 411 [email protected] easiest way to ship your cars and other vehicles globally.

VEHICLE INSPECTION

VINZVehicle Inspection NZ0800 GO VINZ (0800 468 469)[email protected] Zealand’s best choice for WoF / CoF, Inspections, Certi-fications and much more.

VTNZ 0800 88 88 [email protected]


Get in contact todayPh - 0800 367 233

Fast Loan ApprovalsFlexible RepaymentsPersonal ServiceOur personal service & flexibility sets us apart.

Car Finance, Made Flexible.

Get in contact today0800 367 233

Fast Loan ApprovalsFlexible Repayments

Personal Service

STATSTALKUSED VEHICLES


TOP 10 USED IMPORT COMMERCIAL MODELS

MAKE MODELMAR

'18MAKE MODEL

MAR

'17TOYOTA HIACE 313 TOYOTA HIACE 455NISSAN CARAVAN 75 NISSAN CARAVAN 106MAZDA BONGO 59 MAZDA BONGO 75NISSAN NV200 51 TOYOTA REGIUS 50ISUZU ELF 32 NISSAN VANETTE 45NISSAN NV350 32 NISSAN NV200 42NISSAN VANETTE 30 ISUZU ELF 39TOYOTA REGIUS 28 TOYOTA DYNA 39TOYOTA DYNA 24 NISSAN ATLAS 27MITSUBISHI CANTER 18 TOYOTA TOYOACE 25NISSAN ATLAS 17 MITSUBISHI CANTER 24

USED IMPORT COMMERCIAL MAKES

MAKE MAR'18 MAR'17 Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 399 602 -33.7 40.9NISSAN 229 263 -12.9 23.5MAZDA 75 90 -16.7 7.7ISUZU 48 64 -25.0 4.9FORD 39 30 Up 2 30.0 4.0MITSUBISHI 39 45 Down 1 -13.3 4.0HINO 30 41 Down 1 -26.8 3.1CHEVROLET 21 19 Up 1 10.5 2.2HOLDEN 20 23 Down 1 -13.0 2.1IVECO 8 3 Up 6 166.7 0.8OTHER 67 69 -2.9 6.9TOTAL 975 1249 -21.9 100.0


Delays caused by the brown marmorated stink bug issue have

taken their toll on the used import market – it’s down nearly a fifth year-on-year in March.

Passenger car registra-tions tumbled 18.2% to 11,841 units during the month, from 14,474 a year ago. The mar-ket is now down 5% year to

date to a total of 37,608.Commercials took a more

significant hit – down 21.9% to 975 units from 1249 last year. That segment is now down 7% to 2947 for the year.

In passenger car registra-tions, the Mazda Axela was the most popular with 575 registrations.

The Suzuki Swift was sec-

Stink bugs hit import registrations

ond on 520, followed by the Toyota Corolla 503, the Nis-san Tiida 473 and the Honda Fit 446.

The top large car was the Subaru Legacy on 565, the top MPV the Toyota Wish on 284, top hybrid the Toyota Prius on 270, the top Euro-pean, the Volkswagen Golf on 221 and the top SUV the Mitsubishi Outlander on 181.

The Toyota Hiace again topped commercials with 455 registrations, followed by the Nissan Caravan on 106 and Mazda Bongo on 75.

EV numbers still climbingLike yeast, electric vehicle

numbers in New Zealand continue to rise.

EVs sales hit 7233 in March

– 333 more than the previ-ous month. At this rate EVs should reach the 8000 end-of-year target in about May, more than six months early.

That would double last year’s EV figures, with the goal for each year doubling the previous target (16,000 next year) until the Govern-ment’s aim of 64,000 EVs on our roads by the end of 2021 is met.

Growth was across all EV sectors, the latest Ministry of Transport figures show.

New light pure electrics

http://www.autofinancedirect.co.nz




Get in contact today Ph - 0800 367 233

Fast Loan Approvals, Personal Service& Flexible Repayments. Our personal service & flexibility sets us apart.



Personal Service


USED IMPORT COMMERCIAL MAKES – YEAR-TO-DATE 2018

CH

EV

RO

LET

DO

DG

E

FIA

T

FOR

D

HIN

O

HO

LDE

N

ISU

ZU

MA

ZD

A

MIT

SUB

ISH

I

NIS

SAN

TO

YO

TA

VO

LKSW

A-

GE

N

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

18-Jan 13 8 35 45 26 22 57 78 36 210 441 3 50 102417-Jan 19 4 23 30 19 13 41 83 33 197 404 10 52 928

% diff -32 100 52 50 37 69 39 -6 9 7 9 -70 -4 1018-Feb 19 3 15 48 49 16 47 41 41 203 407 8 51 94817-Feb 15 2 9 35 31 19 45 94 40 191 466 10 41 998

% diff 27 50 67 37 58 -16 4 -56 3 6 -13 -20 24 -518-Mar 21 6 7 39 30 20 48 75 39 229 399 3 59 97517-Mar 19 7 9 30 41 23 64 90 45 263 602 8 48 1249

% diff 11 -14 -22 30 -27 -13 -25 -17 -13 -13 -34 -63 23 -22YTD 18 53 17 57 132 105 68 152 194 116 642 1247 14 160 2947YTD 17 53 13 41 95 91 55 150 267 118 651 1472 28 141 3175

%diff 0 31 39 39 15 24 1 -27 -2 -1 -15 -50 13 -7

AROUND THE COUNTRY PASSENGER

REGISTRATIONS

DISTMAR'18

MAR'17

% CHANGE

WHA 270 295 -8.47AUC 5775 7080 -18.43HAM 780 1000 -22.00THA 119 106 12.26TAU 537 652 -17.64ROT 168 168 0.00GIS 49 64 -23.44NAP 262 293 -10.58NEW 167 232 -28.02WAN 84 93 -9.68PAL 295 415 -28.92MAS 70 77 -9.09WEL 834 1103 -24.39NEL 198 266 -25.56BLE 62 71 -12.68GRE 29 42 -30.95WES 2 11 -81.82CHR 1462 1746 -16.27TIM 89 138 -35.51OAM 16 27 -40.74DUN 398 430 -7.44INV 175 165 6.06TOTAL 11841 14474 -18.19

Some more so-so economic news for the automotive and transport indus-tries has emerged as the ANZ Bank

reports “business confidence is treading water”.

A net 20% of businesses are pessimistic about the year ahead, down 1% versus February. Firms’ views of their own activ-ity (which has a stronger correlation with GDP growth), lifted from +20 to +22.

“The economy is certainly not crawl-ing but it’s hardly gliding along either,” ANZ chief economist Sharon Zollner says.

“This far into the race it is naturally hard to accelerate. But while sectors of the economy such as housing and construction may be tiring, record-high terms of trade and a positive outlook for incomes are pro-viding helpful buoyancy.”

Activity indicators increased pretty much across the board but remain below the levels of six months ago.

• A net 12% of firms are expecting to lift investment, up 5 points.

• • Employment intentions lifted from +5% to +10%, making a comeback.

• Profit expectations increased from -1% to +6%, back in the black.

• Export intentions rose from +16% to +24%, back to pre-election levels.

• Residential construction intentions held steady at +33%. Commercial construc-tion intentions rose from +6% to +10%.

• A net 28% of businesses expect it to be tougher to get credit, deteriorating 4 points.

• Firms’ pricing intentions lifted from +25% to +29%. Inflation expectations were unchanged at 2.1%.

“Our composite growth indicator, which combines business and consumer confi-dence, continues to suggest growth around 2-3%year on year,” Zollner says.

Business confidence ‘treading water’

Mercedes-Benz Auckland has opened the coun-

try’s first dedicated AMG Performance Centre.

The new showroom located at the Mercedes dealership in Newmarket exclusively represents the AMG sports car and perfor-

mance brand.“Mercedes-AMG under-

stands the passion New Zealand customers have for the performance brand,” Mercedes-Benz Cars New Zealand general manager Ben Giffin says.

