Dealer sales tool CARDEALS2ME has successfully launched in New Zealand. The Australian-based company toured the North Island visiting new car dealerships in March and generated almost 30 leads in four days.

1. VOLUME 8 ISSUE 3 APRIL 2017
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Toyota launches new import brand 4
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We talk to import pioneer Rod Milner 8
LDV previews first ute 11 8
D
ealers who feel that their in-
ventory isn’t moving quite as
quickly as this time last year
have had their suspicions backed up by
new Trade Me figures.
The average age of dealer stock
listed on Trade Me has crept up from
70 days in February 2016 to 88 days in
February this year, the company says.
Head of Trade Me
Motors, Alan Clark,
says from a country-
wide point of view,
dealers in Auckland
are faring better than
their regional coun-
terparts.
In Auckland the
average listing age is 77 days, while
outside the main centres it is 95 days.
Trade Me has also seen the number
of vehicles over 120 days old increase
from an average of 18% of dealers’
stock in February 2016 to 24% now.
“We keep a close eye on the num-
ber and type of listings on site so that
we can be an effective partner to our
customers — we understand it’s a com-
Cars spending longer
on the yard: Trade Me
Continued on page 3
petitive market,” Clark says.
Clark says there are some interesting
seasonal changes in terms of what list-
ings are available and what people are
putting on their watch list.
“Over the last few months we’ve
started to see changes in New Zealand-
ers’ demand for certain types of vehicle.
“For example, in the ute category,
the relative de-
mand for used and
new Volkswagen
Amaroks and Ford
Rangers continues
to increase, with
recent demand
outpacing supply on
Trade Me.”
Sales ebb and flow
Imported Motor Vehicle Industry As-
sociation chief executive David Vinsen
says the increase in age of inventory
on Trade Me is no reason for dealers to
panic.
“Supply and demand always works
out, but it’s not always a perfect snap-
shot in time. People start bringing the
prices down and stock starts selling
again.”
Vinsen says there are several fac-
tors that may have contributed to the
increase.
Alan Clark David Vinsen Stella Stocks
P
olice are advising compliance
shops and testing stations
to review their security after
a series of attempted burglaries in
Auckland last month.
Vehicle Inspection New Zealand’s
Mt Wellington and Auckland Airport
branches were both targeted twice
on March 25 and 27.
The Automobile Association’s Mt
Roskill branch was also hit once the
same weekend.
Lighting is a key factor in deterring
burglars, police say.
“All entries and exits need to be
well lit. Make sure the interior of the
store is well lit after hours.”
A monitored alarm system cover-
ing points of entry is also important
and doors should all be in good
Attempted
burglaries
prompt security
reviews
Continued on page 15

2. AUTOTALK APRIL 2017 | www.autotalk.co.nz | 13
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Sales app a hit with dealers
D
ealer sales tool
CarDeals2Me has suc-
cessfully launched in
New Zealand.
The Australian-based com-
pany toured the North Island
visiting new car dealerships in
March and generated almost
30 leads in four days.
“Meetings that I thought
would take 30 minutes took
one or two hours,” general
manager and co-founder Er-
roll Quitoriano says.
“We were pleasantly sur-
prised at how receptive the
dealers are to new technology.
“People were just happy to
give it a shot and curious to
see how it works.”
The app, which is currently
free for dealers to use, allows
buyers to search for the car
they are interested in at par-
ticipating dealerships.
Dealers respond within two
hours with a quote that is valid
for 24 hours.
The purchase is then com-
pleted at the dealership if the
buyer decides to proceed.
“We’re not aligned to any
dealer groups. We’re there to
help everyone if they want to
use it,” Quitoriano says.
The app benefits consum-
ers because they don’t have to
travel from yard to yard seek-
ing quotes for a car and helps
non-metro or quieter dealers
to generate more leads.
Quitoriano says he had
great success in Wellington
and Auckland, and plans to
return to explore the Auck-
land market further during an
upcoming trip.
“I learned a lot from the
dealers. There’s nothing like
this here yet,” he says.
“In terms of coverage, we
have got most of the brands
that we needed. As long as
we have the main Japanese
brands and a few luxury
brands, that will help us grow.
“Over in Australia there are
some services that are similar,
like brokered services. Some-
times they [dealers] are a bit
too comfortable to try some-
thing different.”
Unlike Australia, which has
multiple states and time-zones,
it was relatively simple to tweak
the app for New Zealand, Qui-
toriano says.
“New Zealand is just the
North and South Island. It
made the development a lot
quicker than initially ex-
pected.”
Quitoriano says his positive
New Zealand experience will
Continued on page 14

