Cruel cycle: Pre-reporting dealers come forward - Autotalk ...

VOLUME 5 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2018THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE

INSIDE

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Continued on page 7

Continued on page 8

Flex commissions go P5Lorbek’s Koenigsegg coup P6Motorclassica hits Melbourne P9Ryco prepares for diesel market P11

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Thousands of Takata inflators replaced daily

More than 3000 deadly Takata airbag inflators are changed out every day in

Australia.Under the Australian Competi-

tion and Consumer Commission’s mandatory recall imposed on OE brands, over 350,000 airbags were replaced from July to the end of September.

At least 2.5 million Takata units have been removed from circula-tion by dealers and manufacturers directly, with about 1.6 million vehi-cles now free of the lethal inflators.

All carmakers have until Decem-ber 31, 2020 to report a perfect 100% completion rate of airbag re-placements, under the compulsory recall which began in February.

ACCC deputy chair Delia Rick-ard says she’s glad to see brands are compliant.

“We are pleased to see that car manufacturers are taking their responsibilities seriously and work-

The practice of vehicle manufac-turers forcing dealers to pre-re-port unsold vehicle stock as sold

is financially choking dealerships.Two anonymous sources – one

from New South Wales and one from Queensland – have contacted AutoTalk saying the pre-reporting of false sales figures means excess holding stock increases expenses to the point most vehicles eventually sold don’t even cover financial costs incurred.

The first dealership’s finance depart-ment explains that the sale of one ve-hicle, where a customer actually takes ownership, could be days, weeks or months after the VIN was pre-reported or “pre-called” as sold, meaning the dealership incurs bailment payments, interest, insurance and reductions in value so large “the cars are worth less than their finance payout”.

“Dealers heavily involved in the practice end up with negative debtors, which means they received payments for cars that haven’t actually been on-sold. This is the biggest problem,” the financial expert source reveals.

“I believe if this practice is not stopped a lot of dealerships will be-come unviable,” the source explains.

“Stock increases dramatically, most operate over 80 days ahead and because stock is not available to swap with other dealers it must sit there until sold.”

Many metro dealers, the source says, barely even run their business on bona fide vehicle sales to customers anymore, such is the extent of the pre-reporting practice.

“The list of ‘Category H’ cars on some manufacturer’s inventory lists would shock you,” dealership one says.

The second dealership says another major manufacturer has told its dealer-ships volume is the top priority.

“Once you have pre-reported a vehicle the manufacturer no longer counts that as being in stock … so they make you order more cars than you want to by arguing that you no longer have enough in stock to get your future targets,” dealer two explains.

“The vicious cycle begins again.”Using a hypothetical example,

dealership one reveals how a genuine $29,000 human-customer sale, when the vehicle is bought from an OEM at a cost price of $35,000, might come with a $6000 manufacturer bonus; the dealer would make just $850 on that sale, until $950 dealer delivery is factored in after repaying the financier back $35,000.

“That means we just sold the car for less than we purchased it for,” dealer one puts simply. “

“Some metro dealers have 150-plus cars already pre-called and achieve

Cruel cycle: Pre-reporting dealers come forward

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NEWSTALK

Overstocking the plight of many

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association has asked its mem-bers to come forward about fac-

tors hindering their businesses.The Cox Automotive Australia Dealer

Sentiment Index survey has heard from 92 private and publicly-listed dealer-ships across Australia and published its first six-monthly report.

The online survey has found below average customer traffic, margin com-pression and rising expenses are the primary concerns of Australia’s fran-chised dealers.

Rising expenses and swelling inven-tory levels have been cited as “major concerns”, the AADA reveals.

Rating customer traffic for the first half of 2018, 46% scored “weak”, while 53% gave the same verdict for profits over the same six months.

At the same time, 61% rated “more” pressure felt to lower prices, and 60% said securing credit to operate the busi-ness was a “typical” burden.

The cost of running dealerships is “growing” according to the 62% vote, which has been linked to a number of factors lately, including the issue of in-centivised and pressured pre-reporting of vehicle sales by dealers from manu-facturers.

The practice of pre-reporting vehi-cles, also known as “cyber cars”, has been flagged by anonymous dealers and the AADA as causing abnormal financial pressure while also forcing dealers to sell cars at or below cost price.

The profitability of parts and servic-ing remains relatively positive, with an average of 48% rating their parts department as “fair” and 35% as “good”, while 37% rate the service department as “fair” and 47% rate it as “good”.

Other mid-range concerns for deal-ers include OEM restrictions and man-dates (especially for multiple-franchised dealers), competition, regulations, excessive inventory and vehicle afford-ability affected by tax, tariffs and stamp duty.

Lower priority concerns include staff turnover, consumer pric-ing transparency, dealer systems, interest rates and limited variety in inventory par-ticularly among single-franchise dealers.

AADA chief executive David Blackhall says members are reporting tough situations.

“Profits are lower, and customer traffic to dealerships is below average,” he summarises.

“However, they expect conditions to

improve some-what during this second half of the year.”

Blackhall says the first of the biannual surveys will keep a fresh perspective on issues facing the dealer network.

“We look forward to being able to both analyse and report on significant trends within the automotive dealer-ship industry,” he adds.

David Blackhall, AADA

Image: Cox Automotive/AADA

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Cultural void filled by aftermarket

The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association says the scale and strength of the industry has seen it become the

country’s automotive wild frontier.AutoTalk was hosted by the AAAA for the

launch of the 2019 Aftermarket and Body Repair Expo, an event which the association says has grown so big it offers exhibitor and workshop content tailored to every member of the auto industry – from executive level to the workshop floor.