“We are very proud to be opening New Zealand’s first AMG Performance Centre here in Auckland. This showroom space will offer a brilliant opportunity to demonstrate the impor-tance of the Mercedes-AMG brand to our customers.”

A second AMG Perfor-mance Centre in Christch-urch is also under construc-tion.

AMG Performance Centre a first

Sharon Zollner





Get in contact today Ph - 0800 367 233

Fast Loan Approvals, Personal Service& Flexible Repayments. Our personal service & flexibility sets us apart.



Personal Service


THE 17 LEADING USED IMPORT PASSENGER MAKES – YEAR-TO-DATE 2018

AU

DI

BM

W

CH

EV

RO

LET

DA

IHA

TSU

FOR

D

HO

LDE

N

HO

ND

A

HY

UN

DA

I

MA

ZD

A

ME

RC

ED

ES

MIT

SUB

ISH

I

NIS

SAN

PE

UG

EO

T

SUB

AR

U

SUZ

UK

I

TO

YO

TA

VW

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

18-Jan 250 523 65 8 115 46 1356 27 2310 210 440 2629 26 809 722 3232 445 506 1371917-Jan 264 568 56 14 102 43 1308 25 1979 275 469 2268 12 543 622 3396 467 522 12933

% diff -5 -8 16 -43 13 7 4 8 17 -24 -6 16 117 49 16 -5 -5 -3 618-Feb 192 467 63 8 122 39 1232 2 1996 250 325 2220 16 696 682 2872 366 500 1204817-Feb 227 528 53 19 109 61 1308 30 1871 267 413 2200 19 546 643 3038 439 489 12260

% diff -15 -12 19 -58 12 -36 -6 -93 7 -6 -21 1 -16 27 6 -5 -17 2 -218-Mar 235 514 48 8 104 40 1188 35 1978 227 307 2132 22 704 606 2878 357 458 1184117-Mar 297 713 80 13 130 61 1449 39 2058 356 548 2543 17 605 711 3722 548 584 14474

% diff -21 -28 -40 -38 -20 -34 -18 -10 -4 -36 -44 -16 29 16 -15 -23 -35 -22 -18YTD 18 677 1504 176 24 341 125 3776 64 6284 687 1072 6981 64 2209 2010 8982 1168 1464 37608YTD 17 788 1809 189 46 341 165 4065 94 5908 898 1430 7011 48 1694 1976 10156 1454 1595 39667

%diff -14 -17 -7 -48 0 -24 -7 -32 6 -23 -25 0 33 30 2 -12 -20 -8 -5

20 TOP USED IMPORT PASSENGER MODELS

MAKE MODELMAR'18

MAKE MODELMAR'17

MAZDA AXELA 575 TOYOTA COROLLA 623SUZUKI SWIFT 520 SUZUKI SWIFT 616TOYOTA COROLLA 503 MAZDA AXELA 593NISSAN TIIDA 473 NISSAN TIIDA 576HONDA FIT 446 HONDA FIT 477MAZDA DEMIO 441 MAZDA DEMIO 470SUBARU LEGACY 365 TOYOTA PRIUS 389TOYOTA WISH 284 TOYOTA WISH 379TOYOTA VITZ 271 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 335TOYOTA PRIUS 270 SUBARU LEGACY 307MAZDA ATENZA 261 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 304TOYOTA MARKX 242 MAZDA ATENZA 298MAZDA PREMACY 239 TOYOTA MARKX 288VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 221 TOYOTA VITZ 281BMW 3 Series 188 BMW 3 SERIES 254MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 181 TOYOTA ESTIMA 222MAZDA MPV 180 NISSAN DUALIS 213NISSAN SKYLINE 166 MAZDA PREMACY 212NISSAN DUALIS 162 MAZDA MPV 211SUBARU IMPREZA 158 NISSAN NOTE 199

20 TOP USED IMPORT PASSENGER MAKES

MAKEMAR'18

MAR'17

Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 2878 3722 -22.7 24.3NISSAN 2132 2543 -16.2 18.0MAZDA 1978 2058 -3.9 16.7HONDA 1188 1449 -18.0 10.0SUBARU 704 605 Up 2 16.4 5.9SUZUKI 606 711 -14.8 5.1BMW 514 713 Down 2 -27.9 4.3VOLKSWAGEN 357 548 Up 1 -34.9 3.0MITSUBISHI 307 548 Down 1 -44.0 2.6AUDI 235 297 Up 1 -20.9 2.0MERCEDES-BENZ 227 356 Down 1 -36.2 1.9FORD 104 130 -20.0 0.9LEXUS 80 93 Up 1 -14.0 0.7VOLVO 58 94 Down 1 -38.3 0.5CHEVROLET 48 80 -40.0 0.4JAGUAR 45 51 Up 3 -11.8 0.4HOLDEN 40 61 -34.4 0.3DODGE 35 24 Up 6 45.8 0.3HYUNDAI 35 39 Up 1 -10.3 0.3LAND ROVER 34 64 Down 4 -46.9 0.3OTHER 236 288 -18.1 2.0TOTAL 11841 14474 -18.2 100.0

reached 1423 (up 67 on February), used pure light electrics rose 165 to 3829, new light plug-in hybrids recorded 1351 (up 57), used light plug-in hybrids went to 549 (up 42) and heavy EVs increased by two to reach 81.

In March last year, EV figures were just 3187.

EV registrations for the

first three months of this year stand at 1041 -not far off the 1516 for all of 2016 and double that of 2015 (505).

March’s light EV registra-tions were 337, comprising 209 used EVS and 126 new.

The March registration figure is above the previous month (February recorded 288) but below January’s 416. It is the sixth highest monthly figure since August

last year.

Slight dip in dealer registrations

The number of deal-ers registered on the Motor Vehicle Traders Register at the end of March was 3503, down slightly on the 3517 active in February.

There were 113 new ap-plications and 131 expired, were surrendered or can-

Stink bugs hit import registrationsContinued from page 33

celled.The number of registered

dealers has been hovering around 3500 since Septem-ber last year.




UDC Finance Limited lending criteria applies.

UDC has money to lend. Lots of money.

Talk to us today about stock funding options for your dealership.

Ph 0800 500 832 or visit www.udc.co.nz

STATSTALKNEW VEHICLES

NEW VEHICLES COMPETITIVE FINANCE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY:


NEW PASSENGER MAKES

MAKEMAR'18

MAR'17

Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 1196 1213 -1.4 13.2MAZDA 858 905 -5.2 9.5MITSUBISHI 722 691 Up 2 4.5 8.0HOLDEN 673 711 -5.3 7.4HONDA 636 519 Up 4 22.5 7.0KIA 617 626 Up 1 -1.4 6.8SUZUKI 605 734 Down 4 -17.6 6.7HYUNDAI 551 686 Down 2 -19.7 6.1FORD 504 625 Down 1 -19.4 5.6NISSAN 371 341 Up 1 8.8 4.1VOLKSWAGEN 341 386 Down 1 -11.7 3.8SUBARU 291 242 Up 1 20.2 3.2BMW 232 196 Up 2 18.4 2.6MERCEDES-BENZ 200 253 Down 2 -20.9 2.2AUDI 193 203 Down 1 -4.9 2.1SKODA 164 72 Up 3 127.8 1.8JEEP 143 94 52.1 1.6PEUGEOT 99 56 Up 5 76.8 1.1LAND ROVER 83 107 Down 3 -22.4 0.9LEXUS 71 66 7.6 0.8Other 500 504 -0.8 5.5TOTAL 9050 9230 -2.0 100.0

