THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE Australia’s Best Cars ...

VOLUME 2 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 2016THE VEHICLE DEALERrsquoS NEWS SOURCE

INSIDE

5 10

Things to consider when buying or selling a dealership 3

QampA AHG managing director Bronte Howson 5

Hino delivers the goods 10

Strong start to 2016 sales 21

Australiarsquos Best Cars is the largest independent new car assessment and awards program in Australia

It puts more than 180 vehicles through their paces each year against criteria such as lsquovalue for moneyrsquo lsquode-sign and functionrsquo and lsquoon the road performancersquo

When questioned on the challenges stemming from the axing of key VW Audi and Skoda models from the awards Mark Borlace chief judge of Australiarsquos Best Cars told AutoTalk ldquoThis decision required that additional scoring and vehicle assessment work be under-taken and this obliged the AAA to postpone the programrsquos November launch until the New Yearrdquo

Borlace notes that the environment aspect of the score is ranked as critical in all categories rdquoIt is central to what wersquore assessingrdquo he says

Now in its 17th year the program continues to evolve to meet the

changing needs of the market This was evident in the disruption to the 2015 program caused by issues regard-ing emissions compliance and the use of so called lsquodefeat devicesrsquo in several

million Volkswagen Group vehicles worldwide

The AAA Board formed the view that the program could not accurately or fairly assess Volkswagen Group vehicles against each criterion and as a result Volkswagen Audi and Skoda vehicles were unable to be considered in this yearrsquos

programBorlace says ldquoThe program has

also adapted to emerging trends in the AWD SUV categories where buyer preference has shifted to the more expensive premium versions of these models as consumers perceive they represent better value for money than base models

ldquoThis has resulted in a need to increase our price brackets for two

Australiarsquos Best Cars puts safety first - axes VW Audi Skoda modelsThe Australian Automobile Association (AAA) has unveiled the 45 finalists in the 2015 Australiarsquos Best Cars awards with the notable omissions of Volkswagen Audi and Skoda models due to the ongoing emissions diesel engine scandal affecting Volkswagen By Max Pichon

categories up by $5000 to ensure like cars are compared in each categoryrdquo Borlace says

In Borlacersquos view a key standout indicator for this yearrsquos finalists is the lsquovalue for moneyrsquo aspect as he notes ldquoValue for money appears to be in-creasing as new models are increas-ingly coming out with more features at the same or lower price than in previous yearsrdquo

When AutoTalk asked Borlace if there will be any particular models which offer the best value for money when it comes to return on investment and resale value he adds ldquoThis is a hard one for us to examine as return on investment or re-sale value on private vehicles is subject to so many factors including the condition of individual cars mileage and the needs of both buyer and seller Itrsquos also made harder to quantify when there are hun-dreds of vehicles being judgedrdquo

Ultimately Borlace believes that it is crucial that carmakers and dealer-ships provide accurate and transpar-ent information to prospective car buyers in their car purchase journey as there are legal consumer protec-tions in place about product disclo-sure which both dealers and manu-facturers are expected to abide by

ldquoBeyond that manufacturers and dealers need to ensure that for the health of their own business they at-tain and maintain the trust of custom-ers by giving them accurate and up-to-date information about the car they are looking to purchaserdquo he says

Mark Borlace

Continued on page 8

2 | AUTOTALKCOMAU | FEBRUARY 2016

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NEWSTALK

A five-step guide on what to consider when buying or selling

a dealershiphas been put together by leading auto-motive software solution provider Pentana Solutions

According to Pentana ldquoFor those considering buy-ing or selling a dealership or site for the first time it can be quite an excit-ing yet thorough process to ensure the transition is smooth

ldquoBefore anything in the dealership can be touched itrsquos important to know the settlement date Why Because until settlement the current owner (seller) has the legal rights to the all of the property includ-ing networks servers data inventory and donrsquot forget the premises itselfrdquo

Pentanarsquos five basic com-ponents and how theyrsquore effected during a buysell agreement are

Licensing and networksCompleting paperwork

surrounding the purchase or sale of a business is a tricky and comprehensive task Yoursquoll see many pieces of paper however there will be a couple of significant pieces which yoursquoll want to pay close attention to

This will reduce the amount of stress which will (we acknowledge there will be some stress) arise as the lsquogo liversquo date gets closer and closer

Whether it be the OEM approval for a Dealer Code or becoming a Licenced Motor Car Trader itrsquos vital

to ensure all of the relevant paperwork is approved and licences are accredited

Have the rights to the DMS including licences been included in the sale Or will this be another small additional cost that over the course of the project seem to continuously sneak into the cost of buying a busi-ness Donrsquot forget about the very basics of a network yoursquoll need to source a reli-able internet and phone line provider as these are key to the efficient operation of internal programs as well as customer communication

DataFor some people data

can be quite confusing and furthermore a daunting aspect of the process even though itrsquos a really exciting time Two things are very important here data can only be converted after set-tlement regardless of how hard you push

Consider appointing a project manager whorsquos technically financially or CRM-minded that can set the foundations right and yoursquoll avoid many headaches later on Any data that will be carried over from the sale such as debtor bal-ances for example will have some information which will be valuable to the success of your new acquisition

InventoryDo you know exactly

what inventory you plan to keep on the site Have you done any market research to assist with stock predic-

tions Pentana Solutions believes the best success will come from spending some time researching the area and configuring the stock required

To assist with stock ordering try and get an understanding of historical sales and yoursquoll keep your customersrsquo satisfaction high by avoiding out-of-stock items

MarketingCutting the fancy red

ribbon with some oversized scissors is quite an experi-ence However once the party popper mess has been cleaned up and the day begins there will be high expectations on perfor-mance While other com-ponents of the transition process can only be started when legal documents are settled the promotions can begin straight away

Create a marketing plan that will have people at the door at the time of opening Include in that same plan how you will retain these

customers and perhaps even how to consider them in the fun of opening the dealership If you can create an efficient marketing plan that begins right on day one you wonrsquot necessarily need to work as hard on your marketing later on

Staff (management)If possible allocate a team

of staff who have the appro-priate experience to handle the change Yoursquove spent a fair amount of money getting to this point and now itrsquos go-ing to rely on people behind the desks to assist with the strategies in place

Ensure all staff have had the appropriate training on the policies procedures and workflow through the relevant dealership areas Ensuring everyone knows how to operate the DMS is also very important

To contact Pentana Solu-tions about this article or any of their software solu-tions please go here httpwwwpentanasolutionscomcontact

Five things to consider when buying or selling a dealership


NEWSTALK

AutoTalk Magazine and autotalkcomau are published by Auto Media Group Phone 1800 125 620ABN 37 51360 734

autotalkcomau

autotalkconz

dieseltalkconz

carandsuvconz CAR amp SUV

JOURNALIST

Max Pichon

+61 403 932 864

maxautomediagroupcomau

MANAGING EDITOR

Richard Edwards

+64 21 556 655

richardautomediagroupcomau

PUBLISHER

Vern Whitehead

+64 21 831 153

vernautomediagroupcomau

SALES MANAGER

Dale Stevenson

daleautomediagroupcomau

OPERATIONSMANAGER

Deborah Baxter

deborahautomediagroupconz

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

AutoTalk How have both the Australian and NZ markets per-

formed for AHG in 2015 and what is your view of how they will perform this year

BH The auto division saw a 14 increase year-on-year in 2015 so it was an exceptional year for AHG Certainly the New Zealand market has been exceptional for us A lot of the uplift has been from our acquisition of the Davie Motors busi-ness in Manukau where wersquove rebuilt the Holden dealership and added a Nissan franchise We have made a considerable investment there which has lifted our perfor-mance in New Zealand and has also raised the profile of AHG

When we look at the market today and the confidence in New Zea-landrsquos economy we have definitely benefited from being in Auckland which is a major hub

In Australia the East Coast is performing very well but the West Coast is down and that is a readjustment We have been outperforming the market in WA but with the resource sector coming off as dramatically as it has that has seen a reduction in not only the business sector but in the private sector as well

It has really affected the North West region of WA where exploration con-tracts have ceased so many people - mainly fly in fly outs - have been leaving WA

AutoTalk Do you see the NZ market as a growth market in 2016

BH We think the New Zealand market is looking good for growth and we are looking at expanding mainly in and around the immediate area of Auckland We think there is a massive growth opportunity especially in West Auckland We acquired the Nissan dealership in West Auckland recently from Sime Darby and the inten-tion is to grow in that area

We will be making some announcements for expan-sion plans in the next few months for that particular area

AutoTalk Do you have any specific further acquisi-

tions planned for Australia and NZ in the next 12 -24 months

BH In Australia we are always looking out for areas of investment in the auto in-dustry and thatrsquos not limited to car dealerships

With the changes oc-curring today especially with ASIC we need to stay ahead of the game We are a leader in the field and there will be changes coming in the next year or two in the finance world Acquisition wise we plan to continue to expand and have firm intentions of growing our automotive footprint

AutoTalk Are you actively seeking any new acquisitions in Australia and NZ at the moment BH Apart from the West

Auckland area we think around the Manukau area is a great place to expand the business Also around Botany we believe there is going to be an auto growth hub out there We are see-ing Toyota Hyundai and other manufacturers around that area so we are look-ing closely at those areas in 2016

AutoTalk How do you see the used car sales mar-ket in Australia in terms of current and future outlook and do you have any par-ticular expectations on how

QampA AHG managing director Bronte Howson

Continued on page 5

Bronte Howson


PEOPLETALK

Continued on page 6

many used cars you might sell this year

BH Used cars will con-tinue to be strong The situ-ation with used car imports is in the hands of politicians to see whether or not we will create a used car import market

We think as the popula-tion grows in Australia and the East Coast keeps going strongly then the market will continue to be strong

In terms of the used car market we will start to see what is happening in the American model like the CarMax model and also the Gulliver big used car sheds in the New Zealand market where you have fixed price servicing

We expect our used car division to grow last year we sold just under 120000 new and used vehicles we expect that to grow to 10-12000 more vehicles in 2016 Of the 2015 total 40000 were used vehicles and 80000 were new That includes trucks as well

AutoTalk Does AHG have any projectsservices in the pipeline when it comes to improvements in customer experience and making the car purchase smoother for both the customer and the dealer