3. 14 | AUTOTALK APRIL 2017 | www.autotalk.co.nz
NEWSTALK
see him return regularly.
“We will be here every
month until we hire some-
one locally.”
Across the Tas-
man, CarDeals2Me
has secured more
than 140 dealers.
“We prefer to
have dealers spread
out across the
brands. We’re doing
quite well across the luxury
brands, which surprised
me. I thought it would be
the other way around.”
The product is primarily
aimed at “the app genera-
tion”, Quitoriano says.
“It’s for people who want
everything at their fingertips
to make a decision.
“Unfortunately, peo-
ple don’t have brand or
dealership loyalty like they
used to.”
And allowing the con-
sumer and the dealer to use
the app for free shows the
company is focussed on
providing a service, he says.
“The dealers know we’re
not here to screw them
over with lead fees as
we’re not charging
them during this pilot
period.”
Since the launch,
the company has
not charged anyone.
When it does start
charging dealers, the cost
will be minimal, he says.
“It’s a long-term perfor-
mance-based relationship,
rather than shafting the
dealer on one car or lead
like other models we are
compared to.
“With dealers, they just
want it to be quick, easy and
simple to use.”
CarDeals2Me also has
medium-term plans to
expand into two other inter-
national markets.
Continued from page 13
Erroll
Quitoriano
Sales app a hit with dealers
H
olden New Zealand
couldn’t be happier
with its Mullet Amnes-
ty Day marketing campaign.
The promotion saw West
Aucklander Dan Mc-
Nicholl lose his mullet
in exchange for a new
$30,000 Holden Astra
on April Fool’s Day
and was a hit on social
media.
A video clip of the
chop is Holden’s most
watched item ever on
its Facebook page, with
153,000 views – more than
double the next most watched
video.
It also received more than
2000 likes and 250 shares.
Marketing manager Marnie
Samphier says it’s fantastic
McNicholl dared to believe
the promotion might be more
than just an April Fool’s joke.
He was the only one to
turn up and take the risk of
losing his hair, she says.
“We’re rather
chuffed with how it all
played out - especially
with such a worthy
winner.”
Four-time Ba-
thurst champion Greg
Murphy, wearing a
mullet wig, cut off
McNicholl’s hair with
the trim finished off by
a Rodney Wayne stylist.
“Running the promotion on
April 1 added to the intrigue
and ‘what if’ nature of the day,”
Samphier says.
“All it took was one person
who was willing to take a
chance.”
The promotion was based
on Holden’s ‘The Chop’ TV
commercial which debuted
last September.
It marked the start of
Holden New Zealand’s brand
transformation, which has
seen the company move away
from its image of being heavily
associated with V8 engines
and Super Cars.
“The Holden Astra Mullet
Amnesty Day was a fantastic
success for Holden New Zea-
land with the event finding a
worthy winner and also result-
ing in significant social media
interaction,” Samphier says.
Mullet Amnesty Day a huge hit
Dan McNicoll swapped his mullet for this brand new Holden Astra as part of
the company’s Mullet Amnesty Day.
Holden
marketing
manager Marnie
Samphier
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4. AUTOTALK APRIL 2017 | www.autotalk.co.nz | 15
NEWSTALK
condition.
“Rear doors should be of
heavy, solid construction,
preferably with no win-
dows,” police say.
“If the rear door must be
open during business hours
for ventilation purposes,
install a lockable security
screen that allows for venti-
lation and prevents unwar-
ranted access.”
Securing windows, mak-
ing sure safes don’t contain
large amounts of money
and installing good quality
video surveillance equip-
ment are other factors to
keep in mind.
VINZ chief executive
Gordon Shaw is encour-
aging other businesses to
review their security after
the burglaries.
“The attempted bur-
glaries prompted VINZ to
conduct a review of all of
our procedures,” he says.
“One thing we noted
was some of our lights
weren’t working. It’s
something you don’t notice
when you leave in the
daylight.”
Those lights have now
been fixed, Shaw says.
He is not sure why VINZ’s
two Auckland branches
were each targeted twice.
“They went to a lot of
trouble to get into a space
with nothing in it.”
Police couldn’t confirm
whether there is an ongo-
ing trend of burglars tar-
geting compliance shops
and testing stations.
Attempted burglaries
prompt security reviews
Continued from page 1
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WWW.CARDEALS2ME.CO.NZ
N
ewly appointed
Mitsubishi Motors
New Zealand vehicle
sales and marketing manager
Daniel Cook sees a big year
ahead for the Porirua-based
company.
Its vehicle sales have taken
off - from about 3500 units
eight years ago to around
9700 at the end of the March
31 financial year.
The aim is for 11,000 sales
in the new financial year and
Cook’s tasked with ensuring
the momentum continues.
A few key roles, like his,
have changed to ensure the
right structure is in place for
the future.
Another is the new position
of after-sales manager, taken
up by Noel Comerford.
Cook was head of sales
and marketing strategy before
his title change and promo-
tion.
He’s gained responsi-
bility for Mitsubishi’s fleet
team, adding
to customer
services, product
planning, dealer
sales, marketing
and more.
The company
is preparing its
structure to keep
the growth going, with par-
ticular emphasis on customer
service and satisfaction.
Fleet operations are step-
ping up, for instance, with
big companies like Downer,
Fletcher and All-of-Govern-
ment (procurement) on board.
The Porirua centre’s open
plan layout will ensure every-
thing can be accommodated
there.
“The key for me is growing
customer satisfaction,” Cook
says.
He’s proud
of Mitsubishi’s
10-year Diamond
Advantage war-
ranty, an example
of the company’s
customer-driven
orientation.
A team of about a dozen
people is in regular contact
with customers through the
customer care centre and is
getting results.
Cook has plenty to do,
especially with new models
coming out.
The new Mitsubishi Out-
lander PHEV, a plug-in hybrid,
is expected to see a very
strong uptake. It features a
20-minute fast charge and is
on sale this month.
Cook’s also sure the release
of the new Mitsubishi Eclipse
Cross, a small to medium
sport utility vehicle (SUV),
towards the end of this year
will drive a lot more sales.
SUVs are the fastest grow-
ing segment of the New
Zealand vehicle industry and
the new model was unveiled
at the Geneva International
Motor Show.
“I’m excited about bringing
these additions to our model
range,” Cook says.
11k target for new
MMNZ sales boss
Daniel Cook Noel
Comerford