NEW PASSENGER MODELS

MAKE MODELMAR'18

MAKE MODELMAR'17

HOLDEN COMMODORE 310 TOYOTA COROLLA 396MAZDA CX-5 303 KIA SPORTAGE 349TOYOTA COROLLA 287 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 287SUZUKI SWIFT 276 TOYOTA RAV4 261TOYOTA RAV4 267 MAZDA CX-5 248MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 264 HYUNDAI TUCSON 239KIA SPORTAGE 258 MAZDA MAZDA3 223HONDA CRV 214 HOLDEN CAPTIVA 217HONDA HR-V 183 SUZUKI SWIFT 201NISSAN QASHQAI 178 VOLKSWAGEN TIGUAN 199

TOYOTA HIGHLANDER 177 HONDA HR-V 193

MITSUBISHI ECLIPSE CROSS 161 MITSUBISHI ASX 185

SUBARU OUTBACK 153 TOYOTA YARIS 185

MAZDA CX-3 151 MAZDA CX-3 172

MAZDA MAZDA3 150 SUZUKI VITARA 169

MITSUBISHI ASX 139 HOLDEN COMMODORE 168

NISSAN X-TRAIL 139 HONDA JAZZ 168

HYUNDAI KONA 138 HYUNDAI SANTA FE 165

HONDA JAZZ 130 NISSAN QASHQAI 161

TOYOTA YARIS 123 FORD FOCUS 150

Some shipments of new vehicles might have been caught up in the

stink bug delays last month, but it appears to have had little impact on overall sales.

Registration data released by the Motor Industry As-sociation shows March was another record month for new vehicle sales.

A combined market of

Trouble no barrier to new vehicle sales14,028 vehicles was up 1% (159) on March 2017. Year to date, the market is up 2% (916) compared to the first three months of 2017.

Registrations of 9050 pas-senger and SUV vehicles in March were down 2% (180) on March 2017 but registra-











BROUGHT TO YOU BY:


NEW COMMERCIAL MAKES (UNDER 3500KG)

MAKEMAR'18

MAR'17

Movement% Change

Market Share

TOYOTA 1225 1103 11.1 24.6FORD 1047 897 16.7 21.0HOLDEN 427 393 8.7 8.6MITSUBISHI 382 365 4.7 7.7ISUZU 322 350 -8.0 6.5NISSAN 315 290 8.6 6.3LDV 191 114 Up 3 67.5 3.8VOLKSWAGEN 160 115 Up 1 39.1 3.2MAZDA 159 190 Down 2 -16.3 3.2FUSO 99 62 Up 5 59.7 2.0Other 651 760 -14.3 13.1TOTAL 4978 4639 7.3 100.0

NEW COMMERCIAL MODELS (UNDER 3500KG)

MAKE MODEL MAR'18

MAKE MODEL MAR'17

TOYOTA HILUX 915 FORD RANGER 810FORD RANGER 912 TOYOTA HILUX 740HOLDEN COLORADO 427 HOLDEN COLORADO 380MITSUBISHI TRITON 382 MITSUBISHI TRITON 365NISSAN NAVARA 315 TOYOTA HIACE 336TOYOTA HIACE 261 NISSAN NAVARA 290ISUZU D-MAX 215 ISUZU D-MAX 222MAZDA BT-50 159 MAZDA BT-50 190FORD TRANSIT 135 HYUNDAI ILOAD 122LDV T60 107 FIAT DUCATO 89

tions of 4978 commercial vehicles was a 7% gain.

Toyota remained the overall market leader with a 17% market share (2421), followed by Ford with 11% (1551) and Mitsubishi with 8% (1104).

Toyota also led the mar-ket for passenger and SUV registrations with a 13% mar-ket share (1196), followed by Mazda with 9% (858) and Mitsubishi 8% (722).

In the commercial sector, Toyota remained the market leader with a 25% market share (1225), followed by Ford with 21% (1047) and Holden with 9% (427).

The three top-selling models for the month were all light commercial vehicles. The Toyota Hilux was back at the top of the table with 915, closely followed by the Ford Ranger with 912 and the Holden Colorado with 427.

The SUV medium seg-ment regained the title of top segment for the month with an 18% market share. It was followed by the pick-

up/chassis cab four-wheel drive segment, also with 16% of the market, and the SUV compact with 13%.

“The market for new ve-hicles is mature and remains strong,” MIA chief executive David Crawford says.

“The economic factors of the past two years are still largely present with strong net immigration, afford-able prices and a strong economy.”

Record quarter for Aussie market

A record March result

for the Australian market was marred by the fall of Holden - it has dropped to tenth after the end of local production.

March’s 106,988 sales delivered a strong 4.4% first quarter growth for the Aus-tralian new vehicle market, the motor industry’s official statistical service VFACTS says.

Australia’s new vehicle market grew 1.5% in March, compared with the same month last year. It marked the ninth month of record industry sales over the past



11 months and brought the year-to-date total to 291,538 sales.

Five of the states and ter-ritories recorded sales gains during March compared with the same month last year. The Northern Territory led the way with 12.8% growth, followed by the ACT with 7.9%, then Victoria (6.3%), Queensland (1.8%), and Western Australia (1.3%).

South Australia, Tasmania and NSW all recorded falls.

Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber says the healthy first quarter growth demonstrated that consumers were attracted by the diversity of product and the value on offer.

“To have the market at 4.4% ahead of last year’s

“The market for new vehicles is mature and remains strong,” MIA chief executive David Crawford says.










BROUGHT TO YOU BY:


NEW PASSENGER MAKES

ALF

A R

OM

EO

AU

DI

BM

W

CH

ER

Y

CH

RY

SLE

R

DO

DG

E

FOR

D

GR

EA

T W

ALL

HO

LDE

N

HO

ND

A

HY

UN

DA

I

JEE

P

KIA

LAN

D R

OV

ER

LEX

US

MA

ZD

A

MER

CED

ES-B

ENZ

MIN

I

MIT

SUB

ISH

I

NIS

SAN

PE

UG

EO

T

PO

RSC

HE

SKO

DA

SSA

NG

YO

NG

SUB

AR

U

SUZ

UK

I

TO

YO

TA

VO

LKSW

AG

EN

VO

LVO

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

18-Jan 12 178 187 0 1 7 846 0 777 524 553 82 762 73 62 1025 188 77 626 423 89 54 140 82 342 591 2490 300 57 250 10798

17-Jan 7 154 198 2 1 15 778 0 1381 405 540 71 603 111 55 779 222 73 647 478 73 58 106 60 236 728 1644 474 44 207 10150

% diff 71 16 -6 -100 0 -53 9 -44 29 2 15 26 -34 13 32 -15 5 -3 -12 22 -7 32 37 45 -19 51 -37 30 21 6

18-Feb 5 169 144 0 1 4 395 0 602 412 489 142 512 76 69 773 166 70 489 269 86 35 104 64 157 577 1013 342 47 203 7415

17-Feb 3 176 160 0 4 23 611 0 654 373 606 56 513 93 62 755 245 45 547 346 48 22 104 93 305 624 990 355 48 189 8050

% diff 67 -4 -10 -75 -83 -35 -8 10 -19 154 0 -18 11 2 -32 56 -11 -22 79 59 0 -31 -49 -8 2 -4 -2 7 -8

YTD 18 17 347 331 0 2 11 1241 0 1379 936 1042 224 1274 149 131 1798 354 147 1115 692 175 89 244 146 499 1168 3503 642 104 453 18213

YTD 17 10 330 358 2 5 38 1389 0 2035 778 1146 127 1116 204 117 1534 467 118 1194 824 121 80 210 153 541 1352 2634 829 92 396 18200

%diff 70 5 -8 -100 -60 -71 -11 0 -32 20 -9 76 14 -27 12 17 -24 25 -7 -16 45 11 16 -5 -8 -14 33 -23 13 14 0