BH Facilities are very im-portant and even though we are moving more and more into a digital space where people are buying online a majority of buyers still want to come into dealerships and look at the vehicle

Most people are re-searching online but 70 of people in a survey by EY went to the dealership to do the final transaction We are seeing a transition which started around five years ago when 100 of people went to the dealership

The importance of the customer experience is not only buying the vehicle the next step is how we present the aftersales service to that person We donrsquot want to sell them a car and forget about them we want them to keep coming back to the dealership and service their car and want them to stay in touch and keep coming back to us

We want them to feel that itrsquos not just a sale Digital is where the world is going and we have dedi-cated people looking at the latest systems In Australia we have the disruptors - like Carsguide carsales and Gumtree - and brokers who can source the best price on a vehicle

So when we are looking at these areas and disrup-tion we need to make sure that we are not letting our business slip We need to be able to participate in those areas and we are very aware of where we need to be in the future particularly in the online and digital world

AutoTalk How impor-tant is maintaining a close relationship with your dealer networks and recognising the efforts that dealership staff put into day-to-day management

BH From an AHG point of view it is very important

We have spent a lot of money and time in train-ing We bring in our senior New Zealand employees for training in Australia and also with the NADA courses in the US we will have three of the NZ dealer principals going to participate which is the first time we have had anyone from New Zealand travel over to the US NADA seminars

We look at other train-ing programs through the year whether it be for sales

people finance people or our DPs - we make sure that they get the right training

AutoTalk What area(s) of your business do you look most forward to targeting in 2016 from the ones men-tioned below And which one do you think has the biggest room for improve-ment in 2016 bull Increasing profits in new

and used car sales bull Focus on customer ser-

vice and buyer attitudes bull Improving and stream-

lining internal opera-tions

bull Improvements in FampI and aftersales (service and parts repairs) de-partments

bull Focus on new technol-ogies to drive sales and increase productivity

BH AHG is a corporate body acting as a support mechanism for the dealer network We have a COO in WA and NZ in Tony Salerno and we also have Chad Davies who controls NSW Queensland Newcastle and Victoria So it is 5050 split They have support groups that specialise in sales ser-vice and finance and then we have the parts section of the business

Finance is probably one area where we wonrsquot see change in the next 12 months but we will cer-tainly see change after that and we need to be prepared for that change

Service will continue to grow at dealerships espe-cially because manufactur-ers are continuing to drive people back with extended warranty programs They as-sist us in the service depart-ment and we need to get smarter at doing that

We have to aim at higher retention at AHG we have a retention in our service of new vehicles of 70 and we

need to continue to grow that You will never get 100 because you sell vehicles to people who will service outside of where they buy the car or they will change where they live or work in that three year period

For us service is a big area and I believe in the future the model will come with manufacturers be-cause we canrsquot continue to invest in high value prop-erties in high value real estate areas What you will see is that OEMrsquos will need to arrive at an aggregated model where there will be dealer points for sales but more points for service

I think New Zealand in some ways with Ford and Mazda were 10 years in front of the game When you look at the amount of Ford dealerships there are now three in Auckland from eight Mazda also has three dealerships in Auckland but we continue to have more satellite service centres than dealers Thatrsquos cer-tainly proven to be the right model

Hence you will see the Ford and Mazda New Zealand models growing in Auckland and we would like to grow that and we will also continue to see larger and upgraded satellite service centres We have got that in Holden and Nissan in Manukau and Botany

We would like to replicate the New Zealand model here in Australia which would be an interesting change if it happens as we are seeing manufacturers like Ford and Holden rationalising

AutoTalk Where do you see AHG in the next five years and what is your outlook on the automotive industry for the short and long term

Continued from page 4


PEOPLETALK

BH I think we have a very strong growth path In the last 10 years we have gone from AUD15 billion revenue to closer to AUD6 billion So I think our next phase of growth will be just as exciting as the last 10 years

We also have a logistics division we are the larg-est integrated refrigerated transport and cold storage company in Australia and we want to keep grow-ing that area We are the importer of KTM motorcy-cles in Australia and New Zealand - that part of the

business is growing with the KTM model range ex-panding

AutoTalk Do you believe that there is a link between Ford Toyota and Holden closing down and that having an impact on dealer sales in Australia

BH Not at all All three have worked out their model of importing and the manufacturers will make more money You only have to look at Mit-subishi Chrysler as a recent example of how they have expanded their dealer range and they pulled out of Australia more than five

years ago and they have lifted their market share

Another example is Ford with the recent introduc-tion of the Mustang and their biggest seller being the Ford Ranger which is made overseas Holden is in the same boat with their Colorado and a lot of the Opel rebadged vehicles that will be coming out

Manufacturers wonrsquot be relying on GM in America they are global manufac-turers particularly smaller SUVrsquos from multiple manu-facturers who are building them in India and China Malaysia and Thailand That

side of the business will continue to grow

In the past Nissan and Mazda manufactured in Australia as well as Ford being manufactured in New Zealand in Manukau So manufacturers leaving actually strengthens their position

Australia is and will con-tinue to be an important market for GM Ford and Toyotarsquos global platforms We certainly have no fears of fewer sales in fact we have bought more Holden and Ford dealerships since they announced they were closing

QampA AHG managing director Bronte Howson Continued from page 5

Dealers FampI managers and finance brokers all need to be aware

of what finance providers look for when a consumer applies for credit

Here is Angelo Lourorsquos advice on both applying for and managing credit

As we all know Austral-ians on average have one of the highest debt levels in the world and now with my time in the industry - reviewing thousands of applications - I can say that most people donrsquot under-stand how to manage or apply for credit

The following article will cover off some relevant information that will as-sist consumers including

managing your credit and applying for credit

Managing your creditFirstly I would like to

start by saying that credit is a privilege and not a right I know it sounds harsh but I can tell you dealing with so many different lenders that this is how they think

Clients need to go through arduous processes on almost every transac-tion to obtain the funding they need and many clients I speak to often get dis-gruntled with their bank for instance

They feel like they actu-ally have a relationship with their bank and that automatically gives them

the right to ask for and receive (with minimal fuss) as much money as they request Although this may be true when dealing with local branches on transac-tions however remember they donrsquot have much say in the credit decision-making which is normally done by a specialist team

Financial Institutions base their decisions on lending on a series of crite-ria and matrixes which are formulated to give them the best return with minimal loss There is no emotional criteria around whether you are a good person or have had a hard time and need a break

They assess individu-als on their ability to repay based on information that is sourced through the client or through other means such as credit reporting - and other lenders the client has dealt with before - to assess their conduct on previous loans

Other factors they look at

Tips and tricks when applying for credit

Continued on page 7

Angelo Louro


PEOPLETALK

is why you require the fund-ing and what is the asset type and age and they will take into consideration what they would get for the asset if repossessed

Another important fact that most people in Aus-tralia arenrsquot aware of is that we have progressed into a positive or comprehensive credit reporting system which means that your credit is not only assessed on activity and losses but also your conduct is now reported by lenders and credit providers including telcos

This is a significant change to the system which has seen us move from a negative to a positive report-ing system that will report on both activities and will definitely change the way credit is provided

For more information on this new system you can visit the credit reporting body who outlines in more detail how this works httpswwwvedacomauinsightscomprehensive-credit-reporting-ccr

Now I thought it benefi-cial to give the reader some

concise tips on the ldquoDorsquos and Donrsquotsrdquo when managing your creditbull DO ensure you main-

tain all your accounts in order including telcos

bull DO join a credit report-ing agency such as Veda and get a sub-scription that notifies you of any accessing or changes to your credit file

bull DO ensure you always speak to your financial institution if you are experiencing difficulties in making loan repay-ments DO NOT ignore them

bull DO NOT make un-necessary credit applications or mul-tiple enquiries for the same purchase This is adversely looked at by lenders If unsure of loan type etc then I recommend you use a broker

bull DO NOT use a short term pay day micro or cash advance style lender Details about this are explained be-low

These are just some rec-ommendations on manag-

ing your credit but I recom-mend you do your own research

Short term pay day and cash advance lenders although they may disa-gree will hinder your ability to obtain credit even if you have an explanation Many of them call themselves a Personal Loan or Personal Lender but in fact the in-dustry see them differently Many will make the repre-sentation that a facility with them will be beneficial to the credit status which is absolutely incorrect

All lenders we have seen will automatically decline an application with a pay day lender on the credit file Basically the justification is that there are serviceability issues with the client if they need to get cash advances to sort out bills

Applying for CreditSo now that we have

covered off on some of the areas to be conscious of to assist in managing your credit I have outlined a few tips on how to apply for creditbull DO ensure that you are

truthful in your applica-

tion to a dealer lender or broker with your situation Supply correct information and details of all your activities loans etc

bull DO ensure you are prepared with all your information readily available including pay slips 3-months bank statements rates notice (if home owner) and de-tails of what you wanted funded

bull DO NOT apply at sev-eral lenders Deal with a broker if you are looking for options

bull DEAL with a broker if you are wanting a range of options

bull ADHERE to all the rec-ommendations I set out in the managing your credit section

As a broker I highly rec-ommend using a broker for all transactions because the finance application process can be tricky and could work against you if you are not thorough

It improves your chances of sourcing the best deal and enables more options for you in the purchase process


We deliver people that ARE NOT LOOKING FOR JOBS

When you are looking to recruit new senior staff you want the very best person available The very best are probably not looking to change jobs and thatrsquos where AutoTalk comes inWe reach people in senior management in the auto sales industry ndash the people that you need to recruit Thatrsquos why when Seek wonrsquot cut it people advertise their senior recruitment with AutoTalk

Talk to us today ndash and get the best deal on staff recruitment

DALE STEVENSON

daleautomediagroupconz+64 021 446 214

DEBORAH BAXTER

deborahautomediagroupconz+64 027 530 5016


NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley


Australiarsquos Best Cars puts safety first - axes VW Audi Skoda models

In regards to the broader effects of the VW emissions issue in Aus-tralia chief executive of the Australian Automobile Association (AAA) Michael Bradley told AutoTalk

ldquoThe actual data from each modelrsquos emissions test should be made pub-lic so the chances of a VW issue in the future can be minimisedrdquo

