1 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

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UDC’S WAYNE PERCIVAL ON EXITING COVID WITH NEW OWNERS

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Page 03VEHICLE SHORTAGE CHALLENGES

2 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

L ast month I pontificated here about how the market had proved to be very resilient. Sales were strong, people were positive-ish.

On the back of September's results the discussion may turn a little. Are we in for some pain or will the slowdown (nearly a quarter for new cars, a tenth for used) be a one-month aberration, or signs of things to come.

I am not sure, and nor does it seem does anyone. The wild ride that has been 2020 somewhat defies normal modelling, to the point where I have spoken to heads of major distributors, with braintrust teams able to guess why the market has done what it has done and what will happen next - and they do not have a reliable answer.

But let's look at what we are facing: International supply issues for new vehicles, a slowly recovering market in Japan, banks offering low finance rates but reportedly being slow and reluctant to actually lend, a fragile employment situation and shifting confidence levels.

To top it off we have an election. And aren't they always great for the sale of big-ticket items?

The 'new normal' is a term often bandied around at the moment, but even when we do not know what is going on it is a concept we really need to keep in mind.

Good dealers will not be panicking too much about what will happen down the track, they will be working with what the market presents them.

Shortage of stock? Is that an opportunity to recover from tight margins. Hard for buyers to get money out of the bank? Great chance to sign them up for more convenient dealer-sold finance. Six month wait for that hot selling SUV the customer wants? Could they be sold into something else that remains suitable.

These may not be the best examples, but the message remains - good dealers find a way. They have before, and they will again.

SMOKE SIGNALS

When I am asked to recommend a vehicle - which is a frequent thing - it takes a lot to recommend something that is not a Toyota. There are plenty of cars out there I prefer over a Toyota, but few I can guarantee to a high percentage are not going to leave them stranded.

The Toyota reputation for reliability is near legendary, and news this month that they are going to fix 25,000 vehicles with diesel particulate filter issues can only reinforce this.

Issues with the DPF system, in a small number of cases and generally in warmer environments, can cause the vehicle to emit smoke. It occurs in less-than 10% of vehicles.

For Toyota NZ to work to create the fix, and then commit to the spend to fix it on all vehicles potentially affected is huge.

“We never give up on customer problems,” after sales boss Spencer Morris notes. “We are always relentlessly trying to make sure we have happy customers.”

Richard EdwardsMANAGING EDITOR

RICHARD EDWARDSMANAGING EDITOR

EDITORIALTALK

HAS THE MUSIC STOPPED?

3OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

Reports of a glut of vehicles available in the New Zealand market, largely disproved in

a discussion in the last AutoTalk magazine, appear to be heading in the opposite direction.

Discussion within the industry is that a shortage could begin to hit both the new and used import sides of the trade - joining the NZ-new used segment which is already seeing elevated prices.

Vehicle arrivals last month were up, month-on-month to 20,262 arrivals in September compared to 16,898 arrivals the month prior.

Globally, vehicle production has begun to stablise, but this is in part due to Chinese production being up. Other Asian and European production is only just closing in on normal.

MIA chief executive David Crawford told AutoTalk the supply available to distributors was mixed depending on their supply chains and source countries.

But overall the amount of stock available appeared down.

"Some that may normally hold three months buffer are down to just one month," he indicates.

Sales in those source markets are still on the path to recovery, with Japan, for example, down 16% year-on-year in August, causing flow on issues for the used car trade.

Trade Me head of sales Jayme Fuller

says from her discussions with dealers, the impacts could be felt for the next six months.

"My feedback is anecdotal - the dealers who have traditionally focused on used cars from Japan haven't seen any relief from the auction shortages," Fuller says.

"They are seeing higher prices at auction, and so they are varying their stock on what they are buying to ensure they are keeping margins, reporting no decline in consumer demand - and are making every effort to keep pre-Covid prices to be at the ready for when the supply chain returns to normal."

Autohub chief executive Frank Willett echoes that sentiment, noting reports out of Japan indicate auction prices are now higher, some 15-20% in many cases, auction volumes are down and demand from domestic dealers is high.

Again, this is driven in part at least by a shortage of new vehicle stock.

"Japanese new cars stock has been in short supply, causing used cars to be held on to, sell for more, or be pursued by Japanese domestic dealers for yard stock," Willett says.

He also notes a poor exchange rate and a slump in Japan's economy have not helped.

"I’m aware that Japan’s government now putting out stimulus packages to get the worst affected business areas back on their feet, but how and when

this impacts favourably on the car industry (and more importantly for us the used car availability) is anyone’s guess."

Willett notes the shortage could impact the prices of vehicles beyond fresh imports.

"Traditionally, when stock shortages occur, vehicle prices here harden as dealers cant replace stock. This in turn drags up the bottom end vehicle values (say from $1500 to $3000 plus) for a short term."

"Its also interesting to see the top end new sports cars and expensive SUV’s are in short supply, so some in the fleet will now have slowed depreciation, while others may even appreciate in the short term," he explains.

"All in all, no one seems to know when things will return to “normal”."

ARE WE HEADED FOR A VEHICLE SHORTAGE

FRANK WILLETT

DAVID CRAWFORD

4 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

Wintec has developed a series of micro-credentials to formally recognise skills and encourage best practice for personal lending, particularly within the automotive industry.

The new micro-credentials (short courses) were created in partnership with automotive and personal lending industry partners, to provide an industry-specific qualifications framework.

Executive director products and planning at Wintec, Warwick Pitts says the new qualifications respond to a highly professional market with a need for formal recognition and flexible study options.

“We’ve consulted widely with industry partners on the provision of training options for people in personal lending, specifically within the automotive sector. They responded with a lot of high-quality feedback driven by a genuine desire to do the right thing by the customer.

“For many people working in the industry, these qualifications will be the first step in gaining formal recognition.”

The three new courses, Personal

Lending Skills (Automotive Industry), Contractual Requirements (Automotive Industry) and Legal Context (Personal Lending) are targeted to adults who are currently in work and may be new to tertiary education. Learning is 100 percent online with scheduled support from a facilitator – so study can fit around work, location and lifestyle.

The Financial Services Federation (FSF) represents responsible finance and leasing companies and credit-related insurance providers. Executive director, Lyn McMorran says that as many FSF members provide finance and insurance products for the purchase of motor vehicles via their dealer networks, they were pleased to partner with Wintec in the development and provision of the new micro-credentials.

“These courses build on the training our members provide to their networks to ensure their products are provided responsibly and the customer receives the best possible outcome. The new qualifications will raise the levels of professionalism within the industry by ensuring a greater understanding of responsible lending practices and they provide a

stepping stone for people wishing to build their careers in the finance and insurance industry.”

There are currently no formal licensing requirements in New Zealand for the provision of finance products and insurance.

Enrolment is open now for two new micro-credentials Contractual Requirements (Automotive Industry) and Legal Context (Personal Lending) due to start on September 28. A third course, introduced in July this year, Personal Lending Skills (Automotive Industry) will reopen in February 2021. Learners can opt for all three or a selection, depending on the skills they need.

Micro-credentials are small, stand-alone qualifications, approved by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA), that certify skills and knowledge in a specific area. They are for people who want to upskill or get credit for skills they already have.

FREE MICRO-CREDENTIAL PATHWAYS NEW TALENT TO THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

MITO has launched a free micro-credential (short course) that provides foundation knowledge

for individuals who may be considering a career in the automotive industry - whether they are leaving school or considering a career change.

“MITO continues to deliver fresh and innovative ways to enhance the pipeline of talent to our industries,” says MITO chief executive Janet Lane.

“Having a free micro-credential course available to anyone who is interested in gaining introductory knowledge that will underpin their future learning is an exciting development for the automotive industry."“This micro-credential is completed entirely online,” continues Ms Lane, “therefore, learners do not need to be employed in the industry to complete it. This will provide a vital connection

between local businesses and future employees, continuing MITO’s culture of developing leading-edge workforce development strategies.”

Micro-credentials are short courses that recognise the achievement of a defined set of skills and knowledge. This introductory course is comprised of Level 2 and 3 unit standards – a great way to get a head start into an automotive business. Upon completion, learners will be able to demonstrate knowledge of the tools and equipment used in the automotive industry, automotive vehicle systems and components, and safe work practices, with the micro-credential listed on their NZQA Record of Achievement.

To promote the launch of this micro-credential, MITO has developed an extensive digital marketing campaign targeting 18 to 40-year-olds across New

Zealand. Online videos and display ads show the transformation of a basic car into a performance car indicating that completing the micro-credential is like turbo-charging your CV. This creative will feature heavily across a range of websites and social media channels with the ‘Boost your CV for free’ tagline drawing traffic to the campaign website mito.nz/boost. Here the audience can immediately enrol in the micro-credential and increase their chances of finding employment in the automotive industry. The campaign will run until 1 November 2020.

The Introduction to Automotive Engineering Micro-credential (Level 3) will take up to five months to complete and is free until 31 March 2021. For more information and to enrol, visit mito.nz/boost.

FINANCE SHORT-COURSES TARGETED AT AUTOMOTIVE

5OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

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INDUSTRYSUPPORTERS

LIFE GOES ON FOR KIWI DEALERSHIPS POST HOLDEN WITHDRAWAL

Ebbett Renault Hawkes Bay dealer principal Dave Howarth says 2020 has been a disruptive

year for many of the former Holden franchise dealers, and that the brand's withdrawal from market was: “a massive announcement and a big surprise.”Howarth says the Holden brand had a strong dealer network in New Zealand which was key to its success and now the Renault brand is becoming much stronger as it continues to grow in the North and South Islands.“People know Renault, they know the Formula 1 team, and we sold two Koleos SUV on the same day, and we’ve sold a number of Captur SUVs and a number of Renault Vans.“We’re quite excited because we’ve never had a van range before, so we’re got traditional Holden clients looking at vans now, getting tradies to consider a van rather than a ute.“For tradespeople such as electricians and builders a van certainly makes more sense and I believe is more fit for their purpose.“Most New Zealand van buyers look at another Japanese light commercial brand, so now we have a massive opportunity to quote, and it’s going to be great for Renault to be in consideration having a bigger dealership footprint. “It’s very important that the vehicles have a ‘home’ where the owners know they will be supported and well looked after, we’re certainly here for the long

game,” he says.“It’s always a challenge moving from one brand to another. We’ve held the franchise for just over a month, but I like the infectious enthusiasm of the Renault New Zealand team, they are always in the background supporting us.“My staff are also very enthusiastic about the opportunity, and they have all moved on from the disruption. The sales staff are pushing me hard to get product, accessories and prices, which is good. “We have 26 members of staff across the Hastings and Napier sites and this will grow to 28 in mid-October. “We’ve had some good enquiry on the new Renault Duster, we’ve been running some radio advertising in the Hawkes Bay, but the car needs to have some television advertising to create greater awareness,“ Howarth says.END OF ONE ERA, START OF A NEWA week ago, the Holden signage was removed from the Linn Motors dealerships in Paeroa and Thames not quite ending a 69-year relationship between the family-owned franchise and General Motors.Linn Motors Paeroa and Thames were appointed as the Hyundai and Isuzu Ute franchise holders for the Thames Valley and Coromandel regions to be run from the company’s existing sites. According to dealer principal Brian Trebes the company will remain a member of the official Holden

The withdrawal of the Holden brand and the COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns have been challenging for Kiwi dealers, but some have kept calm, carried on and found new franchises for their businesses to represent.

to page 8...

DEALERTALK

7 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

8 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

DEALERTALK

Aftersales Network to support owners for at least the next decade.Trebes says the removal of the Holden signage from the dealerships in Paeroa and Thames signals the end of one era and the start of a new one. Being appointed as a Hyundai and Isuzu Ute dealer means that not only have all staff members remained but more will be needed.“We’re very excited going forward, and we are keenly anticipated the arrival of the new Isuzu D-Max. The MU-X has already been well received by our customers,” Trebes says,“I’m very pleased because being a sole Holden franchise and receiving such news was a bit of a shock, having no back up plan, I immediately got on the phone looking for replacement franchises, I spent a lot of time working on this during the COVID-19 lockdown,” Trebes says. Linn Motors was established 82 years ago (1938) in Paeroa as a service station which sold petrol, tyres, and provided lubrication service by Clive Linn senior.Following World War II, Todd Motors granted Clive senior the Hillman and Desoto car franchise. He gained the Bedford, Vauxhall, and Chevrolet franchise from General Motors in 1951

followed by the Holden franchise in the late 1950s. In 1966 sons Bill and Clive junior joined their father in the family business.The family built and opened new showroom and office complex in Paeroa in 1972. Linn Motors was one of the highest performing GM dealerships, selling almost 1000 vehicles in 1973. In 1975 Clive junior purchased both his father's and brother's interests in the firm. He and his wife Marie ran the two dealerships for many years, Linn Motors was the oldest GM-Holden dealership still in the same family ownership. Clive junior was also the longest serving dealer principal in the Holden New Zealand network. In 1990 Linn Motors took over the Holden franchise territory formerly held

by Coastland Motor Company, which covered Thames and the Coromandel peninsula. Linn Motors was awarded Holden Rural dealer of the year in 2002, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012.As part of their succession plans in 2016 the Linns completed the sale of the family business to more than 30-year Paeroa residents Brian and Carmel Trebes.The Trebes are now focussed on maintaining the Linn Motors Holden Aftersales business as well as growing new vehicle sales with the Hyundai and Isuzu Ute franchises in the Thames Valley and Coromandel region.

...from page 6

NEW KIA DEALERSHIP FOR MOUNT MAUNGANUI

A new multi-million dollar Kia dealership has been built in Mt Maunganui on the back of

strong brand growth and ten years of commitment from Tauranga Motor Company. In moving over the bridge from its old site near Tauranga city centre, the new home of Kia in the Bay of Plenty boasts more than twice as much space – growing from 3000m² to 7500m². The impressive building has been designed to be highly visible on the corner of Hewletts Road and Maru Street, with the showroom pushed right out to the front of the site, echoing international trends. “It’s a magnificent location and the way the dealership has been designed gives us the ability to show off our new Kia vehicles at their very best,” says managing director, Mark Jury. The new dealership is the result of continued growth in the Kia brand, matched by an increase in the population of the Bay of Plenty and represents the company’s confidence in the future. Three out of the last four months have seen record sales at Tauranga Kia as the brand resonates with new vehicle buyers across the region. The customer-friendly design includes

better access into the site and more room for vehicle turning, together with customer car park spaces that are wider than normal. That theme flows through into the showroom, where extra-high ceilings and bright, light surfaces amplify the feeling of spaciousness. It’s not an illusion, because there is now space to display over 30 new vehicles inside – three times as many as before.“That’s very important, because we want people to feel like they can easily walk around and browse the vehicles in a comfortable and welcoming environment,” says Jury, adding that there are also two customer seating areas, with coffee and tea facilities and Wi-Fi available for customers while they are getting their vehicles serviced.The service centre is contained under one roof instead of spread across several sites and incorporates a large grooming area. The servicing equipment is state-of the-art, including a drive-over brake and wheel alignment testing system that saves time. Looking further ahead, the dealership has also been designed to accommodate an increase in demand for electric vehicles, including the provision of heavy-duty power facilities for rapid battery charging.