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

FIA

T

FOR

D

FOT

ON

GR

EA

T W

ALL

HIN

O

HO

LDE

N

HY

UN

DA

I

ISU

ZU

LDV

MA

ZD

A

MER

CED

ES-B

ENZ

MIT

SUB

ISH

I

MIT

SUBI

SHI

FUSO

NIS

SAN

SSA

NG

YO

NG

TO

YO

TA

VOLK

SWAG

EN

OT

HE

R

TO

TAL

18-Jan 101 808 66 66 16 46 385 64 258 153 172 57 318 284 94 780 165 204 4037

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

% diff 60 3 -1 47 10 1 -6 -5 76 12 43 45 3 13 12 34 -23 10

18-Feb 59 788 47 50 8 68 366 64 304 102 169 48 368 384 63 946 110 172 4116

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

% diff -8 11 -29 43 0 51 1 -34 19 1 -9 -6 30 11 21 27 45 -30 10

YTD 18 160 1596 113 116 24 114 751 128 562 255 341 105 686 668 157 1726 275 376 8153

YTD 17 127 1501 133 80 8 87 747 165 526 188 340 91 501 622 135 1445 199 512 7407

%diff 26 6 -15 45 200 31 1 -22 7 36 0 15 37 7 16 19 38 -27 10


Trouble no barrier to new vehicle sales

NEW AROUND THE COUNTRY PASSENGER

REGISTRATIONSDIST

MAR'18

MAR'17

% CHANGE

WHA 242 217 11.52AUC 3936 4045 -2.69HAM 637 668 -4.64THA 126 70 80.00TAU 413 403 2.48ROT 164 125 31.20GIS 37 56 -33.93NAP 278 276 0.72NEW 176 160 10.00WAN 94 98 -4.08PAL 283 329 -13.98MAS 102 93 9.68WEL 932 933 -0.11NEL 156 144 8.33BLE 72 71 1.41GRE 19 21 -9.52WES 0 6 -100.00CHR 833 926 -10.04TIM 65 92 -29.35OAM 9 24 -62.50DUN 286 327 -12.54INV 190 146 30.14TOTAL 9050 9230 -1.95

record total is a clear vote of consumer confidence in the economy’s stability and low interest rates, both key fac-tors which encourage private buyers and businesses into new vehicles,” he says.

“The continued growth of SUVs in our market comes in the same week as the US Environmental Protection Agency indicated it would adopt less stringent and more realistic emissions targets into the future.”

Toyota was the market leader for March with a 17.6% share, followed by Mazda with 9.1%, Mitsubishi with 8.2%, Hyundai 7.9% and Ford 6.3%.

Holden, in tenth spot, was down 29% year-on-year.

The Toyota Hilux, which led the market last year, maintained its top-seller posi-tion in March with 4348 sales, followed by the Ford Ranger with 4064, Toyota Corolla 3218, Mitsubishi Triton 3109 and the Mazda 3 2780.

Register for

FREE news updates

Receive thrice-weekly news alerts to your email

autotalk.com.au

THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE




STATSTALKSECONDHAND


SECONDHAND REGISTRATIONS − MARCH 2018SALE TYPE WHA AUC HAM THA TAU ROT GIS NAP NEW WAN PAL MAS WEL NEL BLE GRE WES CHR TIM OAM DUN INV TOTAL

Cars 2017

Public to Trader 237 5566 1163 176 576 134 91 410 223 165 1061 114 1200 229 96 24 1813 150 3 432 295 14158

Public to Public 2132 15401 3441 701 2118 1077 408 1614 981 650 1660 532 3311 1117 474 163 28 5614 595 128 2246 1154 45545

Trader to Public 554 6089 1464 266 849 395 174 647 392 269 720 222 1599 321 153 74 9 2157 232 45 712 436 17779

Cars 2016

Public to Trader 280 5335 1485 125 678 119 87 425 274 133 1218 104 1390 219 115 33 2157 152 31 515 277 15152

Public to Public 2105 15826 3715 585 2371 935 451 1732 1074 544 1772 427 3169 1073 478 219 96 5499 634 206 2127 1016 46054

Trader to Public 585 6281 1515 242 1001 318 145 617 394 188 850 153 1655 329 182 81 30 2185 226 68 716 370 18131

Cars % Change

Public to Trader -15.4 4.3 -21.7 40.8 -15.0 12.6 4.6 -3.5 -18.6 24.1 -12.9 9.6 -13.7 4.6 -16.5 -27.3 -15.9 -1.3 -90.3 -16.1 6.5 -6.6

Public to Public 1.3 -2.7 -7.4 19.8 -10.7 15.2 -9.5 -6.8 -8.7 19.5 -6.3 24.6 4.5 4.1 -0.8 -25.6 -70.8 2.1 -6.2 -37.9 5.6 13.6 -1.1

Trader to Public -5.3 -3.1 -3.4 9.9 -15.2 24.2 20.0 4.9 -0.5 43.1 -15.3 45.1 -3.4 -2.4 -15.9 -8.6 -70.0 -1.3 2.7 -33.8 -0.6 17.8 -1.9

Motorcycles 2017

Public to Trader 8 165 36 25 3 1 9 8 4 15 9 53 14 2 53 1 2 18 12 438

Public to Public 79 598 160 36 124 44 9 85 63 16 83 21 204 68 35 12 5 284 27 12 91 56 2112

Trader to Public 13 152 46 5 28 4 2 19 17 2 31 11 56 20 6 2 44 5 3 12 12 490

Motorcycles 2016

Public to Trader 7 172 37 29 1 9 12 3 32 9 52 13 1 29 18 5 429

Public to Public 74 577 156 27 111 38 10 71 57 39 85 14 187 88 26 11 279 28 10 92 51 2031

Trader to Public 14 142 43 4 42 9 2 16 11 4 24 9 46 14 2 41 4 1 21 10 459

Motorcycles % change

Public to Trader 14.3 -4.1 -2.7 -13.8 200.0 0.0 -33.3 33.3 -53.1 0.0 1.9 7.7 100.0 82.8 0.0 140.0 2.1

Public to Public 6.8 3.6 2.6 33.3 11.7 15.8 -10.0 19.7 10.5 -59.0 -2.4 50.0 9.1 -22.7 34.6 9.1 1.8 -3.6 20.0 -1.1 9.8 4.0

Trader to Public -7.1 7.0 7.0 25.0 -33.3 -55.6 0.0 18.8 54.5 -50.0 29.2 22.2 21.7 42.9 200.0 7.3 25.0 200.0 -42.9 20.0 6.8

Trucks 2017

Public to Trader 98 718 263 18 105 29 41 85 52 28 161 35 136 79 53 5 294 52 7 85 86 2430

Public to Public 346 1856 581 109 432 128 109 268 202 88 279 92 360 190 96 49 19 805 91 29 315 205 6649

Trader to Public 189 728 269 61 178 79 50 132 86 27 171 40 201 81 54 14 4 362 52 10 156 86 3030

Trucks 2016

Public to Trader 62 590 251 16 92 22 26 77 35 20 118 20 106 73 31 7 224 38 4 71 81 1964

Public to Public 359 1731 498 107 384 120 75 245 157 76 268 78 359 190 80 45 10 925 81 34 368 201 6391

Trader to Public 112 717 266 43 157 54 57 96 70 27 143 36 146 52 49 25 7 315 53 10 125 77 2637

Trucks % change

Public to Trader 58.1 21.7 4.8 12.5 14.1 31.8 57.7 10.4 48.6 40.0 36.4 75.0 28.3 8.2 71.0 -28.6 31.3 36.8 75.0 19.7 6.2 23.7

Public to Public -3.6 7.2 16.7 1.9 12.5 6.7 45.3 9.4 28.7 15.8 4.1 17.9 0.3 0.0 20.0 8.9 90.0 -13.0 12.3 -14.7 -14.4 2.0 4.0

Trader to Public 68.8 1.5 1.1 41.9 13.4 46.3 -12.3 37.5 22.9 0.0 19.6 11.1 37.7 55.8 10.2 -44.0 -42.9 14.9 -1.9 0.0 24.8 11.7 14.9

All the Auto Industry HOT NEWS every day as it happens on www.autotalk.co.nzSubscribe online for FREE twice weekly updates direct to your email

An 18% drop in used imports didn’t dampen the used car market

too much, Turners says.“Compared to the

‘bumper’ March last year, 2018’s March was slightly

more sedate; 4% down, mainly caused by ex-over-seas registrations dipping by a whopping 18%,” it says.