He also expressed his

concern that lab testing doesnrsquot give the true pic-ture of emissions ldquoItrsquos difficult to get accurate data in Australia as there is currently no vehicle emis-sions testing done hererdquo he told AutoTalk

ldquoThe AAA is investing $500000 in an 18-month research project into on-road testing

ldquoWe continue to call on the Australian Gov-

ernment to fund this project and indeed to urgently establish a routine on-road emissions testing program

ldquoA car is one of the biggest pur-chases most Aus-

tralians make and among the most important in terms of both cost to and the safety of themselves

and their families Our aim is to help more Australians choose the right car by giving them the informa-tion they need to make informed choices when buying a new vehiclerdquo Bradley concludes

The 2015 Australiarsquos Best Cars winners will be announced at 10am on February 25 at Sydneyrsquos Simmer on the Bay The event will be hosted by the NRMA

THIS YEARrsquoS 45 lsquoBEST CARSrsquo FINALISTS

GardX has received a remarkable endorsement for its range of car protection products

BMW in the UK has ditched its own lsquoseal and protectrsquo product in favour of GardX as the official supplier of paint and interior protection products

The announcement follows a review of the market by BMW UK and feedback from several BMW and Mini retailers on the current product and competition

This review prompted a full com-mercial tender Intensive product and application testing and commercial evaluation was carried out to ensure BMW UK sourced the best product for their retailers and customers

Richard Price aftersales director for BMW UK Ltd says lsquoThis partnership with GardX provides BMW and Mini retailers with a product that has ad-ditional customer and retailer benefits

and the full support of the GardX pro-fessional account management team

Shaun Fletcher managing director of GardX Australia told AutoTalk ldquoWe are delighted with the news which is an outstanding achievement for GardX as a brand and a great en-dorsement for the product We look forward to the flow on effect through the Australian markets over the next 12 monthsrdquo

Endorsement for car protection products


PEOPLETALK

AutoTalk As the new national engineering manager for Australia

where do you see the big-gest opportunities and chal-lenges for Penske to grow within Australia

RD Penske Power Sys-tems (PPS) have a well-es-tablished product portfolio that offers many opportuni-ties for growth in Australia and New Zealand

Our key markets are min-ing on-highway defence power generation marine and rail We see opportuni-ties in all of these sectors with each requiring a differ-ent approachbull In rail there is an ag-

ing engine population that will require either maintenance by way of a re-power or replace-ment of the whole unit

bull Pressure on mining costs is forcing asset life extension which favours our MTU and Detroit re-power business case

bull The on-highway engine market will grow with some encouragement based on two excellent products in the Detroit DD13 and DD15 These engines are designed from the start with EGR as an integrated system and offer emission compliance which does not require additional fluids to be carried ex-hibiting comparable op-erating costs with other

emission solutionsbull The weaker Austral-

ian dollar has assisted our local ship builders with signs of increased interest

bull Power generation ben-efits from a class-lead-ing product from MTU which has led to an increase in market share in this segmentPPS also boasts a range of MTU Detroit and Mercedes-Benz power units to deliver the best solu-tion in the range of ap-plications

The challenge is overcoming the established power system providers

AutoTalk You have many years experience and have been involved with some leading truck brands in Australia How important is this new role for you and do you have any key goals you want to achieve in this role

RD Firstly let me say that moving into a role that has been occupied by an icon of the industry Guy Mack-lan was not taken lightly I studied the company the products that they support the people that occupy the executive and any press that they have received before I decided to apply for the position

I already had some

knowledge of the company having worked with Guy for over 26-years and my study provided a very positive report I am impressed with the culture of the company and believe that the Penske group of companies across Australia and New Zealand deliver a positive atmos-phere to get things done

This role offers me an opportunity to grow further

in my knowl-edge of powered products and to provide PPS with a significant depth of experi-ence in engineer-ing management and on-highway applications

My key goal is to support the

PPS team in enhancing and establishing partnerships with our customers by hav-ing a team of competent engineers that can provide the right answers

AutoTalk How important is delivering quality train-ing for engineers and for service technicians in terms of product knowledge and customer service

RD Ongoing training and knowledge of the MTU Detroit and Allison product is the cornerstone of the business and in being able to deliver comprehensive solutions to our customers

Whilst the two roles have similarities it is important

that the roles are separateOur engineers need to

have the in-depth knowl-edge of the applications installations and capabili-ties of the product Creating the right package for the application by matching components designing installations and testing the solutions to ensure that the product delivers what is expected is the engineersrsquo task

A service technician then needs the knowledge of the product in its operation and an understanding of how the installation must be completed to deliver what the engineer has designed This will ensure that the customer receives what was promised

Once in service the technician must have the knowledge and expertise in each of the products so that down-time is minimised in the event of a stoppage

There must be a deep understanding between the engineers and the service technicians so that rela-tionship is also critical in the delivery of the project

AutoTalk How does Aus-tralia compare to other mar-kets in terms of engineering research and innovation and technology development

RD Many markets around the world look to Australia and New Zealand as the development test bed

QampA Ross Deves national engineering manager ndash Penske Power Systems

Continued on page 13

Ross Deves


NEWSTALK

A total of 4443 new trucks and buses were sold by Hino in 2015

making it a record break-ing year in terms of sales since the GFC sales levels of 2008

Hino also became the fastest growing brand in market share growth among the top 10 truck manufacturers in Australia with an increase of 8 in 2015

Hino Australia chief Steve Lotter attributed the boost in sales growth to implementing a new stra-tegic business plan which focused on supporting the dealer network and the roll-out of new initiatives aimed at improving the overall Hino customer experience

ldquoWe are more than happy with our results with a year-on-year increase of 96 Our best result was in the medium duty segment where we saw 20 growth and that was mainly from our high horse-powered 300 series and our 14-tonne auto models That was the highlight of the year for usrdquo he told AutoTalk

ldquoHeavy duty was down due to the mining down-turn in WA However this segment is still very important and the WA market share is very good it is tough over in WA these daysrdquo Lotter adds

Lotter believes that 2016

will be very competitive year and doesnrsquot think the mar-ket will grow to any great extent

ldquoWe have some new model upgrades in 2016 in the second half of the year with the 500 and 700 Series 2015 will be a consolidation year for us With trucks the upgrade or new model cycle is much longer than with cars Cars are every 4-5 years but with trucks itrsquos 10-12 yearsrdquo he adds

ldquoHowever in our light duty we are the only make with a full automatic trans-mission which is a distinct advantage and we still have ambitions to take more share regardless of whether we have a brand-new model or notrdquo

Renewed focus on rewarding the customer

A key aspect for contin-

ued growth for the Hino brand is the CRM aspect ldquoWe truly believe our new customer-focused business strategy has been the key to this successrdquo Lotter says

ldquoBy investing in programs such as lsquoHino Advantagersquo we are working towards devel-oping a business partnership that continues long after the truck is handed over We want to be a reliable busi-ness partner that delivers a great customer experience and a range of business advantagesrdquo

In December 2015 Hino revamped its lsquoadvantage re-wardsrsquo to recognise external trade repairers who pur-chase Hino genuine parts with extra lsquoVelocity Frequent Flyerrsquo points

Part of the Hino lsquoadvan-tagersquo program Hino rewards members with frequent flyer points when purchasing eligible Hino genuine parts

from a local participating Hino dealer with their trade account

As an extra incentive those who join the program before March 31 2016 will be eligible for double points on the first $1000 spent

A range of Hino genuine parts is eligible for rewards points from body panels to engine components and accessories

Further advantages for repairers purchasing Hino genuine parts include a 12-month 100000km war-ranty and a guarantee that the parts are designed to fit first time every time

Velocity rewards points are redeemable for flights accommodation complete holiday packages car hire and hundreds of other prod-ucts on offer at the Velocity rewards store

ldquoWe have focused on CRM a lot more and we set up Hino lsquocustomer care cen-trersquo which we didnrsquot have previously so we are com-municating and listening more directly to the voice of the customer and respond-ingrdquo Lotter says

ldquoWe are increasing the emphasis on digital me-dia and this year was our 50th year of the brand in Australia and we also sold our 100000th vehicle in November 2015 so it was a milestone yearrdquo

Hino delivers the goods on and off the roadHinorsquos focus on its 3S program ndash sales service and pare parts ndash and renewed attention to customer relationship management (CRM) programs - has paid off with a year-on-year sales increase of 8 By Max Pichon


Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n

AutoTalkrsquos senior

journalist Max

Pichon looks back at

the major stories in

the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY


January 2Competition in the Australian motor industry

The Malcolm Turnbull-led government has released its response to the Harper Review agreeing to adopt 44 out of 56 recommenda-tions and remaining open to the other 12 Respected economic commentators are describing the announcement as the biggest shakeup to the Australian economy in more than 20 years

Some of the opponents to competition in the motor ve-hicle industry have come out claiming that the announce-ment has spelt the end of debate on parallel imported vehicles however in reality the debate is only now just heating up Treasurer Scott Morrison has appeared in media interviews reiterat-ing that the government has rejected none of the recom-mendations

January 3WA Govt mulls key changes to MVD ActWA-based Consumer Protec-tion is seeking the commu-nityrsquos views about options for reforming the laws regulating motor vehicle dealers yard managers salespersons and motor vehicle repairers oper-ating in WA

The Motor Vehicle Dealers Act 1973 (MVDA) has been in place for several decades and was last reviewed in the late 1990rsquos with further amend-

ments implemented in 2002The laws impact consum-

ers who buy motor vehicles (including cars caravans camper vans and motor cy-cles) from dealers as well as consumers who have any of these vehicles repaired

January 4Behind The Wheel launches used car classifieds platformBehind The Wheel has signed up with Complete Dealer Services and also with Dealer Solutions to take used car dealer inventory ads as a way to offer the smaller used car market a cheaper way to post ads

The partnerships with CDS and Dealer Solutions will make it easier for used car dealerships to utilise BTWrsquos free classifieds

Behind The Wheel passes on the one-off monthly fee that CDS charges them which is $66 per month and that enables them to get the dealerrsquos feed from CDS and get their inventory Dealers can then go and out publicise as little or as many cars as they want

January 5Tesla sales rise second Sydney store on wayElectric car maker Tesla plans to open a second Sydney store in 2016 on the back of rising global sales