“We have experienced enormous growth in sales of Kia and we are not anticipating that growth slowing up any time soon – especially when the Kia range has been completely refreshed this year and more new models are being added in the coming months,” adds Jury. Todd McDonald, managing director of Kia Motors New Zealand is full of praise for the Tauranga Kia dealership team and says they have been highly instrumental in helping the brand to achieve record growth. “They have built a strong relationship with their customers, which is illustrated by the high number of buyers who return to buy another Kia,” he says. “TMC is one of the fastest growing and consistently high performing Kia dealers in NZ and the opening of this exceptional new dealership enables them to deliver an even better customer experience and provides a platform on which to build stronger growth in the future.”

9OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

Business Business InsuranceInsuranceSome yards are getting ripped off, and others just have terrible cover!

Insurance is the necessary evil we resent, almost as much as tax.

However, because most decision-makers don’t want to think about it too much, the opportunity opens for providers to build in unnecessary cost, or worse, cover that doesn’t respond as promised when it’s needed.

We’re all busy. In the last 30 years, insurance broking firms have flourished, because insurance is complicated and it’s easier to leave it to someone who, we presume, knows more about it than us. We assume they’re getting us the best deal. But how do you know they really are? Currently, there is no requirement for brokers to disclose their remuneration, even though they’re supposed to be working for you. Worse, many don’t consider all insurers, instead favouring their cosy arrangements, for which they receive the insurer’s participation ‘kickback’. On the balance of probabilities, if you are using an international broker, they’ll be ‘donkey deep’, and if you don’t ask, they generally won’t tell you. If they’re not checking all insurers and not being transparent, you have to ask, who’s interests are most important to them, yours or theirs?

Frank Risk Management has been working with some of New Zealand’s highest profile LMVD’s since our inception in 2008. From the beginning we’ve offered all client’s full transparency. You know what we’re earning; the value we’re bringing to the proposition, with no cosy arrangements, kickbacks or back-handers.

Our specialist dealership brokers know how the industry works and can structure a cover that works for you, when the worst happens. They’re supported by a dedicated claims team, charged with ensuring claims are handled quickly and smoothly.

If you’d like to know what its like to work with Frank Risk Management, ask a LMVD that does or call 07 903 5000.

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10 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

SMOOTH START FOR NEW UDC OWNER

A lot of businesses came through the COVID-19 period changed, and for UDC Finance it was a big one.

It exited the period sold, with ANZ’s long plan exit finally sealed with a deal to Shinsei Bank of Japan. AutoTalk managing editor Richard Edwards sat down with chief executive Wayne Percival for the AutoTalk podcast to discuss the change. You can catch the full interview by subscribing on your favourite podcast app.Richard Edwards: To use your famous marketing line, do you still have money to lend, lots of money?Wayne Percival: Yes. A pretty proven ad campaign, that one. Yes, we’ve still got money and lots of money to lend. So, we've been through an interesting time through COVID and a change of owner. But as far as the liquidity and having money to lend, plenty of it. Richard: It has been an interesting couple of years for UDC with the sale to HNA Group delined by authorities. How did the Shinsei deal come around – and how did it happen so quickly?Wayne: The long-term goal for ANZ was to sort of move UDC on. It wasn't core. Post the HNA transaction, which didn't proceed, we never actually stopped separating the business. We continued to get ourselves pretty much standalone, recruiting functions that used to be provided by the bank. We stayed on that path.About September or October, last year, we started getting serious again around going back to the market to see who was available; and there was a huge amount of interest, obviously, in the business. We talked quite seriously to a number of parties post-Christmas, at the beginning of this year, then of course, COVID came along.

While it went quiet for a little bit, we all started looking inward, operating our businesses remotely, keeping things going. We kept talking to Shinsei all the way through, and the deal was negotiated. We announced the sale on the 2nd of June, so right amongst another lockdown, and completed the transaction in a reasonably short period of time. .Richard: Can you give us an indication of the value of the deal? What is the size of UDC, the loan book these days? Wayne: The loan book is sort of around $3.4 billion. And I talk about having two businesses; we have our commercial business and our car business, pretty much. So, it's sort of 50-50; half of that is commercial assets, the likes of trucks and trailers and forestry equipment, cranes, aircraft; and the other half is pretty much a big part of what we do as

dealer business, so obviously, retail loans and then wholesale stock funding for dealers. Richard: So, Shinsei, they're not just a bank, they are quite specialist in the area of asset lending. Can you tell me a little bit about your new owners? Wayne: They are, I believe, number 16 in Japan, so certainly not what you would think of someone like ANZ in the top four, but quite niche. While they're a bank, they very much focused on their businesses; so, they have car finance businesses, they have some leasing businesses, they do commercial leasing. They've got businesses in Taiwan and in Vietnam, but we're quite a sizable investment for them. We're big in New Zealand and we'll make up a reasonable chunk of their revenues, going forward. They do understand what we do and that's the difference between being sold by a bank that sort of, yes, they understood what we did, but we were a very, very small part of ANZ, to becoming part of a bank that knows what asset finance is about, particularly in the car market and being super keen to buy the best. Richard: Japan is a massive source market of vehicles to NZ, did that play a part.Wayne: No, not really. They do have some associations with some importers that we're aware of, but no. I think they were looking for opportunity to expand the long-term. And I think that's, key; these people will be a long-term holder. We had various buyers that looked at UDC, that always come to mind are things like private equity firms, not generally known to be long-term holders. Whereas, Shinsei, very much so.

to page 11...

UDC CEO WAYNE PERCIVAL

SUBSCRIBE TOTHE AUTOTALKNZ PODCAST TO HEAR THE FULL INTERVIEW

11OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

We've got some very good systems such as UDC Live, which the dealers are well familiar with, but sitting in behind that, our core system is quite old. It performs well but when we really want to move forward, it requires a lot of investment and they're certainly prepared to do that. Richard: Do they have systems you can adapt for New Zealand?Wayne: No. I think we will do what's best for New Zealand and what's best for UDC, as opposed to trying to match something that they already have. And I think that's the good thing from the discussions; everything we do is standup and standalone. It gives you a lot of autonomy. Now, sure, you have to do reporting back and what have you, but when it comes to systems, we'll develop the best you can get, I guess, for the long-term. Richard: Will you be relying on Shinsei for money to lend?Wayne: No. We've just embarked on probably the largest, well, it is the largest ABS (asset-backed security) securitisation program that New Zealand's never seen. So, we had all that funding in place already. We locked all that in with, obviously, the major lenders, but equally, some of the other funding that we need will come directly out of Japan, but not very much.Richard: Will dealers notice any differences?Wayne: From an operational point of view, no. I mean, the beauty of this transaction is, we were closed, we settled it overnight, at the beginning of the month. We weren’t back up and running until about two o'clock on the day, which for an 83-year-old business going through a major change, was pretty good. So, from an operating system point of view, no one would have seen or felt anything. All the staff are staying, which is great. I think where you will see the change is, probably in product. Again, we had no investment from ANZ. There was no real desire to do anything. We spent most of the time preparing and running the business to sell it. We've already had some quick decisions out of Japan already on some product that we’ll probably launch in the next two to three weeks, which again, it's just great to have a supportive owner that you put an idea to them, put some parameters around it, “this is what we want to do”, the board agree to it and you just get on with it. Richard: Shinsei are involved in leasing, is that something you may do as well.Wayne: We do a little bit of it now - we always have. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I had the benefit of

running a leasing company, previously –and that's a massively competitive market. So we might look at it at some stage, but it's certainly not on the horizon for the short term. Richard: You said earlier UDC knows what dealers want. What do they want?Wayne: Stability. COVID was a real test and we're still being tested. There's a lot of work to still go on here. And we've got about 11 different brands in the motor vehicle market we deal with, so we are pretty entrenched when it comes to relationship management with distributors and with dealers and wholesale funding. Being there for support, when times get tough. It's easy to lend them money in the good times, it's easy to manage stuff in the good times. That's a given. It's how well you manage and run your dealer book and work with your customers in the tough times is the proof of the pudding.Equally, they want to be kept up to date with any regulation or any law changes. And this is a bit of a catch phrase, but ‘easy to do business with’. We use a lot of technology to drive our approvals and our operating system and make it easy to transact the sale. So, it's a combination of all those things. It's not just one thing, and you've got to keep working with it. Richard: What have you done to help customers this year?Wayne: No one size fits all, and it's like most things with lending, you can't just all say it comes out of a box. We saw different distributors deal with things differently. From wholesale funding; things like curtailments, we sort of backed off on some of those where required. Equally, some dealers turned around and were more aggressive on things. Everyone had a slightly different approach. So, we listened and we listened to what options people were looking for. It's no different with our retail customers. You think back to March, our call centre was flooded with people saying, “I don't know if I'm going to have a job”, and, “I don't know what's going on around the corner”. No one did. So, we were pretty reactive, very quickly, on what we provided customers, whether it was relief or some delay-on payments. But surprisingly, for the disaster, where everyone was in, the amount of relief request we got was a lot less than what we were expecting. Richard: We've seen the market bounce back quite strongly. Are you seeing the same recovery in the financing of vehicles? Wayne: Absolutely. June – and I think most people know this that have asked us – we lent more money in June for cars than ever before. It was a record

month, which sort of didn't feel right at the time, but we watched that demand and that's a well-trodden path. The numbers are there to show people were spending money, they couldn't spend it anywhere else; they were buying cars, they were buying boats. Richard: With mortgage rates now so low, is finance going to be a harder sell at a dealership?Wayne: No, that is just a rate. You've got to actually be able to get the money. And look, we were just previously owned by the largest bank in New Zealand, so I was pretty close to what the banks are doing. That's a great headline rate, but getting that money takes weeks; if you follow the broker market for mortgage brokers, who control a big chunk of the market, it's taking two weeks to get your money approved, if you can get it approved. So, I think business managers and dealerships need to continue with their process around challenging; do you really want to do the bank funding? We know for a fact, it's just getting so hard to borrow that money. It's being part of that sales process, making it easy. Richard: We have had some media coverage lately in regards to administration fees around the costs of setting up vehicle loans - and there's been some reporting around the fact that what is charged in New Zealand may or may not necessarily be legal in Australia anymore. Are you comfortable with the fee structure for dealers and their processing systems at the moment and how they go forward? Wayne: Again, it's auditable, right? You've got to be able to prove and justify your fees, and dealerships do. We're a few years into this process now, so it's always a question. It's the same with banks; they charge fees. And I think you've gotta be able to justify your fee, and that's only fair. Richard: It sounds like you're pretty excited to be partnered up with Shinsei and be able to just move forward and get on with the job. Wayne: Oh, it's fantastic. We've got a new board. The new chairman is David Morgan, who's based out of Australia, some people would be familiar with him, he was a chief executive of Westpac. (Shinsei Bank) are super enthusiastic, super interested in UDC. And of course, they will be, they're just bought us. It is great to have that supportive owner, and wanting to see some success over the long-term not all about doing everything on day one, it's about building the business up over time and just doing a good job.

...from page 10

12 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

AITKEN OPENS A NEW CHAPTER AT 75

Peter Aitken has decided at 75 it is time to end his association with the automotive industry as

while enjoying good health he wants to pursue other interests.

A Canterbury native Aitken graduated from Victoria University of Wellington in 1968 and moved to Australia with his wife to Melbourne, Australia where he had a short stint working for logistics company Mayne Nickless.

In late 1969, Aitken joined the Ford Australia team at the Broadmeadows head office working for Bill Hartigan (who became a Ford New Zealand managing director in the late 1980s) who ran the export department – in what would later become Ford Asia Pacific (FASPAC).

Ford Australia had manufacturing plants in Broadmeadows and Geelong and was selling Escorts, Cortinas, and Falcons through its dealer network.

Aitken then joined the Southern Region office based in St Kilda Road, Melbourne as a territory manager and travelled across Mildura, Bendigo, Kerang, Swan Hill and Malee covering more than a 1000 miles a week.

“Your primary role as a field manager was to ensure that you collected enough single item dealer orders on a daily basis and phone those back to the regional office to progressively update your running total of sales in the territory for the month.

“So one had to do that before 11 o'clock each morning. That was the ritual in those days. Yeah. But anyway, it's interesting, with the Aussie dealers, because as I learned later on, they were a slightly different breed than the Kiwi dealer.

“There wasn't much customer service ethic care I say it, from many of them or with many of them. But it was an appropriate grounding, because it did teach me, I was a bit of a green horn in those early days as a field manager,” Aitken says.

Parity of the Australian dollar with the New Zealand dollar and similar economic conditions in 1971 saw Aitken and his wife return home.

He took up a role as territory manager for Ford New Zealand based in Wiri, looking after the Auckland and Northland dealers.

Ford was assembling cars at Seaview in Petone as well as Auckland. Aitken continued to work for Ford New Zealand until 1976, having taken over as field operations manager from former All Black Norm Wilson, overseeing a team of four territory managers.

“Norm was a larger than life character and got on fantastically well with all the dealers and this was the conduit between Ford, New Zealand and the dealer network, and did that very effectively. We learned a lot from

him,” Aitken says.

Ford Asia Pacific (FASPAC) was formed as Ford expanded its operations in Taiwan and Thailand and Aitken found himself assigned to the Bangkok office for a year, travelling extensively through the country, all while the Vietnam War was still going on.

“They were quite hairy days actually at times, because we'd be travelling in the middle of the night, and there were some insurgence based around the border areas and down in Malaysia and around the Laos and Cambodian border. So you're always conscious that there was a risk component to your role.

“My children came up on the last visit, and I can remember that we flew out as Saigon fell. We were flying to Hong Kong and we had to skirt around Southern Vietnam because we couldn't fly in the airspace above Saigon, which was the normal route.

“I joined Mazda in October '76 as deputy manager under Colin Cliff and I retired 30 years later to the day.

“Colin again was a great mentor as

Digital marketing expert and former Mazda New Zealand managing director Peter Aitken reminisces on more than 50 years in the automotive industry.

to page 13...

While Aitken's career was predominately in distribution, he did dabble in the retail scene. He was a director of the Cycle and Carriage/Mazda NZ joint venture that owned Ford and Mazda outlets in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, which today is part of AP Eagers. He was also a direct of Colonial Motor Company from 2007 to 2015. "I always enjoyed the cut and thrust of retail together with the diversity of operators and developed a sixth sense over time of what characteristics were inherent in a successful dealer principal."

13OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

was Norm at Ford. And we were in stepping out of the very structured, very policy procedure-driven Ford environment into a joint venture.

“We had 24.9% shareholding split between Sumitomo and Mazda Japan. And we had three New Zealand shareholders. And so, the board composition was quite different and you had various parties to placate. In those early days, we had to rely on contractor assembly, we didn't have our own plant.

“Contractor assembly was Steel Brothers in Christchurch. Eventually we amassed enough capital to buy the plant in Otahuhu from Motor Holdings and Southern Assembly.

“A few years later we bought the Mount Wellington plant from Motor Bodies and renovated that, expanded that put new plant and equipment in.

“The two plants continued for a number of years until such time Vehicle Assemblers New Zealand was formed, another joint venture with Ford New Zealand.

“Part of that mix was for Mazda New Zealand to disband Otahuhu, and take Mount Wellington into the joint venture and in Ford's case they closed Petone and they bought Wiri into the mix.

“They were the days before Ford acquired 33.4% of Mazda Japan. So the management control was not there yet. So we were a bit of a first, a bit of a pathfinder in that forward Mazda relationship in that sense,” Aitken says.

He says managing the relationship between the two brands in the joint venture with similar products in competing dealerships wasn’t always easy.

Bringing the Ford and Mazda manufacturing teams under the VANZ joint venture was a challenge but the Japanese influence of Mazda introduced processes to increase the quality of the finished product leaving the assembly lines.