Overall, year-to-date fig-ures show change of own-ership and used car regis-

trations are down just 0.6% - the same amount that new passenger car sales are down year-on-year.

“The market continues to be in a healthy state, sup-ported by stable consumer

confidence.” Minor supply issues for

both new and used car sellers continue because of the stink bug issue, but are beginning to resolve, Turn-ers says.

Market steady despite slow March

http://www.autotalk.co.nz


STATSTALKTRUCKS

STATSTALKBIKES


NEW BIKE MODELSMAKE MODEL MAR'18TNT MOTOR ROMA 2T 37SUZUKI UZ50 31KAWASAKI EX 400G L 24PIAGGIO ZIP 50 2T 21SUZUKI GSX150 FDZA GIXXER 19ROYAL ENFIELD CLASSIC 16FORZA CICLONE 15HONDA GLC 150SH 15FACTORY BUILT ARIIC 14HONDA NCH 50L 12TOTAL 764

USED BIKE MAKESMAKE MAR'18 MAR'17 % Change

% of Market

HARLEY DAVIDSON 93 97 -4.1 40.4DUCATI 24 19 26.3 10.4TRIUMPH 21 20 5.0 9.1BMW 16 25 -36.0 7.0YAMAHA 16 22 -27.3 7.0HONDA 15 27 -44.4 6.5SUZUKI 12 12 0.0 5.2BUELL 5 3 66.7 2.2APRILIA 4 0 1.7KTM 4 6 -33.3 1.7Other 20 35 -42.9 8.7TOTAL 230 266 -13.5 100.0

NEW BIKE MAKES

MAKEMAR'18

YTD'18

MAR'17

% Change

Market Share %

SUZUKI 146 409 118 23.7 17.1YAMAHA 97 282 89 9.0 11.3HONDA 70 192 63 11.1 8.2HARLEY DAVIDSON 68 218 72 -5.6 7.9KAWASAKI 61 159 58 5.2 7.1TRIUMPH 61 138 57 7.0 7.1TNT MOTOR 42 108 29 44.8 4.9FACTORY BUILT 35 56 15 133.3 4.1BMW 31 84 24 29.2 3.6KTM 27 101 29 -6.9 3.2ROYAL ENFIELD 27 53 7 285.7 3.2FORZA 26 86 12 116.7 3.0PIAGGIO 24 56 17 41.2 2.8APRILIA 22 77 27 -18.5 2.6MOPED 20 61 15 33.3 2.3VESPA 17 73 26 -34.6 2.0ADLY 10 16 16 -37.5 1.2INDIAN 7 60 7 0.0 0.8MOTO GUZZI 7 22 3 133.3 0.8ZNEN 7 23 10 -30.0 0.8Other 51 153 79 -35.4 6.0Total 856 2427 773 10.7 100.0

Talk to Dale Stevenson about advertising your business here with AutoTalk – in print and online

Phone: + 64 21 446 214 | Email: [email protected] | www.autotalk.co.nz

Do you sell or deal with Motorcycles? your

ad here

A slow month for the new bike industry in February was followed

by solid growth in March, registration statistics show.

The market was up 10.7% to 856 for the month, with the tally for the year hitting 2427 units.

Suzuki topped the market with 146 registrations, up 23.7% from 2017 for a 17.1% market share.

Yamaha was second on 97, up 9% for an 11.3% stake, followed in third by Honda on 70, up 11.1% for an 8.2% share.

Harley Davidson was fourth on 68, and Kawasaki

and Triumph tied for fifth on 61.

Scooters again reigned supreme, with the TNT Roma 2T leading with 37 registrations. The Suzuki UZ50 took second place with 31.

The biggest bike in the top five was the Kawasaki EX400G with 24 registered.

The Piaggio Zip 50 took fourth place with 21 and the Suzuki GSX150 Gixer closed the top five with 19.

Used bike registrations joined their car counterparts in a big fall as biosecurity issues slowed shipping. Reg-istrations dropped 13.5% to

230 - 266 bikes were regis-tered this time a year ago.

Harley Davidson topped the market on 93, down 4.1% for a 40.4% market share.

Ducati took second with 24, up 26.3% for a 10.4% share, and Triumph claimed third, up 5% to 21 for 9.1% of the market.

Solid jump for bikes

AUTOTALK APRIL 2018 | www.autotalk.co.nz | 41 AUTOTALK APRIL 2018 | www.autotalk.co.nz | 41

NEW TRUCK MAKES (OVER 3500KG)

MAKEMAR'18

MAR'17

% CHANGE

MARKETYTD'18

YTD'17

ISUZU 107 128 -16.4 20.0 282 295FUSO 101 102 -1.0 18.8 217 234HINO 55 53 3.8 10.3 169 140VOLVO 41 65 -36.9 7.6 78 120DAF 40 17 135.3 7.5 88 45FIAT 30 34 -11.8 5.6 89 84MERCEDES-BENZ 22 45 -51.1 4.1 84 87IVECO 20 18 11.1 3.7 58 45KENWORTH 16 27 -40.7 3.0 68 56UD TRUCKS 16 18 -11.1 3.0 55 55Other 88 87 1.1 16.4 242 248TOTAL 536 594 -9.8 100.0 1430 1409

USED TRUCK MAKES

MAKEMAR'18

MAR'17

% CHANGE

MARKETYTD'18

YTD'17

ISUZU 40 55 -27.3 22.9 131 133HINO 30 41 -26.8 17.1 105 91TOYOTA 26 50 -48.0 14.9 101 103MITSUBISHI 24 27 -11.1 13.7 66 68NISSAN 14 18 -22.2 8.0 43 39MAZDA 9 5 80.0 5.1 18 12MERCEDES-BENZ 6 4 50.0 3.4 14 10IVECO 5 3 66.7 2.9 11 6FUSO 4 2 100.0 2.3 6 4VOLVO 3 3 0.0 1.7 8 5Other 14 23 -39.1 8.0 63 66TOTAL 175 231 -24.2 100.0 566 537

Phone: + 64 21 446 214 | Email: [email protected] | www.autotalk.co.nz

Do you sell or deal with new and used trucks your

ad here

Talk to Dale Stevenson about advertising your business here with AutoTalk – in print and online

STATSTALKTRUCKS

Total registrations of used trucks and buses dropped in March by

24.2% to 175 units, down from 231 in the same period last year.

All the leading brands were down in the total used trucks and buses market.

Isuzu was top of the table with 40 registrations, a 27.3% fall from 55 the previous year. That gave Isuzu a 23% market share in the segment for the month.

Hino was behind with 30 registrations and a 17% mar-ket share, down 26.8% from 41 the previous March.

Toyota took the biggest hit - in third place, it fell 48% with 26 registered for a 15% market share.

Mitsubishi was next with 24, down 11% from 27, fol-lowed by Nissan with 14, down 22.2% from 18.

Year-to-date, total reg-istrations of new trucks and buses ended the month

down 9.8% to 536 from 594 in the same period last year.

Isuzu led the pack with 107 for a 20% market share, down 16.4% from 128 the previous March.

Fuso was second with 101 registrations and an 18.8% market share, down by just one unit from its year-on-year result.

Hino registered 55 for a 10% market share, up slightly by 3.8% after registering 53

Isuzu leads as registrations dip

the previous year. Volvo registered 41, down

37% from 65 last year. DAF made major gains

with 40 registrations, up 135% from 17 at the same time last year.