Association executive director Stuart Charity says the April 2019 expo, which will fill around 85% of the Melbourne Conven-tion and Exhibition Centre, is now one of the most important auto events.

“With the demise of the local passenger car manufacturing and the Melbourne-Syd-ney motor shows before that, it is important that we demonstrate that there is a future for the auto industry with the aftermarket expe-riencing an era of unprecedented growth,” Charity says.

“Which is why we’ve got one of the top five largest industry shows held at the exhibition centre, along with the boat show, the gift fair and a few others – our expo is going to be enor-mous, and I’m not trying to oversell here,” he tells AutoTalk.

Charity says the loss of home-made cars took an emotional toll on car enthusi-asts, but has seen consumers take their at-tention to the myriad brands and suppliers of aftermarket gear.

“When we lost local car manufactur-ing and the motor shows, we lost a great platform for passion and inspiration for car enthusiasts and regular drivers alike,” he reflects, as former executive director of the Society of Automotive Engineers Australasia.

The aftermarket estimates an export

value of over $1 billion in products annually, dwarfed by the $11b minimum of domesti-cally generated revenue every year, from a member base of 2500 small-medium and large businesses; some multi-national com-panies, and other small family operations.

“Brands like Ryco, Narva, Monroe, ARB, Penrite and Bendix are all invaluable for supplying and manufacturing for Australia’s vehicle fleet, employing thousands of engi-neers, technicians, designers, supply chain operators, sales and managerial staff, I think it’s fair to say we’re now the industry’s frontline,” Charity says.

Charity highlights one of the first direc-tions former car factory workers went once finishing their time in Altona, Broadmead-ows, Geelong, Elizabeth and Port Mel-bourne, was to the aftermarket, where AAAA members employ over 40,000 people.

“In their place, the aftermarket has exploded, with lots of people moving out of Toyota, Ford and Holden manufacturing into start-ups and various other component and modification businesses, often design-ing suspension, or engine tuning, wheel and tyre products, motorsport or auto-electrical roles,” he says.

“There are scores of people designing and building 4WD recovery gear and accessories, camper trailers, – you name it, there’s an endless list of people the aftermarket directly benefits, even at the franchised dealership level.”

Charity also underscores the importance of the aftermarket in the new car sector, often providing something of a lifeline to the franchised dealer network as well.

“Australia’s network of new car dealers also rely on the aftermarket,” he explains.

“When a dealer needs a 4WD accessory, oil or air filters they don’t have in stock, they know the Ryco equivalent at their local AutObarn or Bursons will meet or exceed

Stuart Charity, AAAA


NEWSTALK

Flex commission ban hits dealers

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The Australian Securities and In-vestments Commission (ASIC) is defending its decision to ban flex

commissions, which were outlawed from November 1.

Previously, car dealers and finance brokers were encouraged by lenders to arrange car loans at the highest pos-sible interest rate.

The higher interest rates were linked to larger commissions for the dealer or broker, ASIC says.

‘We found that flex commissions resulted in consumers paying very high interest rates on their car loans,” ASIC commissioner Danielle Press says.

“We were particularly concerned about the impact on vulnerable consumers less able to protect their interests.”

As a result of the changes, ASIC hopes consumers will be offered an interest rate that is based on their financial position and credit score, rather than their ability to negotiate.

However, Australian Finance In-dustry Association (AFIA) chief execu-tive Helen Gordon isn’t convinced by ASIC’s changes.

“The world is changing and what we are seeing is practices that have been in place for a long time, [come] under the spotlight,” she recently told an audience of New Zealand finance professionals.

“ASIC looked at the product and didn’t like it.”

While Gordon says ASIC thought there was a conflict of interest regard-ing dealers’ involvement, the industry disagreed.

“We’re in for an interesting time over the next little while.

“I don’t know how anyone in Aus-tralia is expected to make money.”

An ASIC spokesman has confirmed to AutoTalk that dealers may be able to discount the interest rate by 200 basis points (which equals two percentage points), but only downwards and for the benefit of the consumer.

“ASIC is monitoring compliance by lenders through a data collection ex-ercise and will conduct more detailed inquiries as needed.”

Lenders who do not comply face penalties of up to $420,000 per con-travention.

What about “junk insurance”?

The sale of questionable insurance products is another area ASIC has clamped down on.

One issue raised was selling “junk” insurance products like low-value tyre and rim cover.

Another problem in-cluded selling consumer credit protection insurance (CCI), which covers time off work if people become sick, injured or are made redun-dant, to unem-ployed people.

Between 2013 and 2015 focusing on five add-on insur-ance products, consumers only received nine cents in suc-cessful claims for every dollar paid in pre-miums, ASIC figures show.

That equates to $144 million in claims against $1.6 billion in premiums.

“ASIC has driven improvements to product design price and sales prac-tices across the industry,” a spokesman told AutoTalk.

“We understand dealers and F&I pro-viders broadly understand and accept the need for these changes given the widespread problems ASIC identified.”

AFIA boss Helen Gordon agrees the sale of “junk” insurance products is an issue”.

“These products are sold by junk merchants. There’s a whole heap of things we were very concerned about.

“From our perspective we were concerned the financers would be the ones going to have to go in and stamp out that behaviour.

“We can’t go in and have a go at people selling the product if it’s the product that’s the problem.”

Helen Gordon Danielle Press

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NEWSTALK

Fresh faced and excited to chat about anything and everything related to the high-end sports car

and supercar market, Srecko Lorbek doesn’t muck around.