He says Ford was the market leader in 1971 with 25% of the market and GM Holden was number two and Toyota and the other Japanese brands were

still coming through the ranks.

Aitken notes the other Japanese brands had also taken a foothold in the assembly markets giving the Australian brands some competition but he says even with up to 33% tariff on completely built up vehicles (CBU), local assembly of completely knocked down vehicles (CKD) wasn’t profitable for the distributors.

“Over the years, the government gradually notched it back, and in 1996 Ford pulled the plug and the tariff protection rate at that stage was 17.5, and then Toyota stayed on, as Nissan did, for about another nine to 12 months before they in turn, pulled the plug,” Aitken says.

Aitken says the VANZ joint venture took the loss of local assembly on the chin, selling its comparatively new plant equipment to buyers in South East Asia.

“As soon as we got into the CBU game and built it up it wasn’t too long before we recovered most of the losses from losing local assembly,” Aitken says.

Another challenge was the beginning of the arrival of “baggage” cars from Japan in 1986, where people would fly to Japan on holiday to purchase a second hand car to ship home, with the Mazda RX-7 being one of the most popular models.

The challenge and difficultly for dealers in the early days of the import trade, was matching the residual values of a New Zealand new Mazda 323 and 626 against that of a used car from Japan.

“We followed Toyota and actually

started importing our own used imports through Mazda Taiwan. There was a reasonable volume of those, but we gave that away after a number of years,” Aitken says.

He says two notable achievements during his time at Mazda were the formation of the Mazda Foundation and the introduction of the MazdaCare free servicing package during the vehicles warranty period.

He says the operating model used for the Mazda New Zealand Foundation was based on that used by the Australian and the USA markets.

“It has worked exceedingly well and all the subsequent teams to my retirement have expanded the Mazda Foundation with great a deal of effect. And it's still a one-off. I don't think anybody in the motor industry has followed suit,” Aitken says.

“Initially I was not that supportive, but the Mazda team convinced me that we should go down this track, create a unit, point of difference.

“We knew increasing the number of vehicles coming back for warranty service would increase costs for us but the dealer service departments would gain additional work so it was a win-win all around in that sense.

“It's interesting to see other franchises pull it into their mix on a regular basis, some on a part-time basis,” Aitken says.

Aitken says the arrival of the Mazda6 in 2002 was a turning point for Mazda Japan and the perception of the brand which up to then had competed with Nissan, Honda, and Toyota in the CD class segment.

...from page 12

to page 14...

PETER RECEIVES THE 2002 NEW ZEALAND CAR OF THE YEAR FROM NOW AUTOTALK JOURNALIST MIKE STOCK.

14 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

“In early 2001 we saw the first designs in clay in the design studio of that Mazda6 and everybody was wowed by it, and sure enough, it became a turning point for sales volumes and market share in that CD class all around the world for Mazda.

“It handled exceptionally well for a car of those years. Then we would progress on to Mazda3 and Mazda2 and then into the SUV range. He says the SUV range of CX-9, CX-5, CX-3 and now CX-30 which arrived after his retirement have been very much a boom for the Mazda brand.

Aitken says he spent a year in a first generation CX-7 as his retirement car, which arrived in November 2006, but changed into a Mazda6 which he was very happy with.

The seed for the foray into digital marketing was sown in the early 2000s for Aitken, and also harks back to his trips to dealerships in the mid to late 1990s where he lugged a couple of monitors around New Zealand making presentations to staff.

Aitken realised that it was important for Mazda to establish a point of difference being the smaller franchise in a dual situation. From travelling four weeks a year to all the dealerships – the company then used

the internet to communicate with the network.

“I became quite fascinated with the potential impact digital may have on motor vehicle retail,” he says.

Taking early retirement in 2006 Aitken set up a company with Joel Anggow to have a crack at digital marketing.

“I dare say we were moderately successful because we were probably operating at a higher plane than in reality, where dealers were at that point in time, and we probably needed to slow everything down and be like a more generic, basic approach.

“That's the frustrating part, you knew

darn well that if dealers were prepared to approach digital with an open mind that it would be beneficial to them.

“Very few in those early years could appreciate what it could do and open up a whole new dimension in terms of productivity and efficiency. But those that had that open mind and were early adopters, they really benefited from that.

“I must admit some of them use the digital component to their advantage and as well as being very skilled entrepreneurs and opening up other branches, other operations, other franchise operations, they use digital to good effect,” Aitken says.

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PETER ON MAZDA FOUNDATION ‘BUSINESS’

15OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

BMW TO CASH IN ON ELECTRIFICATION WITH THE POWER OF CHOICEAutoTalk editor Richard Edwards catches up with BMW New Zealand managing director Karol Abrasowicz-Madej to discuss his career, COVID and BMW’s new electrifcation strategy.

As the car industry works its way through the COVID-19 pandemic, the thing to remember is “that

there will be a better time,” says BMW New Zealand managing director Karol Abrasowicz-Madej.

“What we need to do is focus on planning and giving confidence to our employees.”

Karol has been involved with BMW for nearly 20 years, starting when he wrote his Master’s thesis on its quality division when he was a university student in his native Poland.

To do that he moved to BMW’s base in Munich, Germany, and was later offered the chance to be one of the first employees of BMW’s new national sales company in Poland. “I was literally the first one who received a desk.” His career had begun.

He spent around 10 years with BMW in Poland before returning to Germany where for three years he looked after dealer development in the European Union. He went to Japan in 2015 to restructure BMW’s Japanese sales network.

Karol had dreamed since he joined BMW of becoming the first Polish managing director of a major German company. “I was pursuing that goal and…I spoke about it to a BMW executive. The next week, she came back and appointed me MD of New Zealand.”

In business he sees himself as a coach and motivator, with a future-oriented mindset. “I like working with people, extracting from them the best they can deliver.”

He took a pragmatic approach when the COVID-19 pandemic hit NZ. “COVID-19 came as a surprise for everyone who lives on earth,” he says, adding that a year ago no-one would have thought something would “press a ‘stop’ button which literally has happened with COVID.”

It’s a different sort of crisis to the financial crash of the 2000s. “It struck at once and is causing damage and a domino effect in the supply and the demand chain.” And it has caused continuing uncertainty.

Early in the pandemic he presented

information to his team relating to its effect on New Zealand. “I just said, ‘look at that, guys. I think we have one week to go.’ And they looked at me and said, ‘what do you mean?’

“I said ‘I think if all that we think may come true, next week we (will be) in lockdown. So, get yourselves prepared.’ We started and the lockdown came a week after.

“We went into the first lockdown with eyes wide open, knowing that there is a time during the crisis and there is a time after the crisis.

“So, we focused on after the crisis, coming out of (it) strong, with a very well-prepared marketing campaign, cut or tailor-made production…and we recovered extremely fast.

“Our company has kept every single employee on full pay, and that gave confidence to our employees to give their best. And I'm very proud of the team and of the deliveries.

“The total market was down 22.3% by July. The premium segment was down around 14%. And I'm glad to say that we are the fastest recovering of the German premium manufacturers and we are currently at 12.5%.”

The overseas travel ban has helped the premium car market, he says, adding that it’s estimated Kiwis spend around $5.9bn on travel a year, and another $1.9bn on airfares. “So, we are talking about, more or less, $8bn that hasn’t been spent across the year.”

The premium car segment has capitalised on that, “but I also truly believe that, generally, confidence has come back really strong and really

to page 15...

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quick.”

Using BMW’s financial services product could help develop 1 Series and some 3 Series sales in market areas where their prices overlap with those of cars like the Ford Mondeo and Mazda 6.

When he came to NZ, Karol was surprised Kiwis pay cash for cars. “In markets like Britain, 80% of cars are either bought by loans or leased and the cash that buyers have usually comes from mortgages, so it's basically bond leverage.

“And financial products are very well accepted by the (British) market. You will see 3 Series, or 1 Series, quite often purchased with loans.

“If we can offer a 1 Series for $99 a week, which is not even the price of a lunch for a couple over the weekend in the (Auckland) CBD, you come to understand that actually, it is affordable.

“I do believe cars are affordable; there are much more expensive things in life than our vehicles. I think the 320i we offer in NZ at the price point that we have, is a very good affordable value.”

Karol says BMW’s ground-breaking all-electric i3, which debuted here in 2014, will influence every electric vehicle the German company produces.

And when BMW discontinues the i3, “we will have enough other electric vehicles on the market to continue the successful story of this pioneering fully-sustainable car.”

Its “soul” will live on in every vehicle BMW markets under its power of choice strategy which will offer buyers a choice of petrol and diesel combustion engine, plug-in hybrid and all-electric powertrains in the same chassis/body.

The programme starts with the iX3 SUV. It’s expected to arrive here early next year and in electric form has a range of 460km between charges.

“I’d love to see it (in NZ) this year, but I believe we need to be realistic and think about next year.” BMW will start taking expressions of interest in the car soon, but Karol won’t be drawn on likely pricing.

The iX3 will be the start of BMW’s major push into electric cars. “In the next 24 months we will definitely have a lot of electric vehicles; and by the end of 2023, our company will offer, globally, 25 electrified vehicles, half of which will be fully-electric.”

In the meantime, there’s strong interest in the “interim car, the X330e” a plug-in hybrid with an electric operating range of up to 60 kilometres. In

Auckland, that’s “a very solid one-day of driving electric.”

New Zealanders are early-adopters, and he anticipates iX3 sales will ramp up quickly. As an example, he points to the new Mini electric. “The car is absolutely sold out and now we are getting more and more orders.”

Whether the iX3 will also be a sell-out depends on how the New Zealand economy is doing; it depends too on how well the public accepts electric vehicles and on what incentives are available to electric car buyers.

To get greater acceptance of electric cars many parties need to come together, he says. “Like, for example, our endeavour with ChargeNet and a core development of the infrastructure of, I think, now around 120 DC chargers across the country. We're proud that we've been in the game from the very beginning.”

Ideas like allowing electric cars to use bus lanes and giving them preferential parking spaces in the city will help too.

And government subsidies for electric car buyers such as those operating in Germany are “an appealing deal for customers.”

If everything comes together, Karol believes electric cars can achieve a

...from page 15

to page 17...

DEALERTALK

17OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

market penetration of at least 13%.

In a market where SUVs are generally all-wheel drive, he doesn’t think the iX3’s two-wheel drive layout will be a hindrance; nor will the fact that it’ll be built in China.

“A lot of the SUVs that we are doing – basically, almost 60% of our total sales are SUVs – are being purchased with, we call it an sDrive, which is basically a rear- or front-drive.

“Looking at a city community like Auckland – Auckland is around 60% of the total (car sales) volume of the country – do we really need an X-drive (AWD)? “

The Power of Choice policy allows BMW to adjust supply according to customer demand. “We need to be realistic about the timeline of an uptake of electric vehicles.

“So, I'm confident there will still be buyers for our combustion engines, there will be buyers for plug-in hybrids, and there will be buyers for a fully electric car. We will have a little bit of something for everyone...”

BMW builds factories where there is high demand for its cars and the Chinese market “is the biggest and is about to grow” and will probably see “a very strong uptake of electric vehicles.”

BMWs have the same level of quality, regardless of where they’re built, Karol adds. “We can't afford to lose (customers’) trust. BMW customers are premium customers, and we have a responsibility to stick to the promises of a premium (brand).”

Karol’s philosophy is don’t take life for granted. “You don't know what the future may bring to you, but the future has brought me here and I'm super happy in New Zealand.”

...from page 16

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Like the rest of the automotive industry, New Zealand’s leading car listing site Trade Me took a major hit during the COVID-19 Level 4 lockdown in April.

“People couldn't trade and that impacted Trade Me pretty heavily,” says the company’s co-head of motors, property and jobs, Alan Clark.

As a result of COVID’s impact, Trade Me has combined its motor, property and jobs divisions into one business unit which Clark co-leads with Jeremy Wayne.

New listings decreased significantly during the first lockdown but when it was lifted there were record sales in June and July and into August, before a Level 3 lockdown was imposed in Auckland and the rest of the country went to Level 2, Clark says.

Overall, though, Trade Me has seen an increase in views of around 10% compared with pre-COVID times. “So, we’re actually getting more active user-engagement than before,” says Trade Me’s new head of sales, Jayme Fuller.

“We believe listings are performing strongly. We’re seeing a trend back upward again.”

Clark says the quantity of listings hasn’t recovered (but) “we believe that to be a function more of the supply chain…from Japan.”

“After the first lockdown, we saw about 1.5% of our dealers decrease – the number of dealers that we actively do business with.

“However, over the winter months, we saw that recover fully. And then, since the second lockdown, we've seen – and this might be a very recent effect – a drop of about 2.5%. I think that we'll get some recovery off that.”

Sales boss Fuller says car buyers are looking for an easy experience on Trade Me’s website and are looking to understand “what kind of brand a dealer has.”

Dealers can list cars on Trade Me, he says, but are they building a trustworthy brand? Are they representing their cars accurately?

“We can provide advice to dealers on the best way to list their cars through a series of different offerings that will improve the number of views they get, the number of watch-listings they get, and that dramatically affects how many people walk into their yard.”

Clark says Trade Me’s redesigned website has a much more modern look and is far more compatible with mobile devices.

“Over the last couple of years, there have been improved layouts, there's been finance calculators – so dealers can show off all the other services that they provide and offer.”

BUYERS LOOKING FOR ‘EASY EXPERIENCE’

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to page 18...

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18 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

“More than a million Kiwis look for a vehicle on Trade Me, and it has introduced a Book a Test drive“ service which became an essential tool in Level 3.

“Demand for book a test drive was the one we heard most often (from dealers) and the one we chose to invest in because it creates a much better experience for the car buyer as well,” Clark says.

“For us, it's all about making that consumer process easy. And so, if we can make it easier for a potential car buyer to book a test drive…that’s our role.”

On August 3, Trade Me launched a package that gave search card order to listings, says Fuller.

“Consumers tell us, the data tell us, the dealers tell us that being first in the search order makes all the difference.”

He likens it to searching for items on Google: “it's really hard to find the thing on the eighth page.

“So, that's why we decided to make the investment; dealers have responded exceptionally well...”

What happens if several dealers want to pay to be top of the search order?

“We went into this with a pretty strong hypothesis around how many dealers will be willing to pay for that, and there's four different levels of willingness to pay.

“So, we use past dealer behaviour, we use some of our past sales data, to be predictive about how many people will end up in each of those packages – platinum, gold, silver and bronze – and we'll know in six months if we got that right. We feel pretty good about the data we're seeing so far.”

Clark says much of what Trade Me does to assist dealers uses traditional and forward-looking data-gathering methods.

“We've got a dedicated user research department (and) almost every week, we'll be running some kind of workshop, where we ask people about what they're looking at in terms of vehicles, how they want to purchase vehicles, how they want to look for vehicles online.

“Last week, we talked about New Zealanders’ electric vehicle buying habits and what they’re worried about with electric vehicles.

“That's a good example, because we know that they worry about price, they worry about range, they worry about battery life.

“And so, that then informs how we might help dealers out by (advising on) how we display an electric vehicle on Trade Me.”

Some of the data is proprietary to Trade Me, says Fuller, but dealers also have data unique to their own yards.

“What they can do then, is work with their Trade Me account manager to better understand that data. We can help them think about where they would get the most lift on their business, by super-featuring cars and which types of cars, and at what time of the month.”

Has COVID pushed more car sales online? “I haven't seen a huge shift..,” Fuller says.

“What we have observed, though, is the degree to which (dealers) were able to react incredibly quickly during the most recent lockdown and move to contactless sales almost immediately.”