Tesla Motors delivered 17400 vehicles during the

fourth quarter of 2015 in line with its forecasts and a total of 50580 for the year

The number of Tesla S models sold in Q4 2015 consisted of 17192 Model S vehicles and 208 Model X vehicles

Dealer warranty scam leads to $40K fineA Sunshine Coast dealer will have to pay nearly $40000 in fines and restitution after being found guilty of various offences connected with his motor dealing business

Scott Peter Bain McVey proprietor of Save Cash Auto Brokers was found guilty on two counts of failing to supply goods by the Maroochydore Magis-trates Court one count of employing an unlicensed person and one count of making a false statement to an Inspector

McVey was convicted and fined $34000 and ordered to pay $5958 in restitution to two consumers affected by his offending

January 6Faraday shows off first concept hints at the futureThe much-hyped Faraday Future has received mixed responses to its reveal of it first concept car at the con-sumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas but is their future product hinted at in the carrsquos reveal video

The FFZERO1 is a single-seater FFrsquos variable platform architecture (VPA) a modu-lar engineering system for electric vehicles on which all future FF production vehicles will be based

A record sales year driven by SUVsNew car sales have reached a record high for 2015 thanks

to the rise in SUV sales which topped 408471 sales or 35 of the total new car sales market

In total Australians bought 1155408 new pas-senger cars SUVs and com-mercial vehicles in 2015

Vehicle sales in Decem-ber 2015 totalled 99616 up almost 3 on December 2014 sales

January 8Aussie firm to supply GM with Commercial Link Australian company Con-nexion Media has confirmed it will be the official supplier to General Motors (GM) for the Connexion Link vehicle management software app

Commercial Link will be offered to new vehicle buyers and small fleet owners as a Software as a Service (SaaS) subscription

Commercial Link allows car owners to check informa-tion including fuel consump-tion speed and driver behav-iour on their smartphones or a browser

Honda on top of motorbike sales in 2015Australiarsquos new motorcycle sales market remained steady in 2015 with motorcycle ATV and scooter sales reaching 108711 on par with 2014 figures

Honda was the largest selling brand in 2015 holding 225 of the total motorcy-cle ATV and scooter market with a total of 25535 sales for 2015 In second place was Yamaha with 214 of the market (23290)

Kawasaki was third with 98 (10675) Suzuki was fourth with 9 (9806) and Harley-Davidson rounded out the top five with 9 (9790)


DIARYTALK


January 11VW sales up in 2015 despite ongoing emissions scandalTotal sales of Volkswagen vehicles in Australia were not damaged by the German car makerrsquos emissions cheating scandal with the company selling nearly 10 more ve-hicles in 2015 compared to 2014

According to the latest Federal Chamber of Automo-tive Industries (FCAI) figures Volkswagen sales topped 60000 new vehicles in 2015 The German car-maker also sold 4750 Skoda cars (up from 3853) and 23088 Audis (up from 19227)

This is despite the world-wide emissions cheating scandal and recall of 11 million cars worldwide due to the presence of lsquodefeat devicersquo software designed to thwart lab emissions tests The com-pany admitted to cheating in September A class action in Australia has followed

Seven $600000 supercars sold in DecemberBrisbane car dealer Martin Roller knew 2015 was going to finish well when he sold seven $600000 Ferraris in the final month of the year

Everything from flashy Ferraris and Lamborghinis to family-friendly Fords and Mazdas are being driven off showroom floors in record numbers helped by all-time low financing rates increas-ing affordability and more fuel-efficient models

Queensland has had a bumper year when it comes to new car sales with a 5 rise in sales especially aided by the rise in the luxury and premium new car sales seg-ments

January 15SMR Automotive to cut 140 SA jobsUp to 140 jobs are set to go from South Australian (SA) car component manufacturer SMR Automotive (SMRA) by the end of March

The job cuts will see 110 labour hire contractors and 30 permanent employees lose their job at SMRA which is a quarter of SMRArsquos work-force

The job losses are largely a result of SMRA losing a major contract to supply mirrors to Ford trucks in the US

Digital ad spend drives Auto industry in 2015The automotive sector led mobile ad spending in 2015 as more and more people start their path to purchasing a car from their mobile phone or tablet

The latest Standard Media Indexrsquo (SMI) report shows that automotive ad spend within the Australian market grew by 8 in the third quar-ter of 2015 Overall Q3 auto expenditure remains stable at 132 the same as Q3 2014

Auto spending increased the most in the lsquodigitalrsquo sector which saw an increase of 26 followed by lsquoout of homersquo ad spending which grew 3 followed by lsquotelevisionrsquo which grew 2 The gains were slightly offset by drops in spending in newspapers (-4) radio (-10) and magazines (-5)

FCA denies inflating car salesShares in Fiat Chrysler Auto-mobiles tumbled in Milan and New York after two US dealer-ships filed a lawsuit accusing the carmaker of inflating car sales

The suit filed by deal-ers under the Illinois-based Napleton Automotive Group charges that the incen-tive programs from Italian

companyrsquos US unit FCA US rewarded dealerships that falsely reported higher car sales inflating the auto gi-antrsquos results

It charges FCA with racket-eering and fraud and said the companyrsquos practices unfairly harmed the two Napleton dealerships based in Illinois and Florida

January 18Iveco to expand dealer network after successful 2015The launch of Ivecorsquos lat-est Daily van and cab chas-sis range in mid-2015 has considerably strengthened the brandrsquos position in the Austral-ian light duty van and truck market according to full year Truck Industry Council (TIC) sales data

In the light duty van seg-ment Daily volume was up by almost 54 while in the light duty truck segment a volume increase of more than 4 was posted for combined sales of 869 units

According to the sales figures Iveco also increased its volume in the medium duty market by almost 11 although lost ground in the heavy market in keeping with overall market trends

SANT the most profitable states for car sales in NovemberDealer profitability as meas-ured by net profit as a per-centage of sales (NPS) was 15 for the average Australian dealer in November 2015 This was 02 down on the result of last month but 02 points up from November of last year according to Deloittersquos latest lsquodealer profitabilityrsquo report

The average NSWACT dealer profit (NPS) was 17 in November which was 02 less than the October 2015 result Used vehicle

sales dipped by 08 parts sales dipped by 12 and service sales saw an erosion of 27 The selling grossrsquo for these departments also came under pressure with the used vehicle selling gross suffer-ing the most and slipping by 63

The Larke Hoskins Honda sales empire strikes backLarke Hoskins Honda Home-bush finished 2015 as the big-gest selling Honda dealer in the country for a record sev-enth time with 1692 car sales just over 606 cars ahead and more than 6 months trading ahead of second place with 1086 The dealer however is still waiting to be recognised by Honda Australia

According to Larke Hoskins Homebush general manager Nick Karagian-nis the Homebush dealer-ship is ldquoThe least corporate looking of Honda dealers in the country and the show-room at Homebush was last refurbished in 1990 when it was officially opened by then Honda managing director T Nakamurardquo

ldquoItrsquos an old building with one wash bay and a very small workshoprdquo Karagiannis told AutoTalk

January 19Intelematics scores European ventureMelbourne-based Intelemat-ics has entered a joint venture with three of Europersquos largest motoring clubs to establish Intelematics Europe and deliv-er new connected car services to the European market

The AA PLC (UK) ANWB (the Dutch roadside assis-tance club) and OumlAMTC (the Austrian club) partnership with Intelematics will focus on the development of con-nected car services for the clubs and vehicle manufac-turers ndash from information and entertainment solu-



DIARYTALK

tions insurance services smartphone integration and remote support services

The first of the new connected car solutions is expected to be available to motorists later this year

January 20Mustang boom leads to inflated resalesWith the waiting list for the just-released new Ford Mustang stretching out to 12 months some customers are advertising their cars for more than $30000 above the $57490 retail price for the V8 coupe

At least four cars were found online advertised over the odds while some dealers are said to be making a more than healthy profit margin But there is nothing Ford Australia can do to stop them

If you are willing to wait 12 months then you will be able to choose between either a four or eight-cylinder engine

Itrsquos the first time a four cylin-der has been offered in the iconic car A 23-litre Eco-Boost or 50-litre V8 is also available for customers

January 21Unlicensed car dealer ordered to pay $15260An unlicensed Western Aus-tralian motor vehicle dealer has been fined $6000 by the Midland Magistrates Court and ordered to pay costs of $9260

After pleading not guilty the Bassendean man was found guilty at trial to the charge of buying and selling numerous vehicles between January 2012 and May 2013 without having a licence as required by the Motor Vehi-cle Dealers Act

The vehicles advertised on Gumtree and in theQuok-ka publication were sold from his Bassendean home and his former workplace in South Guildford

Continued from page 12 January 25Five stars for new Mercedes and JaguarThe new Mercedes Benz and Jaguar XE have both claimed 5-star results in the latest round of safety testing

The cars were awarded the rating by the Australasian New Car Assessment Pro-gramme with chief executive James Goodwin nothing both have high standards of au-tonomous safety technology

ldquoThese vehicles further demonstrate we are entering a new era of vehicle safety where the standard inclusion of safety assist technologies such as Autonomous Emer-gency Braking (AEB) will help to eliminate or reduce the severity of a crashrdquo Goodwin says

AP Eagers buys Queensland dealer networkAP Eagers has acquired the automotive retail businesses of the Crampton Automo-tive Group Itrsquos the second Toowoomba-based purchase by AP Eagers in two years buying Black Toyota Group in 2014

The businesses employ 170 staff and generate annual rev-enue of roughly $130 million

The group includes West-Star Motors and Toowoomba Holden operating in Toow-oomba and representing the MercedesndashBenz Hyundai Peugeot Citroen Performax HSV and Holden brands along with Port City Autos representing the Holden Subaru Chrysler Jeep Dodge and Isuzu Trucks brands in MaryboroughHervey Bay Queensland

Scania looks to rev up sales service momentum in 2016Scania Australia says it has had a successful 2015 after releasing figures for the year

which saw the truck company post 707 sales including 134 in December

Some of the key highlights for Scania in 2015 came not from sales but from increases in parts sales further success for its truck rental business and the launch of its driver services division

In addition to its truck deliv-eries Scania Australia delivered 297 new locally-built buses and factory fully-built Scania-Higer A30 school and charter buses