The owner and director of Lorbek Luxury Cars is always a prominent face and name at Motorclassica, giv-ing six-year-olds with the stoniest of faces smiles big enough to make their cheeks ache.

Lorbek announced back in May the used Prohasky St, Port Melbourne sports car dealership would officially sell Australia’s and the company’s first factory-authorised, full-service and aftersales-represented Koenigsegg, with the help of importer Prodigy Au-tomotive.

For those who’ve never heard of a [Koh-nig-seg], a CCR model once crashed on the Top Gear test track and took the title of world’s fastest production car from the McLaren F1 hitting 386.7 km/h in 2005, before the Bugatti Veyron came along.

Koenigseggs (or is that Koenigsei?) are built solid, with enormous power outputs, using lots of exotic materials, and enough carbon fibre to make most Ferrari look plastic. The newest Regera for example, will do zero to a mind-bogglingly fast 400km/h in 20 seconds with a twin-turbo, hybrid-V8 power-train packing over 1100kW.

The “factory”, if you can use such a crude term, is in Angelholm, Sweden, two hours south of Gothenberg, where only about 80 cars are built per year. Ferrari makes thousands.

The Koenigsegg production takes place beside a 1.7km former Swedish Air Force Base runway used for test-ing, where JAS39 Gripen fighter jets once roared into the sky and Sweden’s Squadron No 1 was nationally famous. In the engine bay of every Koenigsegg is a flying ghost emblem paying homage.

Naturally, Lorbek was understand-ably feeling like a kid in – well, a Koenigsegg factory – when he visited the place just a few months ago.

“We were invited to the factory in Sweden in July, and I was very pleased to meet with Christian von Koenigsegg, his wife, and Andre his business part-ner,” Lorbek tells AutoTalk.

“We went through from one end of the fac-tory to the other, watching every single component being handmade and the cars being built in-house. As a motor mechanic

by trade I was in heaven, thanking every single person in there for the wonderful job they were doing,” he begins, grinning as if he was still there.

“My wife said, ‘You don’t have to thank everybody’, but I had to; I get this.”

Lorbek describes being taken out onto the runway in a Regera, where he was given a laptop by a man named Nicholas.

“He gave me the laptop because he was programming the car, and sud-denly, with his flat, Swedish accent, he said, ‘We’re going to go now’,” Lorbek remembers vividly.

“We hit 300km/h in seconds and we were at the end of the runway, when he said, ‘We are going to put the brakes on’,” he mimics in his best accent.

“He stood on the brakes and it stopped dead still. He did a u-turn and did it back the other way. It was the most amazing experience in my life.”

Lorbek reveals Koenigsegg him-self is not only interested in building extremely fast cars, but is fond of electric drivetrains.

“Christian has also bought a Tesla and he tells me he once rang Elon

Musk and told him ‘I’ve made your car faster’.”

The purpose of Lorbek’s visit was about more than hooning around in moose country, it was also about exclusivity.

“We went there with our first Koenigsegg client because we’ve ordered the first built unit of the next new car, the electric-petrol

Agera,” he reveals.“It hasn’t been built yet, nobody

knows what it looks like, and nobody else has seen it, except us.”

“The very first build number will be in our showroom in Melbourne out of 120 build slots – 109 have already been sold – and it’ll be unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show and completely sold out,” he continues.

It’s an automotive dealer coup for the ages, which to most would seem a gargantuan achievement, to seal an agreement to sell such incredible machines. But it’s a relationship Lorbek has been building most of his life.

“The marketing manager who sits next to Christian’s office is Stephen Wade, who once lived in Eltham about 25 years ago around the corner from me. I was always turning up in a flash car, and we used to jam together play-ing guitar,” he discloses.

“Stephen says he got my file on his desk and sought me out to get the Koenigsegg deal. We sent them some Tim Tams to say thank you.”

Knowing what Lorbek’s answer would be, it was hard not to ask who the lucky chap is buying Australia’s first factory Koenigsegg.

“We’re very discreet with every client and each one is very important to us, especially this one and we can’t wait to have this remarkable brand in Port Melbourne,” he eludes, to no surprise.

“It’s an opportunity taken for someone to own the fastest car in the world.”

The world’s fastest dream machine is coming in 2019

Srecko Lorbek brings Koenig-segg Down Under.

Swede Dreams


NEWSTALK

Cruel cycle: Pre-reporting dealers come forward

Continued from page 1

targets just on pre-called cars.” Profitability is basically void in new

car sales, the first source conceding the position dealership businesses are pressured into, could push some to breaking point.

“If as a dealer you don’t participate in these OEM targets you are quickly singled out by manufacturers and threatened with losing your franchise - there is no winner in this,” they plead.

“The extra income produced from reaching the [manufacturer] bonus target is squandered away to move pre-called stock.”

Dealer two has already come un-der fire from its manufacturer as the dealership tried to keep its head above water.

“We received a performance review from [manufacturer omitted] at the start of the year for missing targets several months in a row,” dealer two divulges.

“We had made an internal decision to only report vehicles that we had tru-ly sold as we attempted to reduce our massive stock holding and the number of cars we were carrying. Because we did not sell enough for target; we were issued a notice.”

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association has vowed to take the issue to government as another brick in the wall of disharmony in the industry.

“Dealers are ringing us telling about this happening, we’ve heard plenty of stories, and effectively dealers are es-sentially trading in negative margin on vehicles until they are paid bonuses,” AADA chief executive David Blackhall says.