In the first lockdown they were figuring out what contactless meant, but “within days of being at Level 3 in Auckland, you could drive by car dealerships and you knew they were doing contactless test drives.”

Clark says on the topic of sales shifting online, “I think that the demise of the dealer has been talked about for many, many years now, along with the demise of the real estate agent...

“At the end of the day, buying a car is such an emotional purchase that, for a lot of people, requires real human contact, real human advice.

“So, I'm not sure that we're going to see a massive spike in sales going purely online, with no touch points for dealers.”

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19OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

Editorial content including vehicle news, reviews and buyer advice is critical to the success of Driven,

says the head of the online car sales website and print magazine, Tash Callister.

Driven is part of the NZME stable of websites, radio stations, and newspapers including the New Zealand Herald daily.

Callister says it’s important for car dealers and distributors to put their businesses and brands into a place where they know they can influence the consumer.

“We know that (website) users also search multiple makes and multiple models…so that's a place where content plays a critical role” in educating consumers.

“We attract a new vehicle consumer (and) we want them to know what’s coming up, what's new, what's being released, what's being refreshed,” says Callister.

Online vehicle reviews have links to classified listings and that is “hugely powerful,” she adds.

Driven editor Dean Evans says the website and magazine feature the whole researching, buying, owning, and selling of vehicles.

Editorial features allow users to compare different models and read expert opinions and advice.

Driven journalists give their picks in particular market segments, or price brackets, and choose what they would buy themselves.

The Car Choices series guides buyers through the whole experience. “Everything from ‘it's time for me to buy a car, do I buy new? Do I buy used?’ through to ‘Do I get my own bank financing?’

“It’s a real sort of experience that we try and cater for and combines editorial and the commercial side.”

Driven offers several packages dealers can buy. Most popular is cost-per-lead which delivers the biggest possible pool of buyers. “it's very low risk. If we don't provide you with any leads, you pay nothing,” Callister says.

Another package suits dealers who only want to pay when they get results, and there’s a subscription service for dealers who work to a fixed monthly budget.

There’s also Shopper Connect. Open to any dealer, it costs nothing to access. “All they have to do is talk to a Driven representative. We set them up with logins.”

Callister says many people like to engage with the website after business hours, say at 7pm.

“They're wanting to still engage and check with somebody. Quite often, they know what they want, they've got a make or model (in mind), they've got a budget, and they know that they're ready to purchase now.”

Driven captures the buying briefs and delivers them into Shopper Connect. If dealers see a match for a vehicle that

they have in the yard, they can buy the lead and get the user's contact details.

Driven collects data across the whole of NZME – the network reaches 3.2 million people – and logs what vehicles people are searching for, what make and what price point. It can then package up consumer segments and audiences for dealers.

Driven reaches a different audience – “the new vehicle and quality-used vehicle buyer” – to its rivals, Callister

says. “So, in terms of what's different between us and some other sites, it can actually be reaching different people.

“We tend to attract a type of a user who is looking for a slightly higher price point. Most searches occur over $15,000. I just looked back at the last 30 days of searches on our site and the three most commonly searched years were 2020, 2015 and 2018.”

Callister says COVID has changed consumer behaviour. “I think…people are more comfortable purchasing online, because we were kind of forced into it.

“Last year, we were a heavily mobile-driven business; most of our audience was coming to us through a mobile device, and now…that’s swung back and the majority of our audience is coming to us from a desktop device.

“One of the most interesting impacts (of) COVID is the growth of print.” There are still dealers and distributors who see the value of advertising in print publications.

Evans says that the Driven print magazine in the Weekend Herald “will maybe sit in a cafe over the weekend, and if you really like it, you might just keep it as a reference material.”

“But the key for me,” says Callister, “is…integration and understanding the role of each media type. It's not about one particular channel over another.”

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20 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

Eighteen months into owning iconic Kiwi classified car advertising brand, Auto Trader, Ross Logue and Richie East say the business is going well, even in tough times.

Currently, they reckon it’s New Zealand’s number two automotive classified platform. “We all know that Trade Me are number one,” says East. “But we definitely consider ourselves a strong number two.”The pair were working for Auto Trader’s then-owner German publishing giant Bauer Media when the chance came to buy the brand.They launched a modernised website six months ago, replacing a 15-year-old one. “We built it on a completely new platform,” says East. “And it was very much directed towards mobile which is where audiences are going; mobile is dominating desktop in regards to what people are using...”Features of the site include a new car showroom, a commercial section, an EV section. So, we appeal to used car dealers and franchises alike.”Buyers are spending more time on the site, says Logue. “Session (times) are up 15% year on year.” East says 99% of Auto Trader’s listings are from dealers. “We work for the used car market (but) we work for the franchises as well. “We've got test drive requests on the site which, especially for franchise dealers, really drive home as a high-quality lead.”

A key Auto Trader feature is its cost-per-lead model “where we track phone numbers and we give email notifications to the dealers,” says East. “If you get a phone call into your dealership and you get an email straight away saying this call was from Auto Trader, you know you've got (an) interested buyer there.”Logue: “You're talking a lot of phone numbers…but the way it's set up, you can have multiple email notifications and multiple numbers ring, depending on your yard.”“Every dealer on Auto Trader has a unique number and then, we can provide the call inquiries based on that to the dealers,” says East. “The time of call, the date and the actual time that they’ve spoken to them as well.”“The cost-per-lead definitely does work well for certain dealers,” Logue adds. “We’re $30 for a lead. It’s almost half of what you're paying in the industry average.“Cost-per-lead doesn't work for some marketing budgets and plans, so Auto Trader offers a fixed rate option. “That's $60 to list all of your vehicles on the site.“With the first lockdown, everyone was closed in April,” says Logue. “We shut down and we were in the same position as all of the dealers. So, we offered a three-month dealer recovery package…we’re all in this together.”Though the brand has an online focus, Logue and East see a continuing place for Auto Trader’s print edition which goes out North Island-wide, though predominantly around Auckland. “There's just under 30,000 being printed each month,” says Logue. “We get around a 94-95% pick-up rate so a huge amount of magazines are being picked up and viewed by people...”It's free which Logue says “definitely helps, and we have some phenomenal pick-up rates in major supermarkets,” citing an Auckland example where the distributor delivers more than 1000 magazines to the store over a month, topping up the display stand continually. “So, there's people seeing it, picking it up and reading it. The dealers that are in it definitely see results or else they wouldn't be in it.”The print edition will continue “as long as there's interest in it and it’s working – and it is.”“The way we're running the business now is to be as flexible as possible and as fast-moving as possible,” says East. “We don't have anyone above us telling us what to do or how they'd like things to work. “It’s pretty easy to make a decision now. If it makes commercial sense, then we look to implement it. And if it's going to drive results, or if it's going to improve or make life easier for the dealers, then we do it.” “We're a young start-up, small team (total staff is about 10) taking on the big boys in the market,” Logue says. “Our aim is to be the best value platform in the market,” East adds.

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AUTO TRADER CLAIMING PLACE IN MARKET

ROSS LOGUEAUTO TRADER

RICHIE EASTAUTO TRADER

LISTINGSERVICES

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21OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

BY DAVID CRAWFORD | CEO MOTOR INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

The election is nearly upon us and true to form the lead up to the election has

been heavily influenced by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In my mind, elections should be about contesting of ideas, philosophies and ambitions. Individuals should be free to either agree or disagree with those without repercussions. Thankfully in New Zealand we enjoy, mostly, a robust and politically safe election process.

Having said that, it is scary to see the escalating costs that are coming from the election promises made by Labour and National.

Even more scary to me is the rhetoric from the Greens rushing to ban new ICE vehicles from 2030. Their urban based transport policies are car unfriendly. Even worse, they do not seem to understand rural NZ needs. In my mind the worst outcome for transport we could face is a Labour Greens coalition post the election, a result that is more than likely to come to fruition.

I guess it is only fair having said that elections are about the contesting of ideas, philosophies and ambitions that I should indicate what mine are for an incoming government.

Personally, my overall economic philosophy is based on two notions. Firstly, I believe in joint fiscal and social responsibility. Governments spend our money so it needs to be spent wisely and on those that genuinely need supporting. Secondly, I do not believe in empires, so less is more.

We need less Government focusing on allowing people to stand on their own two feet while supporting those who genuinely cannot.

For this election, given the Covid-19 context, my key policy views are around the economy, the border and cost of

doing business. If these are working well the business of importing and selling vehicles will thrive.

I want an incoming government to lock in our health gains by focusing on the economy. A casual glance at the economy suggest we are doing OK. I do not think we are and causal perceptions are deceptive. Our economy is not an island and while the rest of the world is slipping further and further into a deep recession sooner or later that will impact us.

It will take determination and careful management to limit the size of our debt burden that our children and grandchildren are going to be burdened with paying off.

A part of growing the economy is how we manage the border. I remain bemused at how locked down our border is. If we have people wanting to come and live and work on our country and who are prepared (or their employer is prepared) to pay for quarantine, then why are we continuing to lock them out? Managing the border for non-New Zealanders wishing to live and work here can be done as safely as it is done for returning Kiwi citizens. Continuing to lock down immigration as tightly as it is currently is counterproductive to a growing and healthy economy.

As Business NZ notes, our border should be progressively opened safely and as soon as possible.

Along with my views on less Government, we need a serious overhaul of our regulations. Small to medium sized business constantly struggle with the regulatory overload and their associated heavy compliance costs.

Reducing unnecessary regulation would significantly assist businesses to stand on their own two feet and reduce new start up failure rates.

Also helping this would be increased investment and better

coordination in industry training. We need an increase in qualified young people entering the trades.

In terms of ambitions I would argue that any incoming government needs to develop a long term sensible and pragmatic framework for increasingly levels of environmental sustainability. It is the only way to future proof our growth in a world of limited resources.

Established unsustainable practices of the past that underpin much of our current economic growth cannot continue. On the other hand, we do not need knee jerk platitudinal ambitions that require unachievable fast rates of change.

We need a plan that provides certainty and has cross party support for its general direction of travel. We need to bring businesses and consumers along for the journey with them in the driving seat, not impose bans on them and impose heavy penalties when options for change are out of their reach.

I don’t think that is too much to ask for, do you?

CRAWFORD’S CASE

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?

22 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

LEAD, TEST DRIVE AND SALES BY SOURCE AUGUST 2020 (VS JULY 2020)BY MATT DARBY

In July we saw a slight drop from June to July across all KPI's with lead volume decreasing 4.6% from June, test drives decreasing by 4% and sales decreasing by 4.5%.

August was trending similarly to June until the return of Level 3 in Auckland/Level 2 in the rest of NZ on August 12.

With the added hurdles in trading, combined with a general slowdown in economic activity August has seen significant drops across the board.

As of the end of August the top sources of leads remain unchanged from previous months with 'Web - Classified' and 'Web - Dealer' taking out the top two spots, and leads from 'Brand' being the third most common source of leads for Kiwi dealers (AutoPlay's customer base is heavily skewed towards franchise dealers).

SOURCE LEADSWeb-classified 15.5% (vs 0.2% decrease in July)

Web-dealer 20.0% (vs 2.2% decrease in July)

Brand 27.3% (vs 6.7% decrease in July)

As a face-to-face activity test drives were always bound to suffer with Auckland unable to trade.

Test drives were down across the board, but interestingly the top 3 sources of test drives, while unchanged have been noticeably more impacted in August that the less common sources of Test Drives.

SOURCE TEST DRIVESWeb-classified 18.1% (vs 2.9% increase in July)

Web-dealer 32.0% (vs 3.3% increase in July)

Direct 32.8% (vs 0.1% increase in July)

After strong months in June and July sales have decreased again in August.

Whether this would have occurred as forecasted by many people WITHOUT the return of COVID-19 imposed shutdowns we will never know.

SOURCE SALESWeb-classified 6.4% (vs 6.9% decrease in July)

Web-dealer 26.1% (vs 4.1% decrease in July)

Repeat 11.8% (vs 6.2% decrease in July)

When NZ last returned from Level 3 lockdown we saw the market bounce back fairly quickly with strong June and July results for most dealers.

With Auckland having returned to Level 2 on Monday 31st August initial indications are activity is tracking at similar levels in the first 2 weeks of September to what they were in early August.

Check out Autotalk next month to see how kiwi dealers fared in August and September.

23OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

As a self-confessed “political tragic”, I follow politics closely, both national and international.

I follow the politics in New Zealand, in Australia, the UK and the USA. I am generally interested in major trends and swings, and the hot issues of the day. That’s on a personal level, but I am also interested in issues that may affect our industry. VIA and Autotalk are not political by nature, but when our industry is at risk, it’s not only reasonable, but absolutely necessary to stand up and protect our interests.

VIA has reviewed the election manifestos of all the political parties contesting this election, and generally, there are no surprises. Promises from all and sundry to spend more of our taxes on public transport, road and rail infrastructure plus encouragement for “active transport” (walking and cycling), as well as incentives to transition to electric vehicles.

But this time, there is one policy proposal that poses an existential threat to our industry, and our businesses. Really serious stuff. As well as promising free public transport for everyone under 18 or over 65, the Greens have proposed that all petrol fuelled light vehicles be prohibited from importation after 2030. This initiative is modelled on and intended to align with the UK’s and EU’s policies.

There seems to be no differentiation between new and used vehicles in their proposal, but if such a policy becomes law, the New Zealand motoring public

would be severely limited in their choices of vehicles.

With no fresh imports of new or used petrol cars, vans or utes, buyers would be forced to buy older vehicles already in the fleet, or freshly imported electric vehicles. And there is a limited supply of used electric vehicles worldwide, now and for the foreseeable future.

If these restrictions were to become law, not only would the motoring public be seriously inconvenienced, but the motor vehicle industry as we know it would be facing the deepest, most radical resizing and restructuring ever. For both new and used vehicle sectors.

I understand that times change, and we can think back to the drastic changes that occurred when there was an almost overnight transition from horse-drawn transport to motor vehicles. Certainly, there was severe disruption, and people had to find new ways of working, and new trades and businesses were developed.

The banning of fresh petrol-based imports coming into our fleet would be the catalyst for an equally radical upheaval. Once again, people would adjust, but we need to think about the effects of such a change. 2030 is only ten years away, and that ten years will pass quickly.

The Greens first announced that their petrol vehicle ban would be a “bottom line” for entering into a coalition agreement, that is it would be a non-negotiable condition. That hard-line position has since softened, but make no mistake: if the Greens get into power, or have any influence over the transport policies of the next Government, we are likely to face some draconian legislation.

Just a couple of weeks away from the election, the political landscape is still uncertain, and it looks likely

that Labour would need the Greens’ support to get back into office. And if that is the case, be prepared for serious impacts on transport. The Greens are nominally an environmental party, with issues such as agriculture, fishing, waterways and waste management as their main campaign points, but the reality is that these environmental issues are only stalking horses for their real purpose, the radical restructuring of society. At heart, they are a socialist party that wants to impose controls and restrictions on every aspect of our lives. Their key focus is climate change, and transport is a core element of this issue. It the Greens have their way, they will be targeting transport as a key part of their agenda for change.

As George Carlin, the American social commentator observed, “If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain”.

But the act of voting is only part of the solution. How you vote, and who for, are the key issues.

If you value the future of our country, think carefully before casting your vote.

And if you value your livelihood, your business and our industry, support VIA as we identify and work on the issues that will affect us all.

VINSEN’S VIEWDAVID VINSEN

OCTOBER 2020

ADVANTAGE

If you don’t vote, you lose the right to complain.