Fiat was down 11.8% with 30, Mercedes-Benz was down 51% with 22, Iveco up 11% with 20, Kenworth

down 40.7% with 16, and UD Trucks down 11% with 16.

The Fuso range.


TRIBUNALTALK

Engine problems and an odom-eter reading dispute have seen a Napier-based commercial vehicle

dealership in trouble with the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal for “mislead-ing conduct”.

Truck dealership Kobe Export was ordered to pay just over $54,000 to complainant Evan Ball in a recent tribu-nal ruling.

Ball bought a 2010 Toyota Dyna truck from the company with just 32,335 kilometres on its odometer for $49,900 in March last year.

He intended to use the truck as his family vehicle and attached a slide-on camper for family trips and camping.

Ball noticed the vehicle was over-heating in June that year and it was assessed by Energy & Marine Service Centre who found no fault with the vehicle.

About four days later, the vehicle overheated again and it was then as-sessed by Truck Stops NZ which found it had combustion gases in the cooling system, damage to three cylinders and head gasket failure.

The tribunal’s assessor says the en-gine’s condition suggests it has travelled “at least 200,000km”.

Kobe Export had refused to fix the damage, alleging the engine damage was caused by Ball’s use of the vehicle and that the slide-on camper was not properly attached, creating drag and causing the engine to overheat.

It also suggested Ball is an inexperi-enced truck driver and his driving might have contributed to the damage.

It also claimed no obligation to repair the vehicle as Ball was not a consumer for the purposes of the Consumer Guarantees Act because the vehicle is not of a kind ordinarily acquired for personal, domestic or household use.

The tribunal rejected the dealer’s

claims and ruled a “reasonable con-sumer would not expect a vehicle of this price, age and mileage to have a significant pre-existing fault with its engine that will require the engine to be replaced”.

It ruled Ball “suffered significant loss as a result of this misleading conduct” and was entitled to a full refund.

“I am therefore satisfied that the vehicle was not of acceptable qual-ity when it was sold to Mr Ball. It had a significant fault with its engine and Mr Ball’s use of the vehicle did not cause or contribute to that fault,” adjudicator Brett Carter says.

Truck dealership conduct ‘misleading’

The purchaser was interested in buying a 2011 Mazda Axela from the trader. She paid the dealer a

$1000 deposit but did not sign a vehicle offer and sale agreement.

The purchaser told the tribunal she understood the deposit was payable so the trader would not sell the vehicle to another purchaser while minor repairs were performed.

The next day, she decided not to purchase the vehicle. The trader de-clined to refund the deposit, claiming

it was non-refundable. The purchaser claims she was not told this.

The stock manager for the trader says they did not tell the purchaser the deposit was non-refundable.

However, he did have her sign a vehicle offer and sales write up sheet. The sheet is a preliminary document intended to capture the terms of the agreement between the parties, terms that are then finalised in the vehicle offer and sale agreement.

The write up sheet states the total

price for the vehicle includes a non-refundable deposit of $1,000.

The purchaser claims that she did not see the write up sheet before she paid the deposit.

And she says the sheet was not ex-plained to her and that she has difficulty understanding English so she did not realise it contained a statement about a non-refundable deposit.

The adjudicator accepted the pur-chaser’s evidence.

Are deposits non-refundable?Liang v Mr Motors North Shore t/a Mr Motors Group



TRIBUNALTALK

buying from you is a safer option.Differentiate your offering and tell buyers about it. Online classified listings mean that your market has

extended to buyers from all over the country. Do you offer airport pick-ups, what about out-of-town transportation options or a free tank of fuel?

Telling buyers about this in your description could encour-age out-of-town buyers to look at buying from you.

Keep the momentum goingOnce you have excellent listings generating leads for your

business, keep the momentum up. Respond to enquiries quickly and always answer all ques-

tions as clearly as possible, avoiding vague answers that could look as though you’re dodging questions.

So extend your virtual sales team by moulding each list-ing to showcase the vehicle and help potential buyers find their dream car.

Are your Trade Me listings working as hard for your business as you are? Continued from page 21

This is how it worksBy empathising with how

your customer feels, you are building a rapport with them.

When you talk about how somebody else felt, you move the focus to another person, which makes the

customer part of a group so they do not feel alone.

When they are attached to that group and you tell them how the other per-son in the group decide to change their mind and purchase a product to gain its benefits, the customer should follow the logic of

How can I help overcome a customer’s objection?Continued from page 30

“I found her to be a reliable witness, with a clear recollection of events. I accept that she was not told that the deposit was non-refundable and neither was her attention drawn to the refer-ence in the write up sheet to the non-refundable deposit.”

He noted courts have a “reasonable expectation of disclosure” test. Under that, silence or the failure to disclose a material fact can be misleading where, taking account of the circumstances of the particular case, a reasonable con-sumer would expect the information to

have been disclosed. “In this case, I am satisfied that a

consumer would have a reasonable expectation that (the trader) would disclose that the deposit was non-refundable.

“(The purchaser) paid a deposit of $1000 – a significant sum for any potential purchaser of a $14,700 vehicle. I consider that any consumer would expect to be told that this amount was non-refundable.”

It found the trader should have disclosed the non-re-

fundable nature of the deposit and had misled the purchaser by this omission.

The adjudicator ordered the trader to repay the $1000.


an independent choice

If you are a forward thinking motor vehicle trader, or financier, looking for a trusted vehicle insurance partner, call Quest.

Contact: Simon Mooreph. 021 149 2266e: [email protected]

Quest Insurance offers:

Mechanical Breakdown Insurance – backed by AA Roadside Assist

Comprehensive Motor Vehicle Insurance – including learner and restricted license cover.

Weekly, fortnightly & monthly instalment options now available to match your customers pay cycle

Guaranteed Asset Protection

Lifestyle Protection Insurance

being attached to a group and change their mind at the same time.

I hope this technique helps to lead your customer into making an informed decision and that they pur-chase not only what is right for them today but also that

they will have no regrets about it tomorrow.

Try the “Feel, Felt, Found” technique and see how easy it is to lead a customer into making a decision when they might have an objec-tion or maybe just can’t make up their mind.

http://www.questinsurance.co.nz


DIARYTALK

THE DIARY AutoTalk’s group editor Scott Morgan looks at the month gone by on AutoTalk.co.nz


March 1 Unloading could take weeks Vehicles have started to be unloaded from the stink bug-affected Tokyo Car berthed at the Ports of Auckland.

“We have commenced a deck-by-deck controlled discharge of the Tokyo Car. We have asked initially for 11 vehicles to be discharged for heat treatment,” a Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) spokesperson told AutoTalk.

March 2 Takata issue resurfaces There’s no easy fix to the Taka-ta airbag issue, Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford says.

The issue came to light again after a compulsory recall was announced in Australia.

Crawford says of 320,000 new and used vehicles in New Zealand, two-thirds have received recall notices and around 134,000 owners have bought their vehicles in for the recall to be completed.

Registrations dip slightly The latest Motor Industry As-sociation figures show new car registrations are down 2% for the month of February.

That’s a drop of 254 units

on 2017. However, year-to-date the

market is up 3% (751 units) compared to the first two months of 2017.

March 5 Treatment won’t damage EVs Heat treatment and other methods of killing pest stink bugs hitch-hiking in vehicles from Japan are unlikely to damage EVs on affected ships, experts say.

The Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) says heat treatment might cause dam-age to EVs, those in the EV in-dustry say that’s very unlikely.

EVs are designed to with-stand temperature extremes in many countries, GVI general manager Hayden Johnston says.

March 6 Bullitt on its way to NZ The new special edition Ford Mustang Bullitt – built to cel-ebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary film – is coming to New Zealand.

The original car feature in the Steve McQueen film Bullitt, which sees the actor at the wheel of a 1968 Mustang GT fastback as he chases two hitmen through the streets of San Francisco.