It’s a business model he says would crumble for other re-tailers, and is danger-ously close to doing the same for dealers.

“Imagine a busi-nessman proposes selling a product, without knowing the cost, and with-

out knowing what the product would owe you until three months later,” he mocks.

He says the “bad business model” is not just taking hold in Australia.

“I’ve been in the UK recently meet-ing with my counterpart and they have hundreds of thousands of cars being pre-reported over there.”

The AADA says it and its members want to address pre-reporting “in a pragmatic way”.

“Bringing this to the regulator, (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman) Rod Sims would say he is ‘concerned about the viability of businesses affected, but the volume-linked bonuses mean lower transaction prices for the consumers and that’s a good thing’,” Blackhall forsees.

“I don’t have an issue with that, but when the incen-tives are linked to bonuses and expire like stale fish where a dealer doesn’t report in the timeframe and lose the money, that doesn’t fly with me,” he states.

Blackhall calls the “threatening” nature as needing to change

for the sake of the industry’s dealers and OEMs alike.

“I don’t think it can be allowed to continue otherwise jobs will be lost, investments will be lost, and businesses will go to the wall.”

“You don’t like to go to the govern-ment on something like this because they’ll tell you to clean up your own

backyard. It brings the industry into an unsavoury light, and I’ve had conver-sations with senior politicians who’ve asked ‘Why the hell is that going on?’.”

AutoTalk spoke to the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber last month about the issue, who said he was “not privy to negotiations between brands and their dealers.”

Weber agrees dealers “shouldn’t be” pre-reporting sales and that, “at a broad level, dealers sell the cars, [and] it’s up to dealers to report when they are sold.”

However, he negates the crux of the issue, suggesting: “Dealers run independent businesses, they elect to do what they do. It’s their business, they control the way they handle the business.

“Every car sold has one VIN, and it can only be reported once, so compa-nies can either sell them or crush them, but the VIN can only be used once. So, the validity of the sale number, there cannot be a stockpile of cars parked, ultimately they’re all sold.

“Dealers sell vehicles, it’s up to deal-ers to report when they’ve sold. There can be no inflation of the total number over time by the supposed pre-report-ing of vehicles. If you record a vehicle sold prior to its sale in one month, that is the opportunity cost of not having it sold in a subsequent month.”

Asked what the advantage of pre-reporting is, Weber says it “goes to a raft of issues and I’m not privy to those negotiations between dealers and manufacturers”.

AADA chief executive David Blackhall says pre-reporting ‘doesn’t fly’.

FCAI chief execu-tive Tony Weber says dealers ‘shouldn’t’ pre-report.


NEWSTALK

Thousands of Takata inflators replaced dailyContinued from page 1

ing hard to replace faulty airbags from customers’ cars,” she says.

“The safety of drivers is our high-est priority and we must ensure these dangerous airbags are off our roads,” Rickard reminds the industry.

Rickard says consumers are still being urged to get their vehicle’s free replacements done before heading into the busy summer period.

“Consumers who have been con-tacted by their manufacturer to have their car’s airbag replaced … [should do so] before the Christmas holiday period. Don’t delay taking action when

you get a recall notification letter,” she pleads.

There are still 12,000 Alpha airbags needing replacement as a top prior-ity, among the 1.4 million airbags still outstanding in 1.2m cars.

Several states including Tasmania, Northern Territory and Queensland are considering joining South Australia in restricting motorists from renewing their registration until they have their listed vehicle’s Takata airbag replaced.

The Tasmanian Government told NewsCorp motorists, “were sent warn-ing of imminent suspension letters by registered post in the first week of Au-

gust or were directly contacted by the office of the registrar of motor vehicles by phone.

“For those who did not act to get the faulty Alpha airbag replaced, sus-pension notices will be issued shortly,” the state says.

After November 1, when owners attempt to re-register, they will be re-fused by South Australia’s Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastruc-ture - 680 vehicles still had their risky Alpha inflators in place as of July 31, not counting the 86,000 vehicles with outstanding Beta airbags needing removal.

OEM specification; the same goes for a TJM Bullbar, Monroe shock absorbers, a Century battery, or a Gates fan belt.”

“Without the aftermarket Australia’s motorists would grind to a halt, which I believe is part of the reason our expo has grown to the size it has, because people know these quality products support not only their vehicles but local employment,” he adds.

The 2019 Aftermarket and Collision Repair Expo, two events merged into one across April 4-6, will give over 400 exhibitors direct access to significant customer foot traffic, which Charity says is a strong sign for the increasing-ly-online consumer.

“At a time where people are fasci-nated with the screens in their hand and will do their research online before go-ing anywhere near a store, it says some-thing important that we can attract not only interstate exhibitors but countless

interstate visitors as well.“Our expo fills that massive cultural

void left by carmakers and gives the trade and enthusiasts something to re-ally sink their teeth into.”


Cultural void filled by aftermarket

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NEWSTALK

There’s a very good reason Mo-torclassica pulls decent crowds every single year and it’s about

more than just the cars themselves.Somehow in such a relatively small

venue, they manage to cram hundreds of cars in and around the Royal Exhi-bition Building, a work of heritage-listed art in itself, but even still that’s not why people flock.

Certainly, the calibre of classic cars adds to the eclectic mix of motoring history, with polished brass matching leather straps, tall skinny tyres inside gaping, flowing wheelarches, and steering wheels deserving of naval helm commands to change course.