George Carlin

Democracy is not a spectator sport.

Marian Wright Edelman

24 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

Fundamentally, before customers make the decision to buy from you, they need to be able to

trust you. They need to trust that what you’re selling matches up to what you say it is and that if anything goes wrong you’ll support them.

Trust is the most important business asset you manage. If you do it well you can expect to build a strong brand and that will give you high customer recognition, enhanced credibility and ease of purchase, a competitive advantage and customer loyalty.

So the big question is … how do you build trust?

Fortunately it’s no big secret. Here are 5 ways you can build trust in your business:

1. Be visible

Showing people that you’re proud of your brand gives them confidence in you. Having your premises and signage in a high-traffic area certainly helps, but if this isn’t possible, there are other ways to raise your profile. The more you advertise and are active on social media, the faster you’ll build your brand awareness, make it easier for customers to find and contact you, attract more followers, and give people an idea of “who” your business is.

2. Be transparent

People are way more informed and savvy these days, so they appreciate businesses that are open and up front. Vehicle listings with a good selection of photos and a candid description of the vehicle are a great example of this. Plus, if you show you’re responding to all customer feedback and being gracious when you receive criticism on social media (with a view to using this information to gain insights into how you can improve your business), you’ll earn respect and trust.

3. Provide great customer service

We all know it’s a good idea to under promise and over deliver. Ensuring your whole team are focussed on providing great customer service will go a long way. While your advertising, web site, etc. can present an amazing image, its actual experience with your business that reveals its true character (for better or worse). Great customer service leads

to word of mouth referrals that can translate into increased sales for your business.

4. Be in it for the long haul

Trust can't be established quickly or through gimmicks. It needs to be built up over the years, held as a core value by every employee and reinforced time and time again, by making sure you do the right things and do them well.

5. Provide after sales support

It’s one thing to ensure customers have a fantastic sales experience, but you’ll really earn their trust and loyalty by being there to support them if things go wrong afterwards as well. This is where partnering with Autosure adds real value to your sales proposition.

At Autosure we’ve been a leading provider of automotive-owner protection policies for the NZ retail motor vehicle industry for over 30 years. And we’re very proud that our rating has recently been upgraded - DPL Insurance’s A.M. Best Financial Strength Rating is now B++(Good).

This upgrade shows our rating agency is acknowledging the long-term strength of our business. With such a secure, sustainable foundation, we’re proud to be able to stand behind our market-leading policies and be here to support our partners and kiwi car owners with their claims, now and into the future.

We’ve worked hard to build a positive team culture here at Autosure. According to Neil Taylor our national claims manager, this is one of the key reasons he’s still with the company he started at 30 years ago. “There are five people that have been here for more than 20 years (some are well past retirement age, but don’t want to leave) and there are many more are in the 10-year-plus club”, which Taylor reckons says something about Autosure

as a place to work.

We’re an insurance provider of choice for over 700 dealers and brokers throughout New Zealand. Many of these agents have been with us for a long time. One of our account managers, Warren Barnes, who himself has been with Autosure for over 25 years, really enjoys working with like-minded agents such as Millennium Motors, as they’ve done for the last 21 years. “Our businesses are a good fit. They have a wide range of stock and customers, and our policies match this brilliantly. What makes it work so well is that we have a good clear working relationship and trust in each other.”

One of the ways we’ve built up our level of trust with our agents and customers is by choosing to partner with workshops who are also focussed on looking out for what’s in the best interests of customers.

Wayne Hynes, Technical Claims Specialist, who’s been at Autosure for almost 14 years says “We’ve been working with the Paul Kelly Service Centre since 2006 and have total trust in the team. We know the work will be done to a very high standard and they’re realistic with parts pricing as well as labour costs. We have independent assessors come in, so we know they’re objective. We’re also really impressed by their strong focus on safety. And they’re good guys - which helps a lot too.”

We’re very pleased to be able to help kiwi car owners every day in our business and proud to work with partners in the industry who also have this strong customer focus.

If you’d like to find out more about how you can benefit from partnering with Autosure, please contact us on 0800 267 873, or talk to your local Autosure account manager who will be happy to help.

5 WAYS TO EARN CUSTOMERS’ TRUST

BY JAMES SEARLE

25OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

SO WHAT’S DRIVING UP THE PRICES THIS MONTH?

September has proved to be a frustrating month for Kiwi buyers in Japan, and not least because it seems there is no particular reason as to why stock has suddenly

become more expensive.

Mirroring the events of the world, the Japanese used vehicle market has been a dramatic roller coaster ride throughout, with the higher than normal prices during January and February overturned by those few astonishing weeks during April.

Values plummeted, allowing the lucky few who continued to buy stock during lockdown, some real opportunity to make money - if you were willing to gamble on a return to market post Level 4 lockdown in New Zealand.

Prices gained strength through the Japanese summer, propelled as much by domestic demand for high quality used cars by Japanese consumers against a backdrop of subdued new car sales.

When our Level-3 Claytons lockdown occurred in August, Japan Inc. was this time unaffected, with used stock prices remaining firm and the majority of Kiwi buyers continuing to source suitable stock.

September rolled around and the overall used car market in New Zealand bounced back with energy, with consumers once again keen to capitalise upon the Level 2 (or 2.5, if you were in Auckland) state of relative normality, cashing in the holiday funds or taking advantage of the lower interest rates. We have, perhaps against all predictions, boomed.

Back in Japan, the woes of Q1 and especially Q2 new vehicle sales were slowly being shrugged off, and although September overall new vehicle numbers at 469,000 were well down on the 2019 high of 548,000, they were still a big improvement on the August 2020 total of 326,000. Toyota production was close to a return to pre-Covid levels, Honda sales had ramped back up and only Nissan, still suffering from corporate issues against a platform of models waiting for replacement, saw any real reason to be gloomy. In short, the returning health of the Japanese marketplace should have led to a healthy environment for Kiwi buyers.

WRONGAgainst this positive backdrop, prices during September saw a very noticeable rise - across almost all makes and models, but especially the later model, lower km graded stock. And not just by Y20,000 either - the popular models saw significant gains that translated in to thousands of dollars extra across the wharves. Whatever you thought you could buy, was suddenly off the menu. Several larger importers we spoke to who would normally purchase between 80 and 120 units a month, had less than 40 on the board. One prominent Auckland large single-site retailer had been unable to purchase a single unit for the past two weeks, while a South Island dealer had looked to topping up stock with NZ-new ex-rentals just to maintain capacity.

And yet the Japanese market has started to see better new car sales, and domestic sales have plateaued. We should be finding conditions easier, not tougher.

There are two possible reasons for the difficulties, and neither are the fault of the Japanese consumers, whether wholesale or retail.

Back in April, the “boom times” weeks, prices were low - if you managed to persuade the bank manager to allow you to spend the money. Even as New Zealand eased in to Level 3 and limited economic activity, prices in Japan took a little longer to recover. Meanwhile, now in July and August, that stock hit the market here, creating a newer pricing landscape of lower values that afforded Kiwi consumers great purchasing opportunities. Most dealers elected to forgo the chance to increase margin on this “windfall” stock, and instead, helped push market prices down in the effort to quickly cash stock up and return some sense of weak health to the balance sheets.

But those strong sales months of July and August stripped out the stockpiles, and Kiwi importers returned en masse to the Japanese auction lanes - digitally, of course - to replenish what they had sold.

Reason one - our expectations of prices at auction had not shifted upwards in keeping with pre-Covid levels. In effect, had we forgotten the prices good stock was fetching in February? We had anticipated values to rise back up in June and July, but were we able to accept just how deep a trough those April prices had been, and how far back they could climb?

Reason two - back in New Zealand, we have had two very solid months of sales. Far from the stockpile mountain that some were predicting back in April, Kiwi consumers bought in such numbers that importers found themselves rapidly gearing up to source bigger volumes to satisfy demand going forward. The problem here - as it so often is in our market - that when we all need to buy stock, our biggest competitors are not the Japanese, or other export markets, but ourselves. We create our own market and right now, it could be argued, that market is riding a tidal wave of demand that sees only the bravest, or those prepared to command the market at any price, control how high prices might go.

Every indication this month seems to point back to Kiwi demand and supply being the largest controlling factor in the auction lanes of Japan.

This is a dangerous trend to continue, as there is no shortage of well-priced ex-rental stock in New Zealand for sale at comparative values, and as always, before any price crash is the meteoric rise.

For the sake of stability within our Industry, as if that has ever been a norm, it can only be hoped that dealers are wary enough of such a scenario, to prevent themselves from holding some very expensive bathwater if the baby gets tipped out over the next few months.

JAPANESETALK

GRAEME MACDONALD

26 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

STRENGTHEN YOUR BRAND & LOYALTY BY OFFERING INSURANCE

Insurance is the one thing you can’t buy, when you are in immediate need of its protection. It can only be acquired to cover a future event.

We all know we should, but we sometimes forget to offer the protection of Insurance to our customers. Correctly disclosed and offered, Insurance cover allows your customer to make an informed decision whether to protect themselves, and in turn to also protect and enhance your relationship and loyalty with your customer.Just as your customer buys a vehicle and holds an expectation to its merchantable quality, the same applies to any insurance product which is purchased. Your customer will hold an expectation that the insurance cover provided will protect them against an unexpected event occurring.Provident’s insurance cover (our promise), is there to support your customers in their time of need.It is also time to appreciate the tireless work our dealership’s and industry repairers undertake every day. They all find it beneficial to have the added benefit of insurance to provide the customer with a financial solution to a problem. The service and repair support end of our industry is just as important, if not more that the initial vehicle sales relationship.The bigger picture is to recognise that the offering and the uptake of Insurance products provides for a stronger customer relationship, and in turn loyalty to your dealership.If something does go wrong with a vehicle, you as the dealer will be judged on how you have helped find your customer a solution to any issue they have with their vehicle.Most of the time how you react, and the protection that you have already provided to your customer, will determine if they will be buying their next vehicle from your dealership.That is why Insurance protection is so important to firm up your customer loyalty base. It should be offered in all cases to help protect your valued customer in the case of many unfortunate insurable events, such as a mechanical breakdown, accident, damage, theft, and also in some cases where finance is provided, and they may need protection over their financial commitments. The most common insurance event that we see, is a mechanical issue that can occurs to motor vehicle. As we all know vehicles are machines, they all will have some mechanical breakdown sooner or later. Nothing lasts for ever.Provident in support of our partners, pride ourselves on offering the protection that your customer needs, and to protect your relationship with your customer, which will safeguard their loyalty to your dealership.Our claims department is the unsung heroes of our offering. Provident’s Insurance policies are issued by our partners with the knowledge that their customers will get a superior service in their time of need, under the protection their policy provides.

to page 27...

27OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

More than seven years ago Gavin Sloan created Drive Chat to meet the growing need to capture leads from potential buyers looking at a dealership website.

“Drive Chat is a specialised automotive live chat service. We've been around for more than seven years, and we offer 24/7 lead capturing, and our services are very much like that of a receptionist. We’re on the website, we greet people, qualify their interest in buying or servicing a vehicle and capture the lead and then send it on to the dealer,” Sloan says. “Usually, over half the conversations we have convert into qualified leads. And they're really good quality leads because they're coming off the dealer's website. They're people who know who the dealer is, the stock, the pricing and they're basically saying, yes, I want to talk to someone,” he says. Sloan says the leads are warmer and a lot more detailed than leads coming from online forms, which is the value of the service provided by Drive Chat.He says reaction to the COVID-19 lockdown in April saw some dealers initially withdraw from the service as a cost cutting measure, but many came back online within 10 days as they realised that potential buyers were at home and were surfing the net for cars.“People are now doing more car research online as opposed to, say, spending their weekend visiting three to four dealerships,” Sloan says. “From what we’ve seen across the number of sites we're on, people seem to be doing a lot more research before submitting a lead to a dealership” he says. Sloan says another successful trend to come out of the COVID-19 lockdown was dealerships taking more online deposits.“We had a particular group in New Zealand, quite a large group, who started doing deposits over the phone and online. It’s something they had always offered but never really focused on. Previously they only really focused on getting people into dealership. While a lot of the dealers were closed, they focussed on taking online and phone deposits, and ended making a phenomenal amount of sales during that period, just by adapting to the changing market,” he says.Sloan says dealership leads were up 25% in August from July even with the lockdown and September is on target to be up another 25%.But he says some New Zealand dealerships need to improve their lead response times because there is a huge opportunity to increase the number of test drives from the leads they receive.

“We conducted a Mystery Shop earlier this year, most dealers we spoke to reported that they responded to leads within an hour, some claimed that they jumped on them right away,” Sloan says.“We submitted more than 200 leads to dealerships across New Zealand to measure their lead response times. The results were surprising to say the least, and dealerships would be shocked to know that the average response time is around four hours, and that nearly 70% of leads do not receive a phone call from the dealership within 7 days of the lead being submitted,” he says. “We picked dealers at random from all brands, including Prestige. We submitted three leads for each dealer and we send a lead during the morning, we send a lead in the afternoon and we send one lead after hours. “We used different channels; Trade Me, Website forms, and Drive Chat, to get a good snapshot and all leads were 24 hours apart. We used all new numbers and emails that won’t appear on databases to get a true snapshot of how each dealerships responds to leads. “All we are measuring is response times and response rates, not the quality of the response because we are not sales trainers.“We found the average response rate for business hours in New Zealand, was three hours and 52 minutes. So, basically four hours.“To put this into a physical context for dealers, it would be like a walk in customer telling a sales person that he/she is interested in buying a car, and the dealer responding that’s great, why don’t you go shop around or pick up the kids and I’ll call you back in four hours to discuss the car…“You’ve lost the opportunity to close a deal and book a test drive or appointment in real time. Calling a lead four hours later means you run the risk of the prospect not being available, or worse, they may have already spoken to a competitor and already confirmed a test drive!” he says.Drive Chat has recently been announced as the exclusive live chat partner for Trade Me Motors. Dealerships that sign up with Drive Chat can now add live chat to their Trade Me listings for free.

Provident’s claims department is managed by John Hefford. John has over 35-years’ experience in the auto industry. He leads a team

of dedicated product specialised personal, that all hold the required industry knowledge to work professionally in their role.For example, you can be assured that all the mechanical breakdown claims team are trade qualified, and together they have previous experience working for all the major franchise groups within NZ.When a customer phones one of John’s team, they may be distressed and not always in a positive frame of

mind. The service that they receive is reflected in the positive industry feedback our company is privileged to receive.For claims where the original selling dealer does not provide a repair or service department the majority of claims are administered without the dealer’s knowledge. John’s team just go about their business helping the customer work through the issue at hand, protecting your dealerships reputation. For the dealerships that do have a dedicated service and repair department, I can say as Provident’s head of sales, that the word I get back from the market is that Provident’s claims service is second to none. We live up to our promise, from both the repairers and the customers prospective.

John Hefford and his entire claims team work tirelessly every day. I asked John for a comment re his teams’ approach to our business, his response was:“My Team aims to work in partnership with our dealers and repairers to provide a workable solution to every valid claim. Ultimately, we are judged by being able to provide a good customer outcome. "It is not the easiest environment to work in presently, due to Covid-19 adding pressure to the supply of parts etc. It is our job to help protect the loyalty that dealers have earned, by ensuring that Provident insurance products meet the expectations of their customers."Jaques Gray

...from page 26

JOHN HEFFORD

DRIVE CHAT: CONVERTING DEALERSHIP LEADS INTO SALESRobert Barry talks to Gavin Sloan,director of Drive Chat and Direct Connect, about capturing leads electronically and converting them into sales.