March 7 Trump tariffs could hurt US industry United States president Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminium imports are likely to result in more expensive vehicles.

That’s the view of the American International Auto-mobile Dealers Association.

Steel and aluminium tariffs could directly counteract any benefits American manufac-turers have seen from tax and regulatory reform, it says.

Dealership up and running after fire DNA Motors in Auckland’s Panmure is open for business after a fire temporarily closed its yard.

Director Dmitry Mayorov told AutoTalk an electrical fault caused the fire, which was noticed by a passing mo-torist at 7am on March 6.

March 8 Truckometer shows heavy traffic dip Heavy traffic fell 2.5% in Febru-ary after a strong start to the year, according to the ANZ Truckometer Heavy Traffic Index.

The light traffic index also eased a further 0.2% month-on-month, its third consecu-tive fall.

March 9 Decision surprises Motorcentral Motorcentral director Mena Eskander is surprised at the Commerce Commission’s decision to decline Trade Me’s

bid to buy the dealer manage-ment system provider.

“Naturally this isn’t the decision that we had been expecting,” Eskander told Au-totalk.

The General gets heavy General Motors has revealed a new range of Class 4, 5 and 6 cab trucks in the United States.

Fleet buyers will have more options against the Ford F-Series and Dodge Ram range, based on the 2019 Chevrolet Silverado in 4500HD, 5500HD and 6500HD variants.

The latter is the biggest Silverado the Detroit auto giant has ever made. It was unveiled at the World Truck Show, with production to start later in 2018 at Navistar’s factory in Springfield, Ohio.

March 12 Opposition transport spokesman Botany MP Jami-Lee Ross has been promoted as senior whip and new opposition spokes-man for transport and infra-structure.

He replaces Papakura MP Judith Collins who moves up the National Party list to fourth place and will tackle housing and urban develop-ment.

March 13 Stink bug source unconfirmed Exactly how stink bugs made their way on to vehicle carriers in Japan is still being inves-tigated by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

A ministry spokesman says at this point it can’t definitively say whether the

http://www.heiwa-auto.co.jp


DIARYTALK


bugs stowed away on used vehicles, new vehicles, heavy vehicles or the ships them-selves.

Yorston recognised for fostering children Long-time industry figure Malcolm Yorston and his wife Brenda have been recognised for more than 36 years foster-ing children.

Malcolm, who is Imported Motor Vehicle Industry As-sociation technical manager, travelled to Wellington with his wife to receive the Excel-lence in Foster Care award from minister for children Tracey Martin.

“You don’t foster children to get awards,” Yorston says.

March 14 First meeting for $3 billion fund The first official discussions have been held for the newly launched Provincial Growth Fund (PGF).

The fund’s independent advisory panel held its inau-gural meeting in Wellington.

The $3 billion scheme was announced by regional eco-nomic development minister Shane Jones last month and will be rolled out over three years.

March 15 Bridgestone fundraising success Bridgestone New Zealand has proven its commitment to new charity partner Leukaemia & Blood Cancer (LBC) New Zealand.

Last year’s “Brighten Your Wheels” campaign raised $50,049.33 by selling teal LBC New Zealand tyre valve caps.

LBC New Zealand chief ex-ecutive Pru Etcheverry says the charity is thrilled with how the partnership is developing.

Sepang Express in Auckland Stink bug-affected vehicle

carrier the Sepang Express has landed at the Ports of Auck-land.

It will eventually undergo a controlled, deck by deck dis-charge of vehicles supervised by the Ministry for Primary Industries.

The ship’s arrival follows the departure of the Tokyo Car, which left Auckland last week.

March 16 Greens consider EV options The Australian Green Party has outlined a raft of initiatives to promote the uptake of electric vehicles but its New Zealand counterpart is still considering what’s next.

Across the ditch, the Aus-tralian Greens want all of the country’s new vehicle sales to be electric by 2030, the removal of tariffs, stamp duty and GST on new EVs, three years’ free registration and the establishment of a fund to expand the charging station network.

March 19 Winning focus on young drivers Improving the driving skills of 15 to 19-year-olds is the theme that helped team Licence Me claim first prize at NZ Transport Agency’s first ever hackathon.

The team proposed creat-ing an app to incentivise safe driving behaviour in teenag-ers on restricted licences.

Twelve groups competed at the event in Auckland to develop and pitch their ideas for making New Zealand roads safer.

Sepang Express discharges vehicles Up to 30 vehicles a day are being taken off the stink bug-affected Sepang Express.

The Ministry for Primary Industries told AutoTalk it is checking cargo samples from two decks, with 24-30 units being processed each day.

March 20 Increased biosecurity challenging Vehicle carriers that originated in or visited Japan are spend-ing up to three times as long unloading, causing a juggling act for Ports of Auckland.

Ships such as the recently arrived Trans Future 7 and Triton Ace must be inspected by the Ministry for Primary Industries, undergo barricade fogging and then be re-in-spected to prevent stink bugs coming into New Zealand.

Port spokesman Matt Ball says vessels are now in port for up to 72 hours each visit, com-pared with 12 to 24 hours.

March 21 Cockram moves dealerships Christchurch’s Cockram Motor Group is moving several of its central city dealerships.

The half a city block bordered by Durham, Tuam and St Asaph streets currently houses dealerships selling Hyundai, Isuzu, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Fiat, plus sev-eral motorcycle brands, Stuff reports.

IPO option for UDC Finance company UDC could be listed on the NZX, its owner ANZ has announced.

The bank says it will explore the possibility of an initial public offering (IPO) as part of a range of strategic options for UDC’s future.

ANZ tried to sell UDC to Chinese company HNA earlier this year but the transaction was turned down by the Over-seas Investment Office.

March 22 Nissan probes battery degradation Nissan says it’s investigating allegations of excessive deg-radation in Nissan Leaf 30kWh batteries.

A thorough internal investigation is being held,

Nissan New Zealand manag-ing director John Manley told The Listener after it featured a story on the issue.

An automotive industry meeting on March 22 was to discuss the battery matter and whether it is a global issue, first raised in a Flip the Fleet report.

March 26 Nissan plans a million EVs a year Nissan plans to launch increas-ing numbers of electrified vehicles, expand and evolve autonomous driving systems, and accelerate vehicle con-nectivity.

One target is to sell a mil-lion electrified vehicles a year by the 2022 financial year.

They will be either pure electric or models with e-Power powertrains as part of its Nissan M.O.V.E to 2022 midterm plan.

Dealership footprint expandsThere are plenty of changes at Andrew Simms’ central and east Auckland dealerships.

East Auckland is set to get its own Mitsubishi dealership as of April 1, replacing the current Haval and Great Wall site, which is getting a major overhaul.

As a result, Haval and Great Wall will move to 253 Great South Rd in Greenlane, Andrew Simms dealer principal Mat-thew Wales says.

March 27 VW dealer of the year Ebbett Volkswagen Hamilton has been recognised as the brand’s best New Zealand




DIARYTALK

AussieTalk Diary AutoTalk Australia’s editor Scott Murray looks at the month gone by on autotalk.com.au

autotalk.com.au/subscibe

All the HOT NEWS every day as it

happens

autotalk.co.nz/subscribe

All the HOT NEWS every day as it happens


dealership for the second year running.

Seventeen dealerships were represented at the awards event at Auckland Museum.

March 28 Fairview Motors top Mazda dealer Waikato’s Fairview Motors has won Mazda’s 2017 Dealer of the Year for the fifth time.

All areas of the dealer-ship operation are evaluated, including vehicle and parts

sales, service department performance and customer satisfaction results.

Mazda New Zealand man-aging director David Hodge says the team at Fairview Motors has built a formidable reputation for excellence right across the board.

Not sold on regional fuel taxThe Government may have introduced legislation that will allow for a regional fuel tax in Auckland but a new survey shows the city’s motorists aren’t convinced.