The array of rare, iconic and notori-ous Grand Prix racers were undoubt-edly the decorated heroes of the show in all their forms, from bathtub Bugattis to the famous cigar-shaped Brabham and war-bird Formula 5000s. If only they could talk.

Then there’s the smattering of brand new, high-performance, excitement-

inducing reveals from manufacturer brands, giving the next generation of car nuts something to gawp at while ice-cream dribbles down their agape chins.

This year it was the McLaren Senna, Ford’s Bullitt Mustang and GT race car, Renault’s Alpine and the Lamborghini Urus alongside the obligatory Porsche and Mercedes-Benz speed machines.

Seeing a 10-year-old beside himself as he stood beside the winged, flared, splitter-laden and hyper-angle McLaren Senna, quoting factoids to his dad, is without doubt the key to Motorclassica.

That’s it. As compulsory as the boat-tailed Cords, looney-toon Road Runners and space-age Cadillacs are to Motorclassica, in exquisite com-pany beside immaculate Maseratis, jubilant Jaguars and the most alluring Alfas you’ve ever seen – they’re noth-ing if not appreciated by us.

Nineteenth-century Irish novelist Margaret Wolfe Hungerford wrote that “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, suggesting that human perception is an

intrinsically subjective experience that is truly unique to an individual. Drool-ing over a bright green Dodge Dart R/T does something for one person that cannot be replicated for the person who pines for a Packard, or is in love with a Lancia.

Motorclassica has become arguably the best motoring event on Australia’s calendar not because of the vintage, vogue or vehemently wonderful machines that show a rare glimpse of themselves in the flesh.

It’s because regardless of your age, shoe size or orientation, no matter who you are and how you feel about the car before you, whether you worked on one, made love in one or wanted one as a kid – the story you share with that car is yours.

It’s the people who make Motorclas-sica magical. The sticky-fingered kids, the inspired dads and the quiet grand-parents who can still hear the sounds, remember the times and see their first car through rose-tinted glasses.

Timeless Classica


NEWSTALK

Timeless Classica


NEWSTALK

State of flow

When you look at the wider auto industry where billion-dollar brands can struggle and

monolithic factories shut for good, Ryco is a company at the top of its game, match-fit and in the zone.

Parent company GUD Holdings received recognition this year as one of the Financial Review’s 2018 Most Innovative Companies and looking at the current share price at its highest in years, with a four-year revenue high up 16% and the acquisition of Disc Brakes Australia, there aren’t many wholly Aus-tralian brands left, let alone many doing as well as Ryco.

Ryco, its sister brands and GUD more broadly, are also considered highly desirable destinations in stepping away from manufacturer brands in Australia, as former Ford Australia managing di-rector Graeme Wickman demonstrated this year. But that’s one higher profile name joining the aftermarket ranks.

As the Australian car parc continues to age at over 10 years on average, Ryco says it has every intention of keeping to the “meet or exceed” man-tra that places the weight of expecta-tion on every filter it sells.

It’s a responsibility Ryco Group chief executive Guy Nicholls does not take sitting down or standing still.

“We’re the second oldest filter com-pany in the world, and we’ve checked all the brands, which means we know what we’re doing,” he states from the outset of a company tour of its facility in Altona, less than a kilometre from Toyota Australia’s rap-idly decommissioning manufacturing plant.

It’s a narrative Ryco

has already experienced and respect-fully worked hard to grow from.

“Even though we shut down manu-facturing in 2004, and in New Zealand 2006, we still have as many engineers now,” Nicholls says.

Former factory worker Brian is go-ing on a company record 42 years and more recently, 30-year-old executive general manager Amy Frangos – also a chemical engineer – commenced this year adding a fresh contrast. Another former mechanic moved down from Townsville for a Ryco gig, while another ex-Volkswagen dealer mechanic sits beside a former tool-maker with experi-ence at Boeing.

“We kept a lot of our engineers, our quality has improved since we shut-down, sales have improved, we still are designed and tested in Australia and our market share has never been stronger. And we don’t just get any old factory making our filters,” Nicholls attests.

One supplier factory is the same one making the filter paper used to remove toxins and water in blood dialysis ma-chines.

Ryco has 10 global factories, some of which also manufacture the equivalent OEM filters on production lines under the same roof.

In charge of keeping every fac-tory under stringent quality control is Cheekeong Loh, a man who speaks all seven languages needed to make sure the brand’s reputation is “clean upstream”, Nicholls says. He’s one of the reasons the brand has a warranty-per-million rate of about six. Ryco says many OEMs measure in the thousands.

The brand has such pulling power in the automotive industry, there’s rarely a warranty claim the company’s team of

highly skilled engineers can’t back, with repeatable testing equipment and reams of data readily available.

“Despite our product being used primarily in the aftermarket, up against the genuine product, Ryco has respect from car companies because we used to make filters for them,” Nicholls says.

“For someone fitting a Ryco filter to a car under warranty and there’s an engine issue, Ryco’s the only brand of aftermarket filter where car company engineers won’t challenge us. We know what we’re doing.”

“Plus, under the ACCC ruling, as long as it’s fitted by a qualified mechanic and we supply the quality part, we can support customers with really quick warranty claims. We put ourselves on a pedestal and make the statement that we’ll meet or exceed the OEM equiva-lent product.”

Even Bosch, once a competitor, has recently announced to all its author-ised workshops they are to use Ryco products.

In fact, Nicholls says the Ryco brand is increasingly becoming the oil, air, cabin and fuel filter of choice for an unprecedented number of independent workshops, but also for the franchised new car dealer.