GAVIN SLOAN

28 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

0800 MOANA BLUE | www.moana-blue.com

Independent InspectionsShipping & Logistics What more would you need?

We pride ourselves on our independenceMoana Blue understand the importance of being independent. We are not in the business of buying or selling vehicles or any

other service that competes with our customers. Our aim is to simply provide a fast and efficient service of

independent shipping, inspections and advice.

BY BROOKE EBBETTPENTANA SOLUTIONS

With social distancing rules implemented as a result of the current pandemic, we understand the renewed focus for automotive dealerships to

improve efficiency in their administration department. Going electronic and being more efficient is essential in a time where physical handling of documents between departments can be challenging and time consuming.

Here are four steps dealerships can implement that will help boost efficiency in their administration department straight away:

1. Automatically process deals within your dealership

Typically, an administration department could take anywhere up to 25-30 hours a month manually processing 100 vehicle contracts. The gold standard and most efficient administration departments are automatically reconciling and are only having to manage any exceptions. Senior managers need to drive discipline in the Showroom Department to ensure all data is entered correctly by the salesperson. If your estimated gross is within your acceptable variance of accounting gross, these deals should be automatically posted to the General Ledger.

2.Eliminate manual data entry

Is your administration team individually entering invoice details, manually cross-referencing information and relying on their attention to detail to catch duplicate invoices, incorrect amounts, or out-of-policy expenditures? To solve this, you need a software solution that can automate the approval workflow and remove any potential human error. For dealerships of any size, there is little argument that adopting an automated invoice payment solution that is fully integrated to your Dealer Management System can help contribute to the bottom line.

3.Implement paperless workflows in your dealership

Are you using paper documents to run your business? Here are some facts that you may not be aware of:

• 1 out of 20 documents can go missing.

• The average staff member in a dealership spends 4 weeks each year looking for documents (400 hours).

• It takes an average of 10 minutes per paper document to retrieve, copy and re-file.

• Each folder drawer file cabinet holds an average of 10-12,000 documents and takes up 9 square feet of floor space and costs $1,500 per year.

Source: Gartner Group, AIIM, US Dept of Labour, Imaging Magazine, Coopers & Lybrand

Instant storage and retrieval of documents directly from your Dealer Management System will help save time, space and effort when you adopt paperless workflow at your dealership. Having an electronic document filing system for your DMS documents, mitigates any future risk of costly fines from your OEMs when you can’t reproduce those original warranty repair orders during your audits.

4. Monitor dealership performance anytime, anywhere

If your dealership has not implemented an interactive business Intelligence tool with live dashboards and full mobility, you are falling behind. In today’s competitive market, It’s important to have a point and click, drillable reporting tool to compare performance within departments, franchises and month-on-month trends to have the data that matters in the hands of your key staff making decisions.

4 STEPS TO BOOST EFFICIENCY IN YOUR ADMINISTRATION DEPARTMENT

29OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

MAKO SHADOWS SOLID HILUX UPGRADE

Toyota pulled out all the tricks in the marketing book last week for the launch of the updated Hilux -

and so they should, it is a big seller for the brand, and there has never been a better time for it to take back segment leadership from the Ford Ranger.

Why? Well with the Ranger around a year from replacement, Ford is unlikely to make massive changes to steal the limelight, and there are a large number of Holden Colorado buyers which other brands will be keen to mop up in coming months.

Not that they want to sell too many - or at least they do not want to sell too many in the context of the rest of their range. Hilux, even in the post-rental world Toyota now occupies, makes up under a third of Toyota sales. That

compares to the near two-thirds of sales Ranger makes up for Ford.

Chief executive Neeraj Lala explains keeping at that ratio helps Toyota hit its CO2 emissions targets and makes for a product mix less exposed to one sector or model.

So what was in the marketing book for Hilux this year? A very 'Hilux' road trip from Palmerston North to the 'Naki, lead by ambassador Mark Ellis, via some farm off-roading, a wind farm, Mount Taranaki and a visit to the Cape Egmont lighthouse for paua and venison sausages cooked by fishing-icon Matt Watson. Did we mention everyone was fitted out with a Swandri.

It doesn't get much more Kiwi than that. And ties into Toyota's campaign of linking the Hilux and its 'unbreakable

bond' to Kiwi lifestyles.

I am not sure how Kiwi the Blackhawk helicopter that then arrived with a Mako slung underneath was, but it sure caught the attention, and headlines and column inches, of the press in attendance.

So the Hilux itself, what are the core changes? The biggest has to be under the bonnet, with the 2.8-litre engine beefed up to offer 15% more power and 11% more torque (auto only), taking the tally to 150kW and 500Nm. On power that slightly beats the standard five-cylinder Ford and matches the standard and bi-turbo options on torque.

Importantly it kills any showroom niggle around the Hilux not being at or near the top of the market on that all

to page 30...

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30 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

important torque figure.

Most models also receive a new front mask, which certainly looks tougher than the outgoing model, while the SR5 and Cruiser 'wide body' models get additional cladding and new LED lighting front and rear. There are a number of other small visual tweaks.

Inside, an improved multimedia system is centred on an 8-inch touchscreen display (previously 6 or 7-inch) with knobs complementing the capacitive-touch interface to make operation easier, such as when wearing heavy gloves.

New standard features include voice recognition for WorkMate variants, and Apple CarPlay, and Android AutoTM across the range. The SR5 and SR5 Cruiser variants come standard with satellite navigation with SUNA traffic channel.

There are six speakers for double cabs, four for extra cabs and two for single cab and WorkMate variants. While the range topping SR5 Cruiser has a nine speaker JBL premium audio system with rear subwoofer.

There are new instrument clusters and an updated 4.2-inch information panel. This now offers even greater driver convenience features, including a front-wheel steering angle display.

Diesel variants also get a diesel particulate filter status, indicating if a regeneration process for the filter is required.

So how does it drive? There have been changes to the suspension callibration, with an additional leaf added in the rear and new cabin mounts for improved refinement. This is possibly the least-told story of the Hilux update - it has worked. You notice the Hilux is far quieter, far more comforting to drive. This is especially noticeable in the SR5 and Cruiser models with their plusher interior fitments. In fairness it is still not as engaging or car-like to drive on road as the Ford, but then this is a truck.

Off-road the Hilux shone. We undertook a short, wet farm course and my co-driver breezed through it inspite of not properly engaging the Hilux in low-range. On my round it was in low and drove up the slick slopes like it was in a Pak'n'save carpark. The tweaked DAC - downhill assist control - is

smoother and quieter than before.

To check out the full list of changes and range pricing, check out our earlier story at AutoTalk.co.nz

BUILT IN THAMES

Arriving slung below a Blackhawk Helicopter is one heck of a way to make an entrance. But then the new Hilux Mako is an impressive truck.

And it is probably one of the most Kiwi vehicles on the road today. It was developed locally using an array of new, off-the-shelf and Toyota Australia-sourced parts, and once the base vehicle arrives from Thailand is built at Toyota's Thames facility.

It takes an oddly-prices 4.3 working days to build a Mako.

Lala and his team drove a Ford Raptor as part of the development process, and wanted a more all-round capable trucks - including retaining the full 3500kg tow rating.

“We’ve taken a great truck and added some kiwi-muscle and flair. I’ve had lots of direct feedback from customers, and they wanted more power, a better ride and premium interior comfort – the Hilux Mako delivers on all those requests,” says Neeraj.

“The big advantage with the Hilux Mako is that you get all of those benefits and you can tow 3500kg. If I had to jump out of my GR Supra, this truck needed to be perfect, and I’m excited about jumping into a black

one.”

Starting from the ground, all Mako have 18” matte black alloy wheels with Maxxis Razr off-road tyres, fender flares, tinted front windows, a replacement front bumper steel bulbar, and a replacement rear heavy duty bumper.

To improve comfort and control – both on and off road – the suspension is upgraded with ARB’s Old Man Emu BP-51 shock absorbers. Brakes are upgraded with larger diameter front discs. The brake lines also get an upgrade to stainless steel braided lines that help increase hydraulic pressure on the pedal and the feel and feedback, improves safety, and are more durable in harsh conditions than standard rubber lines.

Inside, the Mako receives airbag-compatible custom sports leather accented front and rear seats with unique seat stitching and headrest branding.

Priced from $79,990, Lala says there was a pre-COVID market for 400 Makos a year, but he now expects to do 250. He told AutoTalk directly dealers who want a demonstrator will need to buy it at a low discount and hold it for an extended period of time.

For our impressions of the Mako, and its helicopter arrival, check out our video on the Auto Media Group's Youtube channel.

...from page 29

SHOWROOM

31OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

It comes as the brand aims to grow its share of the SUV and light commercial market in New Zealand.

COVID-19 might have put a dent in sales of the Master cab/chassis for the motorhome market but Renault New Zealand is undeterred.It now has 16 dealerships and four authorised service agents throughout New Zealand and is already seeing its sales volume rise as well as a lift in residual values on the existing Renault car parc as the brand becomes more popular and more desired through greater visibility.Renault’s most recent appointments include Automarque in Lower Hutt, Waggs Renault in Masterton, Duncan and Ebbett in Tauranga, Ebbetts Hawke’s Bay, Rosetown Renault in Te Awamutu and Mark Cromie Renault in Whangarei.Renault New Zealand general manager Sam Waller says he is still getting calls from parties who are keen to take on the Renault franchise and says the brand will soon be represented in Palmerston North, New Plymouth, Whanganui and Dunedin and possibly Invercargill.The 1.6-litre front-wheel drive Duster SUV's most direct competitors includes the $26,990 Ford EcoSport, the $27,990 Kia Seltos LX, the $27,990 Mitsubishi ASX and the $27,990 Suzuki Vitara.Renault believes the Duster offers some competitive selling points, such as the first service due at 12 months/30,000km which will cost $340 including GST.Standard equipment includes a blind spot warning system, multi-view camera, touchscreen audio system with satellite navigation, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, 16-inch alloy wheels and

comes with a three-year unlimited km factory warranty.Renault confirms that the combined fuel economy of the Duster is 6.9L/100km and the car only requires 91 octane petrol. It says the Duster offers more technology than the Mitsubishi and more space than the Mazda or the Ford.The rear bench seat features a 1/3-2/3rd split-fold function, while the boot offers 445 litres of space with the seats up, and 1623 litres with the seats folded down. A 4x4 version of the Duster may become available to the New Zealand market in the future.Waller says the Duster is being launched at $27,990 to provide an affordable SUV entry point to the brand. Renault will launch the all-new Captur SUV in 2021 and Waller confirms that this vehicle will more than likely have a retail price above $30k.He says he has been patiently awaiting the arrival of the Duster which offers a value for money proposition that will attract new buyers to the Renault brand.Renault New Zealand has already sold 10 Duster SUVs to one client for use as service vehicles, replacing a fleet of double cab diesel pick-ups. By removing the rear seat and adding a new covered-plywood floor and a cargo barrier, the Duster becomes a light commercial vehicle which is exempt from both FBT and RUC, creating a significant saving for this particular customer while providing a safe and user friendly city vehicle says Renault New Zealand fleet sales manager Warren Willmot. While the nameplate is new to New Zealand, the Duster was launched in

2009 and more than 2 million have been produced in Renault/Dacia plants located in Europe, Russia, India, Indonesia, Colombia and Brazil. The New Zealand market receives the second-generation Duster which went into production in 2017 and is also marketed in South Africa under the Renault badge.More than 30 Dusters have been spoken for already, another 20 will arrive in November and Renault New Zealand is expecting two more deliveries of stock in December and January.DRIVING IMPRESSIONSThe Duster has plenty of Gallic charm as you would expect from a French design, both inside and out it offers a certain je ne sais quoi. The interior plastics are durable rather than soft touch but the quality of the build and fit and finish for the price tag is more than acceptable.It has a fairly soft suspension which provides a comfortable ride over the worst that Kiwi roads can throw at it, though this does result in a bit of body roll around tight corners but nothing that make will the kids in the rear seat car sick.The CVT automatic is one of the best of the breed and makes the most of the power and torque of the 1.6-litre engine, only the very steepest inclines call for the driver to put pedal to the metal.Renault also offers a plethora of accessories for the Duster such as a nudge bar, roof rails, mud guards, side steps, tow bar, boot liner, roof box, boot spoiler and bike racks to further make the vehicle fit for the purpose required.

GROWING RENAULT DEALERSHIP NETWORK IMPATIENT FOR DUSTERThe arrival of the ‘affordable’ $27,990 Renault Duster small SUV couldn’t come soon enough for Renault New Zealand and it’s growing national dealership network.

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32 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

MG MOTOR LAUNCHES BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL ZST SUV

MG Motor has launched a bigger and more powerful MY2021 ZST compact SUV on to the New

Zealand market which will sit above the current MY2020 ZS range.

The ZST is powered by a 115kW/230Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine mated to a six-speed Aisin automatic transmission.Prices start at $30,900 for the ZST Excite and $33,990 for the ZST Essence which are now available for sale in the MG Motor New Zealand national dealer network.

The ZST features MG Pilot, the brand's advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) as well as five-year unlimited km warranty and roadside assistance package.

The existing MY2020 ZS family has seen a reduction in recommended retail prices.

The entry level non-turbo 1.5-litre ZS Excite is now priced from $22,990. Three 1-litre turbo ZS models remain, whereupon the Excite Plus priced from $24,990, the Essence priced from $27,490 and the Essence Anfield priced from $27,990.MG Motor Australia and New Zealand chief executive officer Peter Ciao says the ZST offers customers segment-first value and refinement, with elevated levels of comfort and a list of features usually only available in the premium vehicle segment.

“This new nameplate does more than just add a ‘T’ to our popular MG ZS range, it was designed to raise the bar and stand out in the crowded small SUV segment,” Ciao says.

The MG ZST follows the refined styling of the recently introduced MG HS. Its signature front grille is emphasised by

a slick black gloss finish framing the iconic MG badge. The black high-gloss further extends across the exterior elements of the vehicle including mirror covers and side sill inserts.

All-new front and rear bumpers round out the exterior design, matched with front fog lamps, front and rear smoked LED headlights with 21 LED lighting units (front) and 8 LED lighting units (rear).

Inside, the vehicle boasts improved shoulder, hip and headroom throughout the cabin. MG Motor says the ZST features soft-touch materials throughout the cabin, including synthetic leather upholstery and seats, leather wrapped perforated steering wheel and gear selector, front leatherette centre armrest and two rear ISOFIX attachment ports.

Two USB ports have been built into the rear of the cabin, providing connectivity to all passengers, while up front the drivers cabin receives two USB ports in the centre console (one for connectivity), plus a high-mounted USB port conveniently positioned in the rear view mirror casing.

The top of the range ZST Essence offers heated front seats, allowing passengers to select and control the climate that suits them best. For further refinement, six-way adjustable electronic seating has also been added to allow the driver to navigate in comfort.

It also offers a 1.19m2 panoramic sunroof.

Equipped with a 1.3-Litre turbo engine the MG ZST provides a 40% increase in power over the 1-litre turbo engine found in the current ZS range.The new 1.3-litre turbo delivers 115kW of power and 230Nm of torque with a

top-speed of 185 km/h.

Fuel efficiency has also improved to 7.1L/100km. It features 17-inch two-tone machined alloy wheels with red brake callipers running on Michelin 215/55 R17 tyres.