January 28 $190000 payout over waiting-list bungleA pensioner has successfully sued a United Kingdom car dealer over an error that saw him skipped on the waiting list for a rare car

According to The Tel-egraph Porsche Centre Bolton has been ordered to pay over $190000 to Kevin Hughes after selling the rare 911 GT3 RS 40 hersquod ordered to another buyer

Hughes has placed a $22000 deposit for the car of which only 30 were delivered in the UK Hughes was told he was ldquofirst in the queuerdquo if the dealership was allocated a car

RACV appoints new CEOThe Royal Automobile Chamber of Victoria (RACV) has appointed Neil Taylor as managing director and chief executive officer starting from March 1 2016

RACV president and chair-man Kevin White says Taylor has a strong track record of leadership and active engagement with members customers stakeholders and staff

ldquoNeil is a very experienced chief executive having led three quite different busi-nesses He began his career in the UK with BP living and working in five countries over 13 years

Whilst there may be significant RampD facilities in other markets the applications here provide challenges not seen in other regions and this provides a need for local research development and innovation

In many cases our market size determines the prior-ity that our needs are scheduled with OEMs In many cases this requires local development and innovation to meet the demand Many large companies have ac-knowledged this and have local engineering teams to support the local requirements

There are many companies across Australia and New Zealand now delivering around the world based purely on having to develop local solutions (These range from complex electronics to cooling packages)

I believe that there are many companies in Austral-ia and New Zealand that are world class in delivering best-practice engineering solutions worldwide and Penske Power Systems is definitely one of these

QampA Ross Deves national engineering manager ndash Penske Power SystemsContinued from page 9


NEWSTALK

Dealer and service centre expansion plans touted

At the moment Hino has 42 dealers across the coun-try independently owned ldquoThat is our business model we donrsquot have any intention to build or buy out dealers as opposed to Hino New Zealand where the dis-tributor does own the retail operation

ldquoOur business model is importer distributor and wholesaler In terms of the retail space over the next few years we will look to add a couple of deal-ers what we call 3S (sales service and spare parts) but also 2S (Service and Spare Parts) which means adding service and spare parts cen-tresrdquo Lotter told AutoTalk

ldquoIn some of the regional centres it doesnrsquot justify having a fully-fledged deal-er but you do need parts and service operation We have 16 2S operations and 42 3S operations and that model will continue We may add a couple more 3S dealers and may add three or four 2S operations

ldquoCurrently we are seeing growth happening away from the major metro areas You need to look at the outskirts of the major metro For example West-ern Sydney will be looked at and that will be the same around the major capitals In terms of regional centres we are represented in most and there may be a couple where we may need to look at a 2S operationrdquo

Remaining cautiously optimistic despite market conditions

When AutoTalk asked Lotter how he sees the truck market developing in Australia and if he has any particular expectations on how many models Hino will sell this year Lotter notes ldquoCurrently the age of Aussie truck fleets is quite old at around 14 years so there is clearly a lot of trucks being recycled

ldquoThe age of the fleet seems to have increased over the last couple of years and it may be related to the economy People might be choosing to repair their

truck or maintain their truck to keep it longer

Lotter also notes that the market is still well down on peak pre-GFC levels ldquoIt is about 25 under the peak levels of pre-GFC levels quite a different scenario to the passenger vehicle marketrdquo Lotter adds

ldquoThe truck market is more subject to economic conditions and certainly there appears to be a trend of people hanging on to their trucks longer and get-ting better utilisation of their existing fleet We would love to see the market get back to pre-GFC levels but it hasnrsquot happened yet

ldquoWe are cautiously opti-mistic and we think it will remain this way through to 2017 but it all depends on the economy For exam-ple light duty trucks are up 10 whereas the big trucks are down signifi-cantly

In terms of how many trucks Hino expects to sell Lotter believes that they can outperform the 4443 figure from 2015

ldquoWe would like to exceed that number and have our sights set on being 100 or so over the 2015 figure for 2016 - we are setting what we think is achiev-able growth At the moment while unemployment is low and interest rates are low then the economy will continue to be the same Itrsquos just a matter of how long it takes for things to get significantly better

ldquoThere is a lot of upside potential in the Austral-ian truck market once the economy recovers and the local economy adjusts from mining to construction and infrastructure

I think once those transitions happen there is no reason why truck sale volumes canrsquot get back to 200708 levels We just need to see a gen-eral change in both global conditions as well as local conditions

ldquoIt isnrsquot just about selling trucks itrsquos about keeping the trucks on the road and the 3S program will continue to be a key part of our push in 2016rdquo Lotter concludes


Hino delivers the goods on and off the road


NEWSTALK

With 10-15 of uberX applicants not owning a car or

having a vehicle older than nine years Splend is helping remove one of the barriers to entry for prospective ride-sharing applicants

Splend hosted a media meet and greet on Wednes-day February 3 at Bradfield Park in Kirribilli next to the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House and this provided a chance to meet drivers and CEO Chris King who spoke candidly about Splendrsquos mission

Splend is an Australian start-up founded by entre-preneur King and is helping open up economic op-portunities for hundreds of Australians looking to earn a flexible well paid income on the uberX platform

In just over six months Splend has helped more than 350 Australians access the economic opportuni-ties provided by the uberX platform ndash by offering uberX applicants the option to ac-cess a low-cost brand new and fully-insured vehicle as a service

The Splend vehicles are sourced and serviced primarily through Automo-tive Holdings Group (AHG) Australasiarsquos largest automo-tive retailer with 179 vehicle franchises at 102 locations across Australia and New

Zealand AutoTalk spoke to King

on how the Splend process works and he notes ldquoAll you need to do is submit the required paperwork which is ID a driverrsquos licence and submit a criminal and demerit point history check we then make sure that anyone who is provided with a vehicle is already approved by Uber just to make sure they are ready to go on the platform

ldquoThe process generally takes two or three days We are currently getting people up and running in 3 or 4 working days but we are trying to reduce that to an even quicker process hopefully within a few hoursrdquo

ldquoWe want to make sure that when they receive a Splend vehicle they are ready to earn an income

and log on to the app and start Uberingrdquo King says

To make it easier for the driver Splend also organ-ise scheduling servicing in advance with the driver and pay for the servicing If there is a breakdown or accident Splend has ac-cident management so the driver is able to call up and get a tow truck dispatched and the car gets taken to a repair centre

ldquoWe also have what we call a lsquopartner success repre-sentativersquo (PSR) an account manager who touches base with the driver on a monthly basis Depending on the situation the PSR can arrange within 24 hours a replacement vehicle free of charge so it doesnrsquot affect the driverrsquos work schedulerdquo King notes

In terms of state regula-tion in regards to Uber King

is confident that the remain-ing states will be 100 on board

ldquoSo far we have seen NSW TAS and the ACT on board We are now wait-ing for WA to sign on as they have noted they are willing to legalise Uber and we think that Victoria and Queensland will be on board by the end of the yearrdquo he says

With regulation gearing up in other states King ex-pects the number of Splend vehicles to be in the thou-sands on Australian roads by the end of the year from the just over 350 drivers cur-rently since they launched in July 2015

King also points out that New Zealand is on their radar ldquoWith Uber being so popular in New Zealand we are looking at the back end of this year or start of 2017 as a start date for New Zealandrdquo King says

AHG managing director Bronte Howson is pleased to be able to work with Splend to meet the needs of the rapidly changing ride- shar-ing sector

ldquoThe partnership offers Splendrsquos customers a broad range of vehicles and offers AHG exclusive sales and ser-vice volumesrdquo says Howson ldquoIt is a very positive partner-ship for both companies and an example of how AHG

Splend revs up to disrupt the ride-share marketAustralian based Splend is looking to disrupt the ride-share market as it gears up to find eager uberX drivers looking to earn extra income through its vehicle supply service By Max Pichon


Chris King Splend CEO


NEWSTALK

is well positioned to pro-vide vehicles and after-sales service to the emerging ride-sharing sectorrdquo

As the popularity of ride-sharing continues to increase King says Splend is along for the ride ldquoOne of the benefits of ride-sharing is the opportunity to be your own boss offering access to well paid income and a flexible timetable compared to taxi drivers who are locked into 12-hour shiftsrdquo he notes

Additionally to monitor driver accountability Splend has partnered with FleetRisk behaviour technology en-suring each driver is cog-nitively tested before their application is approved All Splend licensed vehicles are also fitted with Mercurien BetterDriver telematics to track on road behaviour and driver safety

ldquoWe use the on-board diagnostics port which measure how safe the driver drives the vehicle through four key metrics accelera-tion cornering braking and speeding Through that a score is generated we also look at how the driver is being unsafe and we provide monthly reports to the driverrdquo King adds

Splend has also in-troduced incentives for the safest drivers ldquoFor example we recently introduced a Tesla and the highest ranked driver gets to drive the Tesla for two weeks at no additional costs so you get to drive around in a $200000 car for being a safe and effi-cient driverrdquo King says

ldquoSplend aims to pro-

vide coaching and support to the driver through the PSR Ultimately we are try-ing to differentiate ourselves from being just a car rental company We are breaking down the barriers to entry for small business individuals getting into the ride-share marketrdquo he concludes

Benefits of a vehicle subscription service through Splend

1 Full service vehicle provider with no lock-in contracts At $275 per week Splend drivers have access to a new vehicle (valued at approx $40000) includ-ing registration stamp duty

business grade comprehen-sive and compulsory third-party (CTP) insurance and servicing This also includes the upgrade of a new vehicle every 12 months to ensure Splend have the best fleet on the road

2 Comprehensive insur-ance Splend has access to a fully comprehensive vehi-cle insurance for ride-shar-ing services to protect both drivers and passengers

3 Driver benefits and rewards drivers are incen-tivised by rewarding them with holidays and monthly rewards if they are meas-ured the safest driver by utilising the latest telemat-ics technology installed throughout the Splend fleet

4 Flexible lifestyle To offer as many people the opportunity to build their own business and be flex-ible enough to dictate their own working hours

Splend revs up to disrupt the ride-share market

Splend drivers



NEWSTALK

The current regulations sur-rounding what vehicles can and canrsquot be imported into Australia

were established in 2001 back when Australia was manufacturing healthy amounts of vehicles in factories owned by Toyota Ford Holden and Mitsubishi