There are now 2500 part numbers in the 2018 Ryco database, where it was once 800 in 2008, which gives you an idea how in-demand Ryco filters are.

“We had to create a logistics cen-tre to get stock orders out quickly to SuperCheap, Bursons, AutObarn and workshops,” Nicholls explains. The guy running it once ran Honda’s logistics operation in Tullamarine and there’s a B-double truck leaving every four hours.

Guy Nicholls, Ryco Group CEO. Continued on page 12


NEWSTALK

Go with the flow

Alastair Hampton is a former Ford and Holden engineer who knew ex-actly where he was heading when he left, having watched the last car come off the line in Elizabeth, SA.

“I made a conscious decision to come to the aftermarket, spoke to the AAAA, asked who the good players were because that’s where a lot of product development is happening in Australia,” he says.

“You look at the aftermarket, with a massive, growing carpark and huge variety; we can play with all of them, cars and trucks,” Hampton says.

Ryco admits it spends a huge amount of money buying genuine parts and reverse engineering them to ensure they continue to meet or exceed the superiority claims made by carmakers. Often those parts, made in the same factory as Ryco, means the company can easily peel back the layers and study the competition in anatomical detail.

“Efficiency, life and flow are the three parameters we work to beat, and when you’re testing genuine air filter parts you need the actual airbox,” Hampton says as they reveal a room full of black plastic Tuppaware-lookalikes.

It’s a lair of genuine parts glory hoarded for the purpose of engineer-ing excellence, continuously chang-ing as the new vehicle market does. Stop-start technology, Hampton and Nicholls reveal, is particularly hard on engine components, including oil filters.

Also in the Ryco range is a “SynTec” high-performance long-life oil filter, transmission kits, fitting and removal tools (a third the price of a genuine tool), in-tank fuel filters never envis-aged to be a serviceable part by OEMs, and the “Fire Guardian” air filters designed not to catch alight driving through bushfires.

“Of course most air filters are made of paper, so when fire-fighting vehicles are driving through ember-filled air, whether it’s fire crews, farmers doing burn-offs, parks and emergency fleets – anyone in fire-prone areas, they’re perfect for,” Hampton explains.

Just talking about diesel particulate and cabin filters is enough to give any-one not scientifically literate wide eyes.

“You’re talking about catching at 10 microns; bacteria, pollen, and take chemicals out of the air like hydrocar-bons, toluene - finer than any standard cabin filter.

“The growth of direct injection has meant even finer particles which our cabin filters are designed to pick up, in fact Euro 6 petrol engines which are becoming increasingly common are known for it,” he says.

Hampton says gasoline-particulate filters are rapidly coming into the mar-ket as a result of direct injection.

Lab technician Steve works with Hampton using the only Bonavista high-fidelity oil and fuel filter testing machine in the southern hemisphere, running flow restriction tests, dust-holding tests, and actually counts individual particles.

“This machine counts individual particles and their size, which when you’re talking about common rail diesel, particle size is crucial because people want to know exactly how much of what got through the filter,” Hampton says.

“Human hair is 60 microns thick, so in the case of common rail diesel par-ticles we’re talking four microns thick, stuff you can’t even see.

“SynTec filters are down at around 16 microns whereas most OEM filters are working at around 30 microns, and filters cannot restrict fuel or oil flow for obvious reasons.”

The Bonavista is Ryco’s secret weapon and it isn’t cheap, using lasers on multiple axis and wave-lengths to create shading for particles at a micro-cosmic level similar to how astrophysi-cists look for stars and black holes in space.

The four or five various filter testing machines which are set to be updated again soon, including one in the pro-cess of casually pumping its 47,912th oil filter pressure cycle, out of 50,000, for one of those so-called warranty complaints.

A single-digit team of engineers work inside two rooms, one noisy “wet”


Continued on page 21

Alastair Hampton has nearly finished development of diesel catch cans for market.


NEWSTALK

Profitable pricing and easier stocking decisions

There’s no doubt that Australian car buyers are now equipped with far greater understanding of

what constitutes value and a fair price on the used car market. Where once there was a lack of pricing transparen-cy, buyers can now easily arm them-selves with accurate information about market prices and trade-in values before visiting a used car dealership.

Market intelligence for better decisions

With buyers this knowledgeable, the traditional retailing approach with age-based price revisions is proving increasingly ineffective.

For example, when a stock item is priced too far above the market price on an online marketplace such as Carsales — Australia’s #1 for cars — the stock item suffers from limited exposure and as a consequence, dealers receive low levels of qualified enquiry until pric-ing is revised, all while holding costs at-tributable to the stock item are incurred.

In stark contrast, adopting a mar-ket-driven pricing strategy backed by real-time data will ensure listings at-tract more buyer attention and receive more qualified enquiries - helping dealers realise stronger gross profit, limit holding costs and encounter fewer problems clearing old stock.

Fortunately for Australian dealers, it’s easier to implement a more effective market pricing strategy and make data-backed, profitable decisions with Live-Market actionable market intelligence – the most comprehensive analysis of the Australian used car marketplace available to dealers.

LiveMarket takes the difficulty out of manual competitor analysis and allows dealers to immediately recog-nise where their stock sits in relation to competitor stock items on carsales - facilitating enhanced decision making that can boost the bottom line.