After firing up the engine with keyless start, the ZST instantly connects to devices with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, allowing the driver to seamlessly integrate navigation via the maps application, make calls and listen to music, while staying focussed on the road.The MG ZST features a large 10.1-inch touch screen infotainment system situated front-and-centre of the dashboard displaying colour radio and Bluetooth hands- free. It has five standard USB connection points throughout the cabin.

Finally, the ZST Essence features a seven-inch fully virtual digital dashboard, with built in-navigation to ensure the best possible driver experience – an MG first.

To ensure the driver has a full and unimpaired view at all times, the ZST comes standard with an impressive 360-degree camera with integrated parking monitor that shows a simulated view in both 2D and 3D from eight different vantage points, giving an accurate reading of what the vehicles surrounds are at all times.

The ZST joins the expanding MG vehicle range which includes the MG3 small hatchback, the compact MG ZS SUV, the premium MG HS, as well as the all-electric MG ZS EV to arrive later in the year.

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33OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

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IMPORT MARKET DOWN, BUT NOT CRASHING

The market for used import vehicles held up – in context – reasonably well in September according to

registration statistics.

The market for passenger cars was down 11.2% to 10,329, meaning it fared better than the new market, and arguably better than expected considering the overall market and supply restrictions in Japan.

Commercial registrations, expected to dive this year under ESC rules, went against predictions, rising 3.8% to 936 vehicles.

In passenger car registrations, Toyota continues to lead but was down 7.8% to 2495, with a slightly improved market share of 24.2%.

In second, Mazda was down 12.5% to 1638 and a market share of 15.9%, just 10 units ahead of Nissan, itself down 28.3% to 15.8% market share.

Honda was the fourth most popular brand, down 31.2% to 904 and an 8.8% share, while Subaru was up 10.3% to 780 and a 7.6% share.

In commercials, Toyota topped the market with an 8.5% gain to 445 units,

to page 35...

USED PASSENGER SALES 2015 TO 2020

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a market share of 47.5%.

Nissan was second on 205, down 12% for a 21.9% share, and Isuzu was the top truck brand in third, up 55.8% to 67 for a 7.2% share – its 3500kg plus GVM trucks not requiring ESC.

Mazda’s Axela was the top selling import passenger car on 536 vehicles, down from 608 last year.

In second, the Toyota Aqua recorded 512 saes, followed by the Toyota Corolla on 403.

The Mazda Demio took fourth on 353 followed by the Honda Fit on 337.

SALES ‘LUMPY’Palmerston North car dealer Peter Day says sales were “lumpy” during September.

“We were going OK, then Auckland (COVID-19 Level 3) lockdown happened and put the handbrake on a little bit.”

Day, who sells across New Zealand, says he had a couple of deals going in Auckland when the lockdown was declared. “They were approved for finance and the people changed their minds; they got a bit cautious over the uncertainty.”

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USED PASSENGER MODELS SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKE MODELSEP '20

MAKE MODELSEP '19

MAZDA AXELA 536 MAZDA AXELA 608

TOYOTA AQUA 512 HONDA FIT 571

TOYOTA COROLLA 403 SUZUKI SWIFT 458

MAZDA DEMIO 353 NISSAN TIIDA 409

HONDA FIT 337 TOYOTA PRIUS 393

TOYOTA HIACE 337 MAZDA DEMIO 385

TOYOTA PRIUS 334 TOYOTA AQUA 368

SUZUKI SWIFT 288 TOYOTA COROLLA 338

MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 282 NISSAN LEAF 305

SUBARU LEGACY 258 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 282

VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 242 TOYOTA VITZ 251

SUBARU IMPREZA 241 SUBARU LEGACY 249

NISSAN X-TRAIL 224 MAZDA ATENZA 246

NISSAN LEAF 209 SUBARU IMPREZA 244

MAZDA ATENZA 209 VOLKSWAGEN GOLF 242

MAZDA CX-5 173 TOYOTA WISH 241

TOYOTA VANGUARD 147 MAZDA PREMACY 236

NISSAN TIIDA 141 NISSAN DUALIS 221

NISSAN SKYLINE 137 NISSAN NOTE 204

TOYOTA WISH 137 NISSAN X-TRAIL 190

USED PASSENGER MAKES SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKESEP '20

SEP '19MOVE-MENT

% CHANGE

MARKET SHARE

TOYOTA 1217 2226 -45.3 11.8

MAZDA 801 602 UP 4 33.1 7.8

NISSAN 625 560 UP 4 11.6 6.1

HONDA 618 707 UP 1 -12.6 6.0

SUBARU 604 711 DOWN 1 -15.0 5.9

BMW 603 721 DOWN 3 -16.4 5.8

MITSUBISHI 350 410 UP 2 -14.6 3.4

VOLKSWAGEN 339 386 UP 3 -12.2 3.3

SUZUKI 268 521 DOWN 1 -48.6 2.6

AUDI 211 281 UP 3 -24.9 2.0

LEXUS 193 148 UP 5 30.4 1.9

MERCEDES-BENZ 191 399 DOWN 2 -52.1 1.9

FORD 184 145 UP 4 26.9 1.8

VOLVO 168 169 UP 1 -0.6 1.6

HOLDEN 158 379 DOWN 3 -58.3 1.5

JAGUAR 1,205 1957 -38.4 11.7

CHEVROLET 7735 10322 -25.1 100.0

MINI 184 145 UP 4 26.9 1.8

HYUNDAI 168 169 UP 1 -0.6 1.6

JEEP 158 379 DOWN 3 -58.3 1.5

OTHER 1,205 1957 -38.4 11.7

TOTAL 7735 10322 -25.1 100.0

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Business picked up in the last week or so of September, but Day says replacing sold stock has become a real issue, and cars from Japan are more expensive.

“I’m reluctant to pay over the top for stock, I’ve seen it happen in the past.”

He’s not carrying as many cars on his yard as he normally would and is holding on to margin.

“It’s not time to be desperate Dan and drop your pants to sell something.” New Zealand used car stock is also hard to get.

Day says the market is in constant change, but dealers have to work with what’s in front of them at the time. “The supply thing could well start easing in Japan and more stock will become available but it’s pretty hard to crystal ball gaze.”

He’s holding on to trade-ins rather than on-selling them; in turn that’s making it harder for dealers who

specialise in cheaper, higher mileage cars to get stock.”

Day says the market has cooled. There’s not the “sugar rush” feel that occurred after the country came out of the first lockdown.

“We can’t keep going into lockdowns all the time; there have to be more signals from the Government on how we’re going to be playing the game. They seem to be making it up on the fly.”

...from page 35

USED COMMERCIAL MAKES SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKESEP '20

SEP '19

MOVEMENT%

CHANGEMARKET SHARE

TOYOTA 445 410 8.5 47.5

NISSAN 205 233 -12.0 21.9

ISUZU 67 43 55.8 7.2

HINO 36 42 -14.3 3.8

FORD 34 25 Up 2 36.0 3.6

MITSUBISHI 31 30 3.3 3.3

MAZDA 28 37 Down 2 -24.3 3.0

HOLDEN 20 12 66.7 2.1

CHEVROLET 11 7 Up 3 57.1 1.2

VOLKSWAGEN 10 12 Down 1 -16.7 1.1

OTHER 49 51 Up 6 -3.9 5.2

TOTAL 936 902 3.8 100.0

USED COMMERCIAL MODELS SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKE MODEL SEP '20 SEP '19

TOYOTA HIACE 301 313

TOYOTA DYNA 59 32

NISSAN NV200 56 62

NISSAN NV350 54 49

NISSAN CARAVAN 52 58

ISUZU ELF 36 31

TOYOTA REGIUS 34 23

HINO DUTRO 25 29

TOYOTA HILUX 21 9

TOYOTA TOYOACE 20 24

FORD RANGER 19 11

ISUZU FORWARD 19 6

MITSUBISHI CANTER 19 13

MAZDA BONGO 19 30

NISSAN VANETTE 17 31

HOLDEN COLORADO 12 9

HINO RANGER 8 9

NISSAN NAVARA 8 9

VOLKSWAGEN AMAROK 8 6

NISSAN ATLAS 8 16

37OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

IS THE RECOVERY OVER? SEPTEMBER NEW SALES DOWN A QUARTER

Inspite of dealers having a relatively clear run in September – with Auckland able to open relatively

freely for business – the market for new vehicles was down by 24.9%.

Motor Industry Association chief executive David Crawford says that September 2020 registrations of new vehicles reflect a weaker economy affected by the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic.

A total of 10,902 new vehicles were registered, down 3623 units on the same month last year.

“Year to date the market is down 23.8%, which is consistent with recent months data confirming our expectations that 2020 will finish about 25% down on 2019 volumes.”

The market overall to the end of

September is down 23.8% (27,314 units) on the first nine months of 2019.

Registration of 7735 passenger and SUVs for September 2020 were down 25.1% (2587 units) on 2019 volumes, while commercial vehicle registrations of 3167 were down 24.6% (1036 units) compared to September 2019.

The top three models for the month of September were the Ford Ranger (663 units), followed by the Toyota RAV4 (464 units) with the Mitsubishi Triton in third place (360 units).

Toyota remains the overall market leader with 15% market share (1623 units), followed by Ford with 9% (994 units) and Mitsubishi in third spot also with 9% market share (978 units).

Toyota was also the market leader for passenger and SUV registrations with

to page 38...

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16% market share (1217 units) followed by Kia with 10% (801 units) and then Suzuki with 8% market share (625 units). Tesla made it into the top ten with 158 units registered for the month.

The top selling passenger and SUV models for the month were the Toyota RAV4 (464 units) followed by the Suzuki Swift (290 units) and the Kia Sportage (285 units).

In commercials, Ford retained the market lead with 25% market share (803 units) followed by Toyota with 13% (406 units) and Mitsubishi third with 11% market share (360 units).

The Ford Ranger retained the top spot as the bestselling commercial model with 21% share (663 units) followed by the Mitsubishi Triton with 11% share (360 units) and the Toyota Hilux in

third place with 8% market share (265 units).

SMALLER VEHICLES DOMINATED THE MARKET IN SEPTEMBER

The top spot went to the SUV medium vehicles with 22% share followed by SUV compact with 19% market share and then the Pick up/chassis 4×4 segment with 13% share.

There were 243 pure electric vehicles, 54 PHEV’s and 927 hybrid vehicles sold for the month.

The Tesla Model 3 performed well with 139 registrations for the month.

...from page 37

NEW PASSENGER MODELS SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKE MODELSEP '20

MAKE MODELSEP '19

TOYOTA RAV4 464 TOYOTA COROLLA 1011

SUZUKI SWIFT 290 TOYOTA YARIS 432

KIA SPORTAGE 285 TESLA MODEL 3 359

TOYOTA COROLLA 283 TOYOTA RAV4 312

MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 262 MAZDA CX-5 310

MAZDA CX-5 242 NISSAN QASHQAI 310

HYUNDAI TUCSAN 232 KIA SPORTAGE 306

KIA SELTOS 229 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 264

MITSUBISHI ASX 227 SUZUKI SWIFT 252

NISSAN X-TRAIL 201 HOLDEN COMMODORE 226

TOYOTA YARIS 182 MITSUBISHI ASX 212

HYUNDAI KONA 150 HOLDEN EQUINOX 207

HONDA CRV 148 HYUNDAI KONA 203

SUZUKI VITARA 143 NISSAN X-TRAIL 166

TESLA MODEL 3 MODEL 3 139 HOLDEN ACADIA 161

NEW PASSENGER MAKES SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKESEP '20

SEP '19MOVE-MENT

% CHANGE

MARKET SHARE

TOYOTA 1217 2226 -45.3 11.8

KIA 801 602 UP 4 33.1 7.8

SUZUKI 625 560 UP 4 11.6 6.1

MITSUBISHI 618 707 UP 1 -12.6 6.0

MAZDA 604 711 DOWN 1 -15.0 5.9

HYUNDAI 603 721 DOWN 3 -16.4 5.8

HONDA 350 410 UP 2 -14.6 3.4

VOLKSWAGEN 339 386 UP 3 -12.2 3.3

NISSAN 268 521 DOWN 1 -48.6 2.6

SUBARU 211 281 UP 3 -24.9 2.0

MERCEDES-BENZ 193 148 UP 5 30.4 1.9

FORD 191 399 DOWN 2 -52.1 1.9

SKODA 184 145 UP 4 26.9 1.8

BMW 168 169 UP 1 -0.6 1.6

TESLA 158 379 DOWN 3 -58.3 1.5

OTHERS 1,205 1957 -38.4 11.7

TOTAL 7735 10322 -25.1 100.0

39OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

STATSTALK

COMPETITIVE FINANCE ON

NEW VEHICLES

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

YOUR SPECIALISTS IN STOCK FINANCEudc.co.nz | 0800 500 832

FOUR EV SUPPLIERS ADDED TO NZ GOVT VEHICLES CONTRACT

Tesla, Kia, MG and Volvo have been added by the New Zealand Government Procurement (NZGP) to the All-of-Government (AoG) motor vehicles contract.

This will give government agencies more choice as they work towards having an emissions-free government fleet, the NZGP says.

In total there are now 18 vehicle suppliers on the motor vehicles contract with 14 of those suppliers able to provide EVs for purchase.

The new catalogue offers government agencies the choice of 19 models of battery EVs available, an increase of nine more models. There will also be 11 models of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) added on to the panel.

The New Zealand Government is committed to achieving positive environmental outcomes through sustainable procurement by buying low emission and low waste goods and services, the NZGP says.

This also backs the government’s goal to reduce emissions from the transport sector. The overall target is that, where practicable, all government light vehicles will be emissions-free by 2025-26, which supports the goal of a net-zero emissions economy by 2050.