The Specialist and Enthusiast Ve-hicle Scheme (SEVS) was written into the Motor Vehicle Standards Act and provided a pathway for low-volume new and used vehicles that met a set of criteria to be deemed eligible for importation into Australia

Bearing in mind that the mood of regulators was that of protection of local manu-facturing the first criteria point that must be satisfied under the current arrangements for SEVS is the vehicle must NOT be supplied under a full volume approval to the Australian market

A full volume approval in this context is referring to the certification obtained from a manufacturer or their representative to supply the Australian market with new vehicles in unrestrict-ed volumes

As standards harmonised around the world with the Australian market ob-taining a full volume approval became a reproduction of paperwork exercise as opposed to requiring additional test-ing to supply Australia

Armed with the knowledge that ob-taining a full volume approval would lock out a model from being eligible under the SEVS arrangements manu-facturers of even very low production vehicles pursue a full volume approv-al even if their projected volumes of sales in Australia were to fall short of 100 vehicles (the limit under the low-volume new scheme)

Vehicles such as a Lamborghini Gallardo which were supplied up until 2006 as a low-volume approval were converted to a full-volume approval even though Lamborghini Australia was struggling to sell 25 vehicles per year

let alone exceeding their 100 vehi-cles per annum approval limit Ironi-cally today an enthusiast can import a used 2006 Lamborghini Gallardo built in April 2006 but cannot import a Gallardo built in October 2006 This example highlights an anomaly where essentially the same car built in a dif-ferent month can be imported and the other canrsquot

Considering the loss of manufactur-ing in Australia what are we protecting by not allowing an enthusiast to import a vehicle of his or her choice which

meets the essence of a Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicle scheme

The current list of vehicles ap-proved under the current SEVS ar-rangements number more than 800 models however from this list only 20 models were imported in quanti-ties exceeding 20 units per annum in 2014 The list also contains vehicles which may not have been the original intention of regulators when drafting arrangements

Industry supports changes to leg-islation that would enable enthusiasts and vehicle collectors to be able to im-port vehicles that meet a new Specialist and enthusiast definition that focuses on the vehiclersquos attributes rather quali-fying eligibility on the modelrsquos supply to the Australian market by a distributor as a new vehicle This would allow Enthu-siasts access to import vehicles from other markets which may have been supplied to the Australia but in such small volumes that they arenrsquot available in the secondary market

The peak industry association for the Imported vehicle industry has released policy recommending minister Paul Fletcher adopt the following changes

to SEVS arrangements as part of the current review of the Motor Vehicle Standards Actbull Used imported vehicles to be

granted an entry on the Special and Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme register because they meet at least two of the following specialist criteria

bull Unique design featurebull Performance above mainstream

supplied vehiclesbull Power to weight ratio of more

than 105kwtonnebull Fuel consumption under

40L100kmbull Featured in a publication on the

specialist motor vehicle publica-tion register

bull Worldwide annual production of the model is less than 5000 units

Ultra low production vehiclesa Ultra-low production vehicle

where the Manufacturerrsquos total output worldwide is less than 500 units per annum

b Ultra-low production vehicles where the modelrsquos total produc-tion worldwide is less than 250 vehicles per annum

Ultra low production vehicles would be given an exemption on the following elements of compliancebull Requirement to be RHD ndash vehicles

could be supplied to market LHD if they are provided with lighting and signalling devices meeting Austral-ian standards including for driving on the left-hand side of the road

bull Requirement to meet ADR 6900 7200 and 7300

bull Remove the requirement the ve-hicle NOT be supplied under a full volume approval and rather focus on the vehicle meeting specialist criteria

AIMVIA also recommends the Act be amended to include measures for

Changes to the Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme

Article by Ross Pendergast vice president of the Australian Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (AIMVIA)



NEWSTALK

For the first time in nearly a decade concerns about reli-ability have increased as a reason

shoppers avoid certain models while exterior styling is both the top reason for consumers to purchase or not purchase a specific car model accord-ing to the JD Power 2016 US lsquoAuto Avoider Studyrsquo

The study now in its 13th year examines the reasons consumers purchase reject and avoid models in the market-place when shopping for a new vehicle This yearrsquos study measures shopping behaviour among new car buyers who purchased during 2015

Vehicle reliability has become a top consideration in deciding which vehicle to buy This year 55 of new-vehicle buyers cite reliability as a lead-ing purchase reason - the third-most frequently cited reason after exterior and interior styling - vs 51 in the 2015 study

Notably as recently as 2013 vehicle reliability was mentioned by just 48 of new-vehicle buyers as a reason for purchasing Reliability has also become a greater reason shoppers do not con-sider - or avoid - other models (17 in 2016 vs 14 last year)

ldquoThough vehicle reliability and durability have improved significantly over the years they remain a vital consideration for consumersrdquo says Dave Sargent vice president quality practice JD Power

ldquoWith so many auto recalls in the news and challenges with the intro-duction of new technology consumers are even more attuned to the expected reliability of new vehicles This impacts which models consumers avoid and which ones they ultimately purchaserdquo he says

ldquoBad news can tarnish an automak-

errsquos reputation in an instant yet can take years to build back up Automak-ers need to convince consumers of the true reliability of their vehicles so it is not a reason to avoid selecting a particular modelrdquo

According to Sargent ldquoConcerns with vehicle reliability can also have a ripple effect on other aspects of vehicle consideration and ownershiprdquo

Study findings show that buyers who avoid models for reliability rea-sons tend to also have concerns regarding resale value cost of maintenance and

even safetyAs petrol prices remain at all-time

lows fuel economy has become a less frequently cited reason consumers select their new vehicle (51 vs 55 last year)

In fact petrol mileage has reached a five-year low as a reason to purchase a specific model It is also cited less frequently as a reason to reject other models that were considered

Consumers spoilt for choice in car market

Additionally the study shows that more than half (54) of new-vehicle owners replaced a vehicle by the same brand or a brand within the same cor-poration while 46 bought a vehicle from a different corporation entirely Both premium and non-premium brand replacers say the top reason for not repurchasing the same brand is they lsquosimply wanted to try something differentrsquo

ldquoThis is a major challenge for auto marketersrdquo says Sargent ldquoIn the auto industry building consumer trust loyalty and advocacy is paramount to ongoing success However there are so many great vehicles available to

consumers that merely satisfying your customers is simply the cost of entry

ldquoTo truly succeed automakers must keep their exterior and interior designs fresh ensure competitive performance and fuel economy levels offer an array of advanced technology and achieve an excellent reputation for vehicle reliabilityrdquo

Key findings of the 2016 studybull Top reasons shoppers buyavoid

a vehicle Exterior styling is the top reason shoppers buy a particu-lar model (59) It is also the top reason to avoid a particular vehicle (31) followed by the vehicle costs too much and interior styling (18 each)

bull Perception of reliability weighs heavily on purchase decision Despite industry-wide efforts to improve reliability the fact that reliability emerges as a key driver of purchase and avoidance under-scores the importance of custom-er sentiment and perception in an environment of highly publicized recalls

bull Car buyers doing less window shopping Since 2012 new-vehi-cle buyers are considering fewer models and shopping fewer deal-ers On average buyers physically shop only three models one of which they buy

bull Domestic brands vs European and Asian brands There remains a significant disconnect between perception and reality regard-ing the reliability of domestic brands compared with European and Asian brands Avoidance of domestic models due to reliabil-ity concerns (24) is nearly twice that of European (13) and Asian (12) models In reality the actual reliability of most domestic models is competitive with that of their import competitors

lsquoExterior styling the top reason for car purchasesrsquo Study


NEWSTALK

Gary Bakija from OzCar runs a busy network of dealer-

ships As group business manager he oversees a network of eight dealerships spread across the North Coast and Central regions of New South Wales

In the competitive world of selling used cars Bakija and his team are striving for success Thankfully busi-ness for OzCar has been really booming and Bakija believes Liberty has played a significant role in allow-ing his dealerships to get to where they are today

ldquoAt any one time wersquoll have about 800 cars across our eight sites and wersquore shifting around 600 of those each month so close to 75 of the inventory refreshes every 30 days Of that we finance over 60 so having a flexible lender that can say yes more often is paramountrdquo he says

OzCar started working with Liberty more than 10 years ago so the relation-ship goes back quite a while In that time Bakija has seen Liberty transform the prod-ucts and services it provides ndash which has been a huge benefit to OzCar

ldquoAs the car industry has changed ndash so too has Lib-erty When we first started working with Liberty it was purely for its custom lending offering ndash but now we use Liberty for a large portion of our prime customers as well explains Bakija

ldquoIt has broadened its business to include more products that appeal to more borrowers and the rates are really competitive ndash so we find it easy to rec-ommend Liberty to custom-ers About two thirds of the loans we write with Liberty each month are now in the prime spacerdquo he adds

ldquoHowever ndash this doesnrsquot mean the need for a custom lender has died out ndash in fact itrsquos quite the opposite

ldquoNot every customer we have sits in the prime space so we still need a lender with flexible policies for customers such as small business owners casual employees and even ex-bankrupts

ldquoWersquore currently pro-cessing a lot of custom loans with Liberty each month They are sales that would have walked off our yard had we not been able to offer a Liberty loan If you do the maths on that wersquore looking at $6 million a year in business ndash nearly

200 cars ndash we would have otherwise lostrdquo he says

For Bakija the key to running a successful business has always been about three things bull motivating the team

with the right incen-tives

bull setting competitive but achievable targets

bull and equipping them with the right tools

If you get this equation right then Bakija believes the business will grow and your staff stay happy but most importantly the deals go through and customers walk away happy because they got the car they wanted

ldquoWersquove always been a numbers focused business and we have targets set for every team Working with

Liberty has allowed us to ap-proach every single potential customer knowing that if they are looking to finance the vehicle that wersquore going to have a loan that will suit them

ldquoIt motivates my team because itrsquos one less hurdle in the way to stop a sale

ldquoLiberty has gone above and beyond the call of duty to help educate our sales team about its products and also to incentivise them with monthly promotions and rewards

ldquoItrsquos this personal touch that really makes Liberty stand out from its

competitorsrdquo says BakijaIf you are interested in

learning more about Liber-tyrsquos broad range of products and flexible lending policies then visitlibertycomau or call 13 11 33