How pricing can affect profitability

Stock item is priced far above market:• Listing attracts minimal buyer at-tention• Dealers receive low levels of quali-fied enquiry• Holding costs accumulate

Stock item priced at market-driven price:• Listing attracts attention - buyers spot fair price• Dealers receive qualified enquiries to convert• Stock item is sold quicker and mini-mal holding costs are incurred

Here are just 3 key ways actionable market intelligence can help deliver pricing and stocking improvements:

1. Undertake accurate appraisals

Trade-ins deliver dealers with much of their used stock. LiveMarket makes evaluating the profitability of trade-ins and stock purchases easier and more accurate. Instant VIN and Registration vehicle lookup streamlines the apprais-al process — eliminating guesswork and mistakes — and delivers a more accurate appraisal. Once appraised, the vehicle can be easily compared to others in the market, enabling you to understand its pricing position and potential profitability.

2. Buy stock smarter

Buying the right stock is critical to profitability. LiveMarket reporting highlights stock that is moving quickly and in demand with buyers. Actionable, up-to-the- minute reporting delivered by LiveMarket includes fastest moving used cars, vehicles by sales volume

and vehicles that have the highest sales volume relative to supply.

3. Move stock faster

As a general rule, the less time a stock item sits on the dealership fore-court, the greater its gross profit on sale, underlining the importance of listing stock with a market price – first time.

With LiveMarket, dealers can quickly benchmark stock against similar com-petitor items and set market pricing that maintains profitability.

Key actionable insights to ensure dealers make an informed pricing deci-sion include Kilometre Adjusted Pricing (KMAP), Days Supply, Delisted Items and Average Time to Sell. For more detailed analysis, Competitive Set data, Market Analysis and RedBook Pricing are also available.

Helping buyers spot dealer value

A small taste of the power of LiveMar-ket can also be seen in the latest upgrade to AutoGate’s leading Inventory Man-agement capabilities - Price Indicator. Price Indicator is a simple snapshot in AutoGate of where your stock item sits in comparison to similar items on Car-sales – with benefits that flow through to in-market car buyers browsing dealer listings on Carsales.

With Price Indicator, your eligible stock will receive a Great Price or Good Price label in AutoGate if the price falls within defined thresholds of the current average market price.

Where a Good or Great price indicator is generated on your stock item, a label will also be displayed on your listing on carsales.com.au, empowering car buy-ers to spot value – providing additional incentive for a buyer to click through.

By David Toscano, Carsales trade marketing content producer


NEWSTALK

Upside of EVs for fleet industry

Whichever way you look at it, it is an exciting time for the future of electric vehicles.

Whilst Tesla’s Model S and X have been available for some time, they’re hardly what you and I would call a fleet vehicle. They have, however, excited many by what’s possible and there’s no question, they’re the electric vehicle many aspire to if they had the money.

First deliveries of Tesla’s Model 3 will commence in 2019 and there is little doubt this electric vehicle will be sought after by many including the novated leasing segment, although the delivery waiting times may dampen the enthusiasm.

The real excitement for fleet man-agers comes from the fact there is about to be five EVs available across three different segments broadening fit-for-purpose options.

Earlier this year Renault released the Kangoo Z.E. van and the Zoe Z.E. compact car whilst Hyundai is about to release the Ioniq (the first car in the world to offer separate hybrid, full electric and plug-in hybrid powertrains in a single body type), which will be followed by the Kona EV early next year along with Nissan’s generation 2 Leaf EV.

Each of these vehicles come with different size batteries and therefore achieve different real-world distances per charge ranging from 200km to over 400km. It is believed each of these ve-hicles will be under or around $50,000.

The Renault come with a 5-year battery warranty and whilst Hyun-dai hasn’t released battery warranty information yet, they provide a lifetime battery warranty in the USA for the Ioniq EV.

There are no indications as to the battery warranty the 2nd generation Leaf at this stage.

Longer battery warranties have a substantial effect on a vehicles residual value at the end of three, four and five years. Historically EVs have had very little resale value and therefore had to be written down to zero and therefore held for six or more years to reduce the annual cost of ownership.

Longer battery warranties provide protection to potential buyers of sec-ondhand EVs and thereby lift resale/residual values. Further, given increased demand in 2018/2019 and beyond, there will be general demand in three, four or five years.

Despite longer battery warranties a secondhand market for EVs needs to be created. This means getting people to drive EVs so they can feel the great torque an EV has over a traditional internal combustion engine.

How can this be achieved? One option: Many city-based councils have a small number of EVs that remain in

their carpark over the weekend. It’s possible councils could partner with car share companies such as GoGet to make these vehicles available to residents to hire over the weekend.

Obviously, there are a number of issues to resolve including public charging stations and vehicle insur-

ance, however, each of these can be overcome.

The Australasian Fleet Management Association contributed to getting po-tential owners behind the wheel of EVs by assisting the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and the Victorian Depart-ment of Environment, Land, Water and Planning at an Electric Vehicle Drive Day on October 24.

The day provided an opportu-nity to test drive a number of EVs and plug-in EVs around a closed track in Albert Park. The drive experience was completed with lunch and meaningful presentations including case studies and discussions around total cost of ownership etc.

Moving forward, it’s up to fleet managers to take the initiative and leadership when it comes to their EV commitment (or lack thereof).

The new vehicles that are being filtered into the automotive space will present a myriad of opportunities that are not only cost effective and efficient, but also enjoyable to drive.

The biggest challenge will come in committing to vehicles that solve the unique and complex needs of your fleet and then utilising them effectively within your day-to-day operations.