NEW COMMERCIAL MODELS SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKE MODELSEP '20

MAKE MODELSEP '19

FORD RANGER 663 TOYOTA COROLLA 1011

MITSUBISHI TRITON 360 TOYOTA YARIS 432

TOYOTA HILUX 265 TESLA MODEL 3 359

NISSAN NAVARA 227 TOYOTA RAV4 312

MAZDA BT-50 206 MAZDA CX-5 310

FORD TRANSIT 140 NISSAN QASHQAI 310

TOYOTA HIACE 122 KIA SPORTAGE 306

HOLDEN COLORADO 96 MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER 264

FIAT DUCATO 95 SUZUKI SWIFT 252

SSANGYONG RHINO 58 HOLDEN COMMODORE 226

LDV V80 56 MITSUBISHI ASX 212

GREAT WALL STEED 52 HOLDEN EQUINOX 207

VOLKSWAGEN AMAROK 50 HYUNDAI KONA 203

HYUNDAI ILOAD 48 NISSAN X-TRAIL 166

LDV T60 46 HOLDEN ACADIA 161

NEW COMMERCIAL MAKES SEPTEMBER 2020

MAKESEP '20

SEP '19MOVE-MENT

% CHANGE

MARKET SHARE

FORD 803 892 -10.0 25.4

TOYOTA 406 781 -48.0 12.8

MITSUBISHI 360 386 UP 1 -6.7 11.4

NISSAN 227 184 UP 3 23.4 7.2

MAZDA 206 173 UP 3 19.1 6.5

LDV 146 110 UP 4 32.7 4.6

HOLDEN 99 456 DOWN 4 -78.3 3.1

MERCEDES-BENZ 96 202 DOWN 2 -52.5 3.0

FIAT 95 87 UP 2 9.2 3.0

ISUZU 82 260 DOWN 5 -68.5 2.6

FUSO 82 87 UP 1 -5.7 2.6

VOLKSWAGEN 79 118 DOWN 3 -33.1 2.5

SSANGYONG 58 20 UP 9 190.0 1.8

HYUNDAI 53 64 DOWN 1 -17.2 1.7

GREAT WALL 52 44 18.2 1.6

OTHER 323 339 -4.7 10.2

TOTAL 3,167 4203 -24.6 100.0

40 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

STATSTALK

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

CARS 2020

Public to Trader

197 4865 910 200 562 123 47 452 232 129 706 91 1003 184 80 33 2 1731 91 401 286 12325

Public to Public

1914 13697 3309 613 1956 913 427 1413 976 619 1697 513 3136 1019 370 169 31 4860 513 136 1989 1176 41446

Trader to Public

503 6730 1355 279 901 410 152 722 419 243 735 323 1560 313 174 68 11 2281 200 43 657 455 18534

CARS 2019

Public to Trader

221 4875 1056 229 546 132 47 386 156 189 738 109 1084 171 90 37 1674 102 3 384 258 12487

Public to Public

1931 14016 3273 646 1922 999 377 1395 962 593 1610 444 3053 977 393 179 31 4836 519 112 1899 1144 41311

Trader to Public

572 6096 1461 302 864 401 145 687 367 298 788 222 1561 283 169 73 6 2129 211 37 730 424 17826

CARS % CHANGE

Public to Trader

-10.9 -0.2 -13.8 -12.7 2.9 -6.8 0.0 17.1 48.7 -31.7 -4.3 -16.5 -7.5 7.6 -11.1 -10.8 - 3.4 -10.8 -100.0 4.4 10.9 -1.3

Public to Public

-0.9 -2.3 1.1 -5.1 1.8 -8.6 13.3 1.3 1.5 4.4 5.4 15.5 2.7 4.3 -5.9 -5.6 0.0 0.5 -1.2 21.4 4.7 2.8 0.3

Trader to Public

-12.1 10.4 -7.3 -7.6 4.3 2.2 4.8 5.1 14.2 -18.5 -6.7 45.5 -0.1 10.6 3.0 -6.8 83.3 7.1 -5.2 16.2 -10.0 7.3 4.0

MOTORCYCLES 2020

Public to Trader

7 112 22 4 18 3 1 9 3 4 26 2 46 13 1 41 19 331

Public to Public

89 566 169 30 97 58 10 80 44 26 73 24 181 56 20 11 1 239 20 3 84 37 1918

Trader to Public

6 123 39 8 15 18 4 12 14 13 12 6 51 9 12 41 2 27 10 422

MOTORCYCLES 2019

Public to Trader

4 132 22 8 24 4 1 4 1 2 16 5 48 8 2 21 21 7 330

Public to Public

62 518 135 26 98 52 20 78 48 25 68 18 157 77 25 11 1 238 21 2 77 41 1798

Trader to Public

13 137 43 8 26 18 3 16 9 9 18 11 39 8 3 1 42 4 20 12 440

MOTORCYCLES % CHANGE

Public to Trader

75.0 -15.2 0.0 -50.0 -25.0 -25.0 0.0 125.0 200.0 100.0 62.5 -60.0 -4.2 62.5 -50.0 - - 95.2 - - -9.5 -100.0 0.3

Public to Public

43.5 9.3 25.2 15.4 -1.0 11.5 -50.0 2.6 -8.3 4.0 7.4 33.3 15.3 -27.3 -20.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 -4.8 50.0 9.1 -9.8 6.7

Trader to Public

-53.8 -10.2 -9.3 0.0 -42.3 0.0 33.3 -25.0 55.6 44.4 -33.3 -45.5 30.8 12.5 300.0 -100.0 - -2.4 -50.0 - 35.0 -16.7 -4.1

TRUCKS 2020

Public to Trader

67 991 233 63 85 64 39 135 34 34 150 43 145 55 33 8 289 32 1 85 77 2663

Public to Public

415 1890 580 156 418 206 95 289 173 118 309 119 470 192 99 47 7 754 91 29 367 264 7088

Trader to Public

160 1129 349 83 212 132 68 179 108 59 175 124 254 82 58 21 3 373 61 7 187 118 3942

TRUCKS 2019

Public to Trader

68 880 239 58 110 45 28 128 28 44 135 37 121 66 49 8 282 34 69 77 2506

Public to Public

408 1872 537 143 390 203 101 251 204 113 255 92 441 220 113 35 7 785 80 34 389 213 6886

Trader to Public

148 915 308 91 192 121 56 157 79 58 182 73 206 76 52 27 2 324 64 12 143 138 3424

TRUCKS % CHANGE

Public to Trader

-1.5 12.6 -2.5 8.6 -22.7 42.2 39.3 5.5 21.4 -22.7 11.1 16.2 19.8 -16.7 -32.7 0.0 - 2.5 -5.9 - 23.2 0.0 6.3

Public to Public

1.7 1.0 8.0 9.1 7.2 1.5 -5.9 15.1 -15.2 4.4 21.2 29.3 6.6 -12.7 -12.4 34.3 0.0 -3.9 13.8 -14.7 -5.7 23.9 2.9

Trader to Public

8.1 23.4 13.3 -8.8 10.4 9.1 21.4 14.0 36.7 1.7 -3.8 69.9 23.3 7.9 11.5 -22.2 50.0 15.1 -4.7 -41.7 30.8 -14.5 15.1

SECONDHAND FINALLY STALL

Secondhand vehicle sales finally stalled in September, with reports of short stock and high prices slowing the big gains.

Dealer sales to the public were up a modest 4% to 18,534 units, while dealer purchases were down 1.3% to 12,325 vehicles. Public transactions were up 0.3% to 41,446 units.

In motorcycles, trader sales were down 4.1% to 422 units, while trader purchasers were up 0.3% to 331. Public transactions jumped 6.7% to 1918. In trucks, the market remained strong, with dealers sales up 15.1% to 3942 units, down dealer purchases up 6.3% to 2663.The public transacted 7088 units, up 2.9%.

41OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

STATSTALK

BIKES BUOYANT BUT STOCK SHORTAGE LOOMING

Motorcycle sales are buoyant, but dealers are facing the possibility of a lack of stock this summer.

“From my point of view, it’s good right now, the market is busy, but I’m very concerned about stock in the next four to five months,” says Grant Woolford, CEO of major Auckland motorbike dealership Cyclespot.

With the borders closed and a ban on overseas travel because of the COVID-19 pandemic, “a lot of people are using travel money to buy bikes for the summer.”

Motorbikes are in the $10k to $20k market “which is holiday money” Bike dealers “are in that sweet at the moment.”

“(People) realise there’s going to be a stock issue so they’re snapping up whatever we can get or find.

“The market is very buoyant but it’s going to come to a screaming halt, not because of a lack of customers but a lack of stock.

“We’re trying to buy every bike we can from the wholesalers.”

Woolford says it’s a “crazy thought” not to have stock to sell over the summer.

Motorbike distributors say they’ll have stock in February to April, he says, “but it’s down to what happens around the world and whether the factories can produce enough product with the social distancing they’re having to practise over there.”

NEW BIKE MAKES AUGUST 2020

MAKEAUG '20

YTD '20

AUG '19

% CHANGE

MARKET SHARE

SUZUKI 126 849 94 34.0 17.6

YAMAHA 75 634 49 53.1 10.5

KTM 71 354 35 102.9 9.9

HARLEY DAVIDSON 68 518 63 7.9 9.5

HONDA 53 400 26 103.8 7.4

KAWASAKI 46 273 21 119.0 6.4

TRIUMPH 42 321 41 2.4 5.9

TNT MOTOR 25 247 28 -10.7 3.5

ROYAL ENFIELD 24 204 13 84.6 3.4

INDIAN 22 137 26 -15.4 3.1

UBCO 18 70 10 80.0 2.5

BMW 16 156 21 -23.8 2.2

DUCATI 15 104 9 66.7 2.1

ZNEN 15 47 2 650.0 2.1

FORZA 13 192 18 -27.8 1.8

VESPA 13 131 11 18.2 1.8

MOPED 11 85 7 57.1 1.5

HUSQVARNA 8 47 6 33.3 1.1

MOTO GUZZI 8 42 7 14.3 1.1

PGO 7 27 3 133.3 1.0

OTHER 39 449 82 -52.4 5.5

TOTAL 715 5287 572 25.0 100.0

NEW BIKE MODELS AUGUST 2020

MAKE MODEL AUGUST '20

SUZUKI DR650SE 30

TNT MOTOR ROMA 2T 22

SUZUKI UZ50 19

YAMAHA XTZ690 L 19

UBCO 2X2 18

HARLEY DAVIDSON STREET 20 STREET 500 15

YAMAHA YZF-R3A L 15

SUZUKI GSX150 FDZA GIXXER 12

HARLEY DAVIDSON SOFTAIL 20 SPORT GLIDE 11

KTM 390 ADVENTURE 11

USED BIKE MAKES AUGUST 2020

MAKE AUG '20 AUG '19%

CHANGEMARKET SHARE

HARLEY DAVIDSON 46 69 -33.3 35.4

TRIUMPH 14 15 -6.7 10.8

YAMAHA 12 8 50.0 9.2

HONDA 10 17 -41.2 7.7

DUCATI 9 24 -62.5 6.9

KAWASAKI 9 5 80.0 6.9

BMW 6 10 -40.0 4.6

SUZUKI 5 6 -16.7 3.8

KTM 4 4 0.0 3.1

OTHER 15 15 0.0 11.5

TOTAL 130 173 -24.9 100.0

42 OCTOBER 2020New Zealand

New and used commercial vehicle registrations were both down in August compared to the same

period last year, but there is some optimism the market could hold up better than expected in the months ahead.

Total registrations of new trucks and buses over 3500kg GVM sits at 451 units for August, down 18.3% compared to the same period the year prior which saw 552 registrations of new commercials for the month.Total registrations of used trucks and buses over 3500kg GVM sits at 164 units for August, down 11.8% compared to the same period the year prior which saw 186 units registered.

The August slump follows a July downturn which saw new commercials down 17.6% year-on-year and used commercials down 9.4% y/y.

In the year to date, 3126 new trucks and buses over 3500kg GVM are on the road, down 24.8% from 4157 in the same period the year prior.A total of 1129 used trucks and buses over 3500kg GVM have hit the road in the year to date, down 24.7% from 1501 in the same period a year prior.

Isuzu is market leader for new commercials in August with 112 units registered and a 24.8% market share.

It was up 6.7% compared to the 105 registered in the same period the year prior.

Hino is in second spot for the month, down 15.9% with 53 new units registered and an 11.8% market share. Mercedes-Benz is third, down 41.3% with 37 registered and an 8.2% share.

Scania follows, up 71.4% with 36 units registered, Fuso down 57.5% (34), Iveco up 6.7% (32), Volvo up 13% (26), Fuso down Kenworth down 33.3% (22) and Fiat down 8.7% (21).

Isuzu Trucks NZ general manager Dave Ballantyne says the team is “very happy with the sales results this year, considering the uncertainty and disruptions caused by Covid”.

“Sales enquiry is still at very good levels and for a couple of months, I would say the results have been ahead of the same month last year.

“I’m optimistic that the market will

hold up better than expected for the rest of the year,” he says.

Isuzu is also market leader for used commercial brands in August with 42 registered units and a 25.6% market share.

This was up 7.7% compared to the same period the year prior which saw 39 used registered units for the brand.Toyota is in second spot, down 31% with 29 registered units and a 17.7% market share. Hino is third, down 19.4% with 25 and a 15.2% share.

Mitsubishi follows, down 39.1% with 14 units, Nissan down 50% (12), Volvo up 100% (6), Mazda down 16.7% (5), Mercedes-Benz up 300% (4) and DAF (3).

NEW AND USED COMMERCIAL REGISTRATIONS DOWN IN AUGUST

STATSTALK

NEW TRUCK MAKES AUGUST 2020

MARQUEAUG '20

AUG '19

% CHANGE

MARKET SHARE

YTD '20

YTD '19

ISUZU 112 105 6.7 24.8 669 838

HINO 53 63 -15.9 11.8 344 490

MERCEDES-BENZ 37 63 -41.3 8.2 222 315

SCANIA 36 21 71.4 8.0 226 135

FUSO 34 80 -57.5 7.5 376 583

IVECO 32 30 6.7 7.1 190 195

VOLVO 26 23 13.0 5.8 191 226

KENWORTH 22 33 -33.3 4.9 115 205

FIAT 21 23 -8.7 4.7 183 170

OTHER 78 111 -29.7 17.3 607 1000

TOTAL 451 552 -18.3 100.0 3126 4157

USED TRUCK MAKES AUGUST 2020

MARQUEAUG '20

AUG '19

% CHANGE

MARKET SHARE

YTD '20

YTD '19

ISUZU 42 39 7.7 25.6 246 311

TOYOTA 29 42 -31.0 17.7 251 323

HINO 25 31 -19.4 15.2 197 294

MITSUBISHI 14 23 -39.1 8.5 107 158

NISSAN 12 24 -50.0 7.3 83 146

VOLVO 6 3 100.0 3.7 25 22

MAZDA 5 6 -16.7 3.0 38 37

MERCEDES-BENZ 4 1 300.0 2.4 17 16

DAF 3 0 - 1.8 12 14

OTHER 24 17 41.2 14.6 153 180

TOTAL 164 186 -11.8 100.0 1129 1501

43OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

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A former salesperson at an Auckland yard is being investigated by the Police over

allegations he took money for a car from a customer, and then failed to deliver.

The salesperson at Nova Motors Penrose allegedly took $19,700 from customer Richard Leahy for a 2011 Audi. The vehicle was never delivered.

The salesperson, listed as 'Mr A' in Leahy's tribunal case against the dealership, resigned in February over complaints he had allegedly taken month from as many as 10 customers.

Leahy took the case, claiming the dealership engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct through the salesperson, and that he wanted the car delivered along with a three year warranty.

Nova's response was that while the salesperson worked for them, the purchaser acted carelessly by not confirming the account belonged to the business.

The tribunal disagreed, noting the dealership did have liability, and ordered the money be repaid.

T here’s no place on online buy and sell website Trade Me for “scumbags” and

scammers trying to con people out of their money says the company’s acting head of trust and safety, Logan Mudge.

His comment comes after what he describes as “a slew of scams on unregulated online marketplaces,” including one this week that involved a Facebook Marketplace user copying a Trade Me listing to advertise a stranger’s car for sale.

“This kind of scam simply doesn’t fly on Trade Me, and to be frank, you’d be a mug to try anything dodgy on our site. We have sophisticated systems in place and you leave deep electronic footprints on our site which can be traced.”

On unregulated online marketplaces, users can create a fake account within seconds and list a high-valued item they don’t own for much less than it’s worth, he says.

“Once they have a buyer and their money, they disappear, deleting their account and leaving (people) thousands of dollars out of pocket.

“We don’t want scumbags like this using our site. That’s why we have a dedicated trust and safety team of

30 people based in Wellington who monitor the site around the clock for any scams or untoward behaviour.

“While this (week’s) example is a relatively straightforward scam, we’re only going to see these swindlers become more cunning, mirroring techniques used overseas.”

Mudge says he has some advice for online trading.

“If a deal seems too good to be true, it probably is. It’s not a good sign when a seller tells you they need a deposit to import the product.

“Don’t provide your contact details until the auction or listing is finished. A number of scammers try to contact you outside of Trade Me with elaborate stories.."

POLICE INVESTIGATING ALLEGED THEFT AT DEALERSHIP

‘SCUMBAGS’ CAN STAY AWAY SAYS TRADE ME

44OCTOBER 2020 New Zealand

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