About OzCar OzCar has been operating for 18 years is a privately owned family business and is Australiarsquos largest used car automo-tive retailer The business offers services right across the motor spectrum from wholesale selling and purchasing of vehicles to financing servicing and warrants of fitness It also has dedicated administra-tion and customer relations teams

Dealerships are located in Cardiff Gosford Wol-longong Dubbo Lansvale Parramatta Penrith and Campbelltown

Case study diverse products allow OzCar to meet competitive sales targets


NEWSTALK

Therersquos no better time than Janu-ary to take stock and examine what the year ahead will throw

at us While our social media feeds are full of soon-to-be-failed new year resolutions people like you and I are looking at what the next 12 months will hold for our industry and what they will mean for business

To aid you in this forecasting here are seven predictions for the year ahead

A few notes before we get underway these are nothing but educated guesses for the most part Call them gut feelings I take no responsibility for any deci-sions made purely based upon reading this article In saying that on the (slim) basis I miss the mark on any of these prophecies then I allow you to call me out on it

Without further ado here are they are

1 This year you will receive more mobile enquiry than desktop

We all know about the rise of mobile Itrsquos been happening for years Despite the steady increase in mobile usage by our consumers enquiry still is largely driven by desktops

In 2016 that changesOver half the traffic to carsales

comes from mobile devices and the rest of our network of classified sites report similar statistics already This year mobile enquiry will join mobile traffic in representing more than 50 of what you receive

Also if you donrsquot know how to track this then you really need to work out how and fast

2 Dealers will see and speak to less people but sell more cars

You read it right Yoursquore going to have less people calling and visiting your dealership but it will in no way impact your ability to sell cars In fact itrsquos probably going to help

Let me explainPeople are going to call and walk

into your dealership armed with more information than ever before They are going to know the product they are

looking at almost as well as your staff do after they have scoured the depths of the internet to find out as much information as they possibly can

In previous years it would be unu-sual for consumers to make multiple visits to the dealership before finally making their mind up but in 2016 buyers will walk in armed with all the

info they can possibly need All thatrsquos left to do is ensure the car

is as advertised and they can make the purchase Sales people will have to put up with less tyre kickers and can concentrate on making sales of which there will be a lot but more on that later

3 AHG and AP Eagers will grow and at least one big overseas player will enter the market

It seems a safe bet to assume that the two biggest dealer groups in the country will continue to grow but the manner in which these two busi-nesses embrace tech and use it to their advantage has to continue to pay dividends

The second part of this Polites Prediction is a little more ambiguous Despite studying the tea leaves I still canrsquot quite put a name on exactly who the overseas player is but I can bet one is on its way Keep your eye out for one big dealer or venture capitalist to try and make a splash sometime in the next twelve months

4 Records will be brokenIn 2015 we saw a record year for

new cars sold in Australia It was fan-tastic for the industry but wait and see that number surpassed in 2016 Same goes for used car sales Wersquore on the up in all aspects people

5 Uber will be green lit nationwideAfter NSW legalised the ride-sharing

service late in 2015 I thought the rest of the country would follow suit The Victorians however put a blocker on

the service to halt progressAll that will get sorted out sooner

rather than later and it will be great for the industry In the US Uber have been leasing cars to their drivers for year working with dealerships across the lsquoStates to help them put more drivers on the road

Uber is extremely aggressive in its growth so in the event that the service gets told lsquoPlay Onrsquo expect them to look to put as many drivers on the road as possible

6 Car-share services like GoGet will see a spike in popularity

They seem to be popping up everywhere but car-sharing availability will continue to climb in 2016 GoGet has been reporting a steady climb in its membership over the past few years but I expect that the services will see a big spike in 2016

7 Hawks and Roosters will cham-pion their respective codes

Canrsquot be all work guys Honestly this is the one Irsquom most worried about being wrong about

Have a great 2016

7 Politesrsquo predictions for 2016

By Chris Polites dealer director carsalescomau chrispolitescarsalescomau

ensuring compliance with safety standards and the creation of an independent national inspectorate to inspect each and every vehicle that is imported under used vehicle schemes

With the adoption of these measures enthusiasts would finally get access to the vehicles they would like to own drive and collect from other markets around the world

Why shouldnrsquot an enthusiast be able to import that Lamborghini Gal-lardo they have always wanted



STATSTALK


New car sales have started strongly in 2016 with Aus-tralians buying 84373 new

passenger cars SUVs and commercial vehicles in January 2016 27 more than in January 2015

The January 2016 market of 84373 new vehicle sales is an increase of 2257 vehicle sales or 27 on January 2015 (82116 vehicle sales) January 2016 (24) had one less selling day than January 2015 (25) but this resulted in an increase of 2309 vehicle sales per day

However January 2016 industry sales are down 153 on December 2015 (99616 vehicles)

The Mazda 3 overtook the Toyota Corolla as the highest selling model in January with 964 models more than the Corolla which sold 2758 models ndash a 20 drop year-on-year

Another big winner in January was the Nissan Navara ute which saw a 60 increase in sales and came in 10th place for the top selling models for January 2016 compared to January 2015 sales

Mazda posted a January-record 10016 sales according to January 2016 VFACTS figures The new bench-mark represents the first time that Mazda has sold over 10000 cars SUVs and utilities in January eclipsing the previous best of 9411 sales in 2014

Mazda Australia managing director Martin Benders says ldquoJanuary certainly sets a strong foundation for the year ahead and keeps us firmly on track to post a new Japanese financial year sales record

ldquoAfter a record 2015 we believe there will again be strong interest across the entire Mazda range bol-stered by an increase in the supply of CX-3 to meet buyer demand and the arrival of a brand new Mazda CX-9rdquo

Toyota was market leader in Janu-ary followed by Mazda and Hyundai

Toyota leads Mazda with a margin of 2437 vehicle sales or 29 over Mazda which continues to close the gap on Toyota

Toyotarsquos local SUV sales jumped more than 16 in January on the back of strong performances from the Land-Cruiser Prado and LandCruiser wagon

In the companyrsquos strongest start to SUV sales in three years Toyotarsquos tally of 4341 SUVs last month was higher than the 3740 SUVs sold in January 2015

Toyota dealers retailed almost 1100 Prado wagons and 700 LandCruiser

wagons in addition to 1440 deliveries for RAV4 761 for Kluger and 274 for Fortuner

Divisional manager national sales Sean Hanley says Toyotarsquos SUV result stood tall in what is traditionally a quiet month for the market leader

ldquoToyotarsquos overall January total of 12453 new-vehicle sales is 24 higher than the nearest rivalrdquo Hanley says

Releasing the January 2016 VFACTS figures FCAI chief Tony Weber says ldquoJanuary 2016 sales are particularly strong given the growth over 2015 which was a record year for new vehi-cle salesrdquo

Sales of SUVs and light commercial vehicles (LCV) are up 195 and 119 respectively Combined the segments accounted for more than 56 of the total new car market in January 2016

Business confidence was boosted in January with sales to business buyers up 144 compared to January 2015 Sales to government were consistent with January 2015 sales figures and sales to private buyers fell 51

New South Wales Queensland and South Australiarsquos new car markets had a strong start to the year with sales up 6 38 and 34 (respectively) The Australian Capital Territory and Victoria remained steady with Janu-ary 2016 sales marginally (1 or less) different to January 2015 sales Sales fell by 54 in the Northern Territory 48 in Tasmania and 3 in Western Australia

The Mazda3 was the most popular vehicle in January 2016 with 3722 of the small passenger cars sold it was followed by the Toyota Corolla (2758) the Ford Ranger (2418) the Toyota Hi-lux (2341) and Hyundai Tucson (2065)

Toyota was the top selling brand in January 2016 with 148 of the market followed by Mazda with 119 Hyun-dai with 83 Holden with 81 and Nissan with 66

Strong start to 2016 sees a 27 growth in sales

Top 10 individual models (by sales volume)

1 Mazda3 3722 2 Toyota Corolla 2758 3 Ford Ranger 2418 4 Toyota Hi-Lux 2341 5 Hyundai Tucson 20656 Hyundai i30 1852 7 Mazda CX-5 1750 8 Volkswagen Golf 16929 Holden Colorado 1691 10 Nissan Navara 1670

Top 10 Makes (Year to Date)1 Toyota 12453 148 2 Mazda 10016 119 3 Hyundai 7001 83 4 Holden 6824 81 5 Nissan 5563 66 6 Ford 5504 65 7 Mitsubishi 5007 59 8 Volkswagen 4341 51 9 Subaru 3405 4 10 Kia 3116 37

STATSTALK


TOTAL MARKET SEGMENTATION JANUARY 2016VFACTS National Month YTD Variance +- Vol amp

2016 2015 2016 2015 MTH YTD MTH YTDPassenger 35214 39799 35214 39799 -4585 -4585 -115 -115SUV 33073 27679 33073 27679 5394 5394 195 195Light Commercial 14497 12958 14497 12958 1539 1539 119 119Heavy Commercial 1589 1680 1589 1680 -91 -91 -54 -54Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27

Month YTD Variance +- Vol amp Micro 514 984 514 984 -470 -470 -478 -478Light 7816 9208 7816 9208 -1392 -1392 -151 -151Small 17536 19503 17536 19503 -1967 -1967 -101 -101Medium 4298 4955 4298 4955 -657 -657 -133 -133Large 1907 2836 1907 2836 -929 -929 -328 -328Upper Large 157 138 157 138 19 19 138 138People Movers 880 656 880 656 224 224 341 341Sports 2106 1519 2106 1519 587 587 386 386SUV Small 8530 7205 8530 7205 1325 1325 184 184SUV Medium 12852 10003 12852 10003 2849 2849 285 285SUV Large 10745 9663 10745 9663 1082 1082 112 112SUV Upper Large 946 808 946 808 138 138 171 171Light Buses lt 20 Seats 158 246 158 246 -88 -88 -358 -358Light Buses =gt 20 Seats 46 70 46 70 -24 -24 -343 -343

VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171

Heavy Commercial 1589 1680 1589 1680 -91 -91 -54 -54

Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27

PERCENTAGE MIXMonth YTD Yr to Yr change +-

2016 2015 2016 2015 MTH YTDPassenger 417 485 417 485 -67 -67SUV 392 337 392 337 55 55Light Commercial 172 158 172 158 14 14Heavy Commercial 19 20 19 20 -02 -02Total Market 1000 1000 1000 1000 00 00

Month YTD Yr to Yr change +-Micro 06 12 06 12 -06 -06Light 93 112 93 112 -19 -19Small 208 238 208 238 -30 -30Medium 51 60 51 60 -09 -09Large 23 35 23 35 -12 -12Upper Large 02 02 02 02 00 00People Movers 10 08 10 08 02 02Sports 25 18 25 18 06 06SUV Small 101 88 101 88 13 13SUV Medium 152 122 152 122 31 31SUV Large 127 118 127 118 10 10SUV Upper Large 11 10 11 10 01 01Light Buses lt 20 Seats 02 03 02 03 -01 -01Light Buses =gt 20 Seats 01 01 01 01 00 00VansCC lt= 25t 02 04 02 04 -01 -01VansCC 25-35t 15 14 15 14 01 01PUCC 4X2 33 32 33 32 01 01PUCC 4X4 119 104 119 104 15 15Heavy Commercial 19 20 19 20 -02 -02Total Market 1000 1000 1000 1000 00 00

NEW VEHICLE SALES JANUARY 2016Month YTD Variance +- Vol amp

Total Market 2016 2015 2016 2015 MTH YTD MTH YTDAUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY 1369 1378 1369 1378 -9 -9 -07 -07NEW SOUTH WALES 28392 26791 28392 26791 1601 1601 60 60NORTHERN TERRITORY 626 662 626 662 -36 -36 -54 -54QUEENSLAND 17193 16570 17193 16570 623 623 38 38SOUTH AUSTRALIA 5208 5039 5208 5039 169 169 34 34TASMANIA 1298 1364 1298 1364 -66 -66 -48 -48VICTORIA 22426 22211 22426 22211 215 215 10 10WESTERN AUSTRALIA 7861 8101 7861 8101 -240 -240 -30 -30Total 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27

STATSTALK


NEW VEHICLE SALES BY MARQUE JANUARY 2016VFACTS National Month YTD Variance +- Vol amp

Total Market 2016 2015 2016 2015 MTH YTD MTH YTDAlfa Romeo 62 78 62 78 -16 -16 -205 -205Aston Martin 12 11 12 11 1 1 91 91Audi 2142 1925 2142 1925 217 217 113 113Bentley 4 7 4 7 -3 -3 -429 -429BMW 2075 1732 2075 1732 343 343 198 198Caterham 1 0 1 0 1 1 - -Chery 3 24 3 24 -21 -21 -875 -875Chrysler 55 44 55 44 11 11 250 250Citroen 72 110 72 110 -38 -38 -345 -345Dodge 29 106 29 106 -77 -77 -726 -726Ferrari 13 16 13 16 -3 -3 -188 -188Fiat 169 454 169 454 -285 -285 -628 -628Fiat Professional 64 84 64 84 -20 -20 -238 -238Ford 5504 5357 5504 5357 147 147 27 27Foton Light 67 98 67 98 -31 -31 -316 -316Great Wall 0 34 0 34 -34 -34 -1000 -1000Holden 6824 8401 6824 8401 -1577 -1577 -188 -188Honda 2898 2703 2898 2703 195 195 72 72Hyundai 7001 6901 7001 6901 100 100 14 14Infiniti 38 28 38 28 10 10 357 357Isuzu Ute 1384 1141 1384 1141 243 243 213 213Jaguar 165 84 165 84 81 81 964 964Jeep 1268 2283 1268 2283 -1015 -1015 -445 -445Kia 3116 2416 3116 2416 700 700 290 290Lamborghini 22 7 22 7 15 15 2143 2143Land Rover 1173 875 1173 875 298 298 341 341LDV 108 33 108 33 75 75 2273 2273Lexus 635 509 635 509 126 126 248 248Lotus 4 8 4 8 -4 -4 -500 -500Maserati 36 36 36 36 0 0 00 00Mazda 10016 9006 10016 9006 1010 1010 112 112McLaren 5 0 5 0 5 5 - -Mercedes-Benz 3099 2594 3099 2594 505 505 195 195MINI 263 253 263 253 10 10 40 40Mitsubishi 5007 4080 5007 4080 927 927 227 227Morgan 1 1 1 1 0 0 00 00Nissan 5563 4537 5563 4537 1026 1026 226 226Peugeot 313 406 313 406 -93 -93 -229 -229Porsche 490 373 490 373 117 117 314 314Proton 20 22 20 22 -2 -2 -91 -91RAM 23 0 23 0 23 23 - -Renault 718 546 718 546 172 172 315 315Rolls-Royce 0 3 0 3 -3 -3 -1000 -1000Skoda 315 309 315 309 6 6 19 19Smart 0 10 0 10 -10 -10 -1000 -1000Ssangyong 44 81 44 81 -37 -37 -457 -457Subaru 3405 3104 3405 3104 301 301 97 97Suzuki 1642 1609 1642 1609 33 33 21 21Toyota 12453 13661 12453 13661 -1208 -1208 -88 -88Volkswagen 4341 4397 4341 4397 -56 -56 -13 -13Volvo Car 475 330 475 330 145 145 439 439Caterpillar 6 6 6 6 0 0 00 00Daf 19 14 19 14 5 5 357 357Dennis Eagle 1 3 1 3 -2 -2 -667 -667Foton Heavy 7 7 7 7 0 0 00 00Freightliner 33 35 33 35 -2 -2 -57 -57Hino 190 198 190 198 -8 -8 -40 -40International 0 7 0 7 -7 -7 -1000 -1000Isuzu 433 401 433 401 32 32 80 80Iveco 77 65 77 65 12 12 185 185Kenworth 93 124 93 124 -31 -31 -250 -250Mack 29 30 29 30 -1 -1 -33 -33Man 10 15 10 15 -5 -5 -333 -333Mitsubishi Fuso 198 220 198 220 -22 -22 -100 -100Nissan UD 35 35 35 35 0 0 00 00Scania 15 17 15 17 -2 -2 -118 -118Volvo Commercial 58 62 58 62 -4 -4 -65 -65Western Star 32 50 32 50 -18 -18 -360 -360Total 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27

GLOBAL VEHICLE LOGISTICS

NZ middot JAPAN middot AUSTRALIA middot UK middot EUROPE

bull Two Sailings per Monthbull Benefits of Large Volume Pricingbull Specialise in Global Vehicle Logisticsbull We offer you the easiest way to ship your

car into Australia

wwwautohubcoAU infoautohubco02 9099 0349

ABOUT JPN TO AUSSERIOUS

For More Information Contact Darylautohubco


AutoTalk acknowledges the support of our foundation sponsors

FOUNDATION SPONSORS


NEWSTALK





























NEWSTALK


autotalkcomau

autotalkconz

dieseltalkconz


JOURNALIST

Max Pichon

+61 403 932 864


MANAGING EDITOR

Richard Edwards

+64 21 556 655


PUBLISHER

Vern Whitehead

+64 21 831 153


SALES MANAGER

Dale Stevenson


OPERATIONSMANAGER

Deborah Baxter




















Continued on page 5

Bronte Howson


PEOPLETALK

Continued on page 6



































PEOPLETALK




























Continued on page 7

Angelo Louro


PEOPLETALK






























DALE STEVENSON


DEBORAH BAXTER



NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley
























PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK





























NEWSTALK


autotalkcomau

autotalkconz

dieseltalkconz


JOURNALIST

Max Pichon

+61 403 932 864


MANAGING EDITOR

Richard Edwards

+64 21 556 655


PUBLISHER

Vern Whitehead

+64 21 831 153


SALES MANAGER

Dale Stevenson


OPERATIONSMANAGER

Deborah Baxter




















Continued on page 5

Bronte Howson


PEOPLETALK

Continued on page 6



































PEOPLETALK




























Continued on page 7

Angelo Louro


PEOPLETALK






























DALE STEVENSON


DEBORAH BAXTER



NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley
























PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK


autotalkcomau

autotalkconz

dieseltalkconz


JOURNALIST

Max Pichon

+61 403 932 864


MANAGING EDITOR

Richard Edwards

+64 21 556 655


PUBLISHER

Vern Whitehead

+64 21 831 153


SALES MANAGER

Dale Stevenson


OPERATIONSMANAGER

Deborah Baxter




















Continued on page 5

Bronte Howson


PEOPLETALK

Continued on page 6



































PEOPLETALK




























Continued on page 7

Angelo Louro


PEOPLETALK






























DALE STEVENSON


DEBORAH BAXTER



NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley
























PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





PEOPLETALK

Continued on page 6



































PEOPLETALK




























Continued on page 7

Angelo Louro


PEOPLETALK






























DALE STEVENSON


DEBORAH BAXTER



NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley
























PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





PEOPLETALK




























Continued on page 7

Angelo Louro


PEOPLETALK






























DALE STEVENSON


DEBORAH BAXTER



NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley
























PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





PEOPLETALK






























DALE STEVENSON


DEBORAH BAXTER



NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley
























PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK

Michael Bradley
























PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





PEOPLETALK














I already had some


















Ross Deves


NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK


























Steve Lotter


DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





DIARYTALKDIARYTALK

Max

Pic

ho

n


journalist Max



the past month on

our Austrailian

AutoTalk website

ndash autotalkcomau

THE

DIARY
































DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





DIARYTALK































DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





DIARYTALK
































NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK





















NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK

























NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK















Splend drivers



NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK



































NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK



























NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK




























NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia





NEWSTALK

































Have a great 2016








STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia




STATSTALK





























STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia




STATSTALK





VansCC lt= 25t 206 303 206 303 -97 -97 -320 -320

VansCC 25-35t 1276 1155 1276 1155 121 121 105 105

PUCC 4X2 2802 2638 2802 2638 164 164 62 62

PUCC 4X4 10009 8546 10009 8546 1463 1463 171 171


Total Market 84373 82116 84373 82116 2257 2257 27 27






STATSTALK







car into Australia




STATSTALK







car into Australia







car into Australia




THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE Australia’s Best Cars ...

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Transcript of THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE Australia’s Best Cars ...