The survey of 2300 AA members was designed to shed light on public views on the regional fuel tax and other areas of in the council’s 2018 Long-Term Plan.

AA spokesman Barney Irvine says the survey results show that, as the regional fuel tax becomes more real, many people are having doubts.

March 29 Drive happy with Toyota NZ Toyota New Zealand has made a massive change in how it does business with custom-ers and dealers, switching to an agency model with fixed prices.

Dubbed the “Drive Happy Project”, the move comes with a raft of updates to the brand’s operations, includ-ing a revised website, test drive systems and fixed-price service plans with offers of warranty extensions.

“Our way of business needs to evolve to align with our customers’ expectations,” Toyota New Zealand chief executive Alistair Davis says.

AI world changing Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the world.

Experts told more than 500 people at the AI-Day event

in Auckland on March 28 just how those changes are being made.

AI applies to all, from indi-viduals to businesses and pro-jects like autonomous vehicles, they say.

Industry shift ‘radical’The motor industry and per-sonal mobility are changing radically and Toyota says it’s adapting its overall business to keep pace.

“Vehicles have until recent-ly always been powered by an internal combustion engine, either petrol or diesel,” Toyota New Zealand chief executive Alistair Davis says.

“Outside factors – climate change and regulations requir-ing less or no emissions - are starting to have a big impact on the future of our industry.”

March 12Volkswagen emissions ‘excessive’The Australian Automobile Association has found Volk-swagen vehicles continue to emit excessive emissions and consume greater amounts of fuel than advertised, even after being recalled.

The AAA says its 2017 real-world emissions report shows some vehicles burning up to 14% more diesel post-recall rectification and con-tinuing to produce 400 times more noxious emissions than laboratory testing results.

March 15No money in the metal Research organisation De-

loitte supports the notion that dealers make little profit on new car sales.

Deloitte partner Karen Den-Toll says a considerable portion of dealership profits are derived from insurance and finance, not the cars themselves.

“They don’t make money from the metal anymore,” Den-Toll told an insurance industry conference.

March 16Haval ‘ready for fuel cell’Haval has become the first Chinese automaker to join international group the Hy-drogen Council.

Haval Australia told AutoTalk the brand’s ambi-tion is to sell in the European market by 2021 and joining

the fuel cell ranks will have trickle-down effects Down Under.

March 19Old cars in more fatal crashes The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) warns the likelihood that older vehicles will be involved in a crash has shot up.

ANCAP is calling on the Government to be-gin a national dialogue about replacing millions of 15-year-old vehicles – which rarely feature airbags or basic electronic stability control systems – in favour of newer, safer ones.

Vehicles at the 15-year or older threshold are four times more likely to be involved in a fatal crash than vehicles up to five years old, according to 2014-2016 crash data.

March 22‘Unfair’ car loans under fireWestpac has been targeted by the Royal Commission into Australian banking and lend-ing services.

A review found Nalini Thiruvangadam, a casual worker on Centrelink benefits, was rejected eight times for a car loan before receiving finance through a dealership, Reuters reports.

Thiruvangadam told the commission she was ap-proved by Westpac before immediately struggling to afford $259 fortnightly repay-ments.



DIARYTALK

TransportTalk DiaryTransportTalk New Zealand editor Nigel Moffiet looks at the month gone by on www.transporttalk.co.nz

EVTalk Diary EVtalk New Zealand editor Geoff Dobson looks at the month gone by on www.evtalk.co.nz

March 5Shipping service moves kiwifruitOne of the world’s largest shipping lines is set to trans-port kiwifruit out of Northland.

The Geneva-based Medi-terranean Shipping Company will move kiwifruit to Singa-pore through a new service starting at Marsden Point’s Northport, the NZ Herald reports.

March 7Mainfreight celebrates 40 yearsNew Zealand logistics and transport company Main-freight is gearing up for its

40th anniversary.The business was founded

by Bruce Plested in a 1969 Bedford truck. It went on to become a global supply chain operation with more than 240 branches around the world.

It celebrated the special milestone on March 6.

March 16New route to replace gorgeA new State Highway 3 route has been earmarked to re-place the closed Manawatu Gorge.

The NZ Transport Agency has selected a preferred op-tion which runs near the Te Apiti carpark western entry thats across the Ruahine

Ranges north of the gorge, before emerging at Wood-ville.

It was one of four options presented to connect the Manawatu, Tararua District, Hawke’s Bay and northern Wairarapa regions after the gorge road was cut off by large slips last year.

March 19Shell to sell off NZ assetsShell has reached an agree-ment to sell its New Zealand assets to Vienna-based oil and gas company OMV.

The US$578m deal in-cludes eight Shell NZ entities including Shell Explora-tion NZ, Taranaki Offshore Petroleum Company of NZ, Energy Petroleum Taranaki, Energy Petroleum Holdings, Shell Taranaki, Energy In-frastructure, SNZ (2011) and Energy Petroleum Invest-ments Ltd.

It includes a 48% stake in New Plymouth’s Pohokura gas field, the largest of its kind in New Zealand, and an 84% stake in the Maui gas field.

March 22Dealership’s conduct ‘misleading’Engine problems and an odometer reading dispute have seen a Napier-based commercial vehicle dealer-ship in trouble with the Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal for “misleading conduct”.

Truck dealership Kobe Export was ordered to pay just over $54,000 to com-plainant Evan Ball in a recent MVDT ruling.

Ball bought a 2010 Toyota Dyna truck with just 32,335 kilometres on its odometer from the company in March 2017 for $49,900.

March 1Gas-guzzler changed to electricMercury has used Kiwi ingenu-ity to convert a gas-guzzling 1957 Ford Fairlane to plug-in electric.

March 6EVs close to 8000 goalNew Zealand’s EV fleet size is closing in quickly on this year’s 8000 target, reaching 6884 in February.

All light EV registrations for the month were 281, com-pared with 230 for February last year, latest Ministry of Transport figures show.

March 7All-electric bus a firstThe first fully battery-powered electric bus took to Auckland roads on March 7, servicing AUT’s Northcote and Manukau campuses.

March 14Pilotless air taxi trial Hailed as the world’s first self-piloted electric air taxi, the “Cora” is undergoing tests in Canterbury.

Zephyr Airworks unveiled the autonomous aircraft which has vertical take-off and landing ability and can travel 100km.

March 22

Battery degradation probeNissan says it’s investigating allegations of excessive deg-radation in Nissan Leaf 30kWh batteries.

A thorough internal investigation is being held, Nissan New Zealand manag-ing director John Manley told The Listener after it featured a story on the issue.

An automotive industry meeting is planned to discuss the matter and whether it is a global issue, first raised in a Flip the Fleet report.

March 26Tourists share EV storyThe New Zealand EV com-munity’s enthusiasm and de-termination has inspired two French students during their seven-month “ecolectric” EV tour which started in January.

Heloise de Bokay and Solene Trinquet checked out the Leading the Charge

EV road trip while in Nelson they have shared New Zea-land’s EV story through their “News&Land” website and social media.

March 28Cheapest new plug-inToyota New Zealand has launched the cheapest new plug-in vehicle available on the market - its Prius Prime model.

A single version is available at $48,490 drive-away, $5500 less than the retail price of a Hyundai Ioniq plug-in hybrid.

March 29Conversion workshop opensWaste Management NZ has opened the country’s first workshop dedicated to converting diesel trucks into electric vehicles.

Moana Blueare turning a little

green!

Moana Blue’s world class vehicle inspection services now offer

EV Battery Checks for total peace of mind.

www.moana-blue.com

http://www.moana-blue.com

Toyota ‘dealerships’ Turners here to stay introduces · 2019-09-24 · loyalty scheme that...

Documents

Transcript of Toyota ‘dealerships’ Turners here to stay introduces · 2019-09-24 · loyalty scheme that...