By Mace Hartley, executive director, Australasian Fleet Management Association

Top 10 Brands

1. Toyota 182,799

2. Mazda 94,246

3. Hyundai 80,552

4. Mitsubishi 70,685

STATSTALK

New car sales continue to plateau

New vehicle sales remain on a tricky trajectory after many top 10 manufacturers report continued, if

marginal, declines.According to reported VFACTS sales

supplied by the Federal Chamber of Auto-motive Industries, most key areas includ-ing total monthly, total yearly and several vehicle categories have failed to improve over respective segments in 2017.

Passenger sales are down nearly 8600 (down 23%) over October 2017, and light commercials barely breaking even at just 1% or 199 vehicles ahead of October 2017.

October’s 90,718 total sales are also in a continued slump from the 94,711 recorded in September’s market stumble. Last month was already more than 5000 sales off the equivalent period in 2017, but has been exacerbated by passenger sales only achieving 27,802 last month com-pared with the 36,396 in October 2017.

SUVs remain a saving grace, accumu-lating 39,849 reported sales, toppling the 36,871 of October 2017; keeping 2018’s year-to-date figure of 417,673 reported SUV sales a solid 33,204 - or 8.6% - ahead of 2017.

Toyota Hilux was the highest re-ported seller in October 2018 with 4401 reported sales, leading Ford’s outgoing Ranger (3511 units), the Toyota Corolla (2663), the Mazda 3 (2094) and Hyundai i30 (2049).

Every state reported sales declines, with a 0.3% exception for Tasmania, which sold six more cars in October 2018 (1876 units) than October 2017.

NSW was scalped 9%, Victoria fell 4%, Queensland took a 2.7% beating, South Australia was missing 5%, WA bit off 1.7% of its own tongue, while the Northern Territory went walkabout 4.7% and the ACT 2% out of touch.

Market share leader Toyota has throt-tled back slightly on October 2017 sales this month, just 25 cars shy of the 17,836 monthly reported sales this time last year.

Hyundai has followed suit last month, finding itself 15.5% off the pace from

October 2017 and nearly 1500 vehicles shy year-to-date, while Mazda, down 3.7% in reported year-to-date sales, held on by a whisker (1.5%) in October to the tune of just 118 cars up on October 2017.

Ford and Holden respectively remain below board in both monthly and year-to-date reported sales. FoMoCo is down 7.3% (423 units) against October 2017 and 12% behind in year-to-date figures.

GM Holden is the worse for wear, however, down 32% last month com-pared with 2017, and over 27% behind its reported year-to-date sales of 2017. Holden did notch 605 more reported sales in October than September, as did Ford rack 278 additional units last month than in September.

Mitsubishi is fighting tooth and nail to report sales up 12% (6217 units) for October 2018 over October 2017 (5550 units), and 8.8% stronger in year-to-date reported sales (70,685) compared with the same time last year (64,957). However, Mitsubishi dropped 1405 sales compared with September’s reported figures.

Honda, with 43,604, remains nearly 6300 reported year-to-date sales ahead of 2017’s equivalent figures, although October 2018 was 20% down on Octo-ber 2017.

Kia bucked the trend and coinciden-tally sits 7.7% (328 units) up on October 2017, and 7.6% (3532) up on its year-to-date figures of 49,957 in 2018 versus 46,425 in 2017.

Volkswagen lost 2.1% over October 2017, Nissan - which recorded one of the rare sales victories (up 29% Sept 2018 vs Sept 2017) last month was cut down to size in October by 7.1% (324 units); Subaru took a 6.4% hit, and little Suzuki is

Kia kicked it up a gear, reporting a 7.7% October gain.


6. Holden 50,804

7. Kia 49,957

8. Nissan 47,835

9. Volkswagen 47,616

10. Honda 43,604

5. Ford 58,332

Top 10 Brands continued

16 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | OCTOBER 2018

STATSTALK

2018 sales in October

Top 10 light passenger

1. Hyundai

Accent

1160

2. Toyota Yaris

851

3. Mazda 2

767

5. Kia Rio

522

6. Suzuki Swift

503

7. Holden Barina

377

8. Honda Jazz

355

9. MG MG3

121

10. Suzuki Baleno

117

4. Volkswagen Polo

708

Top 10 small SUV sub-$40k

1. Mitsubishi ASX

1739

2. Mazda CX-3

1274

3. Hyundai Kona

1224

5. Toyota C-HR

1019

6. Subaru XV

916

7. Honda HR-V

791

8. Mitsubishi Eclipse

530

9. Holden Trax

449

10. Suzuki Vitara

392

4. Nissan Qashqai

1054

8. Nissan 47,835

9. Volkswagen 47,616

10. Honda 43,604

Top 10 Brands continued

It’s never easy stepping into a senior position, climbing the ladder as it were, filling those big shoes. But it’s important to keep your head

down, back yourself and learn hard and fast, while also being honest when you need help.

Right now, Commodore is having a pretty hard time and it’s disappoint-ing to hear managing director Dave Buttner has had to push pause be-cause despite the lowly reported sales figures, it’s actually a pretty decent car.

Testing both VXR and Calais V Tourer wagon variants for a week each, there’s a lot to love.

The gnarly V6 delivering grunt to all-fours is a really nice feeling un-derfoot, especially punting the VXR out to Noojee through the wet, twisty mountain roads. Multiple times it was apparent how ready the Sunday drive could’ve been in the romper-stomper V8 SS driven yesteryear.

Then there’s the Tourer, a slightly raised wagon emulating the Adventra of the VZ era, although not as high, not nearly as thirsty, and with much better equipment. The boot capacity and shape is better than most SUVs and again the equipment level is better than it was in the VFII generation.

But there was a fundamental prob-lem with both versions of the new car which literally grinded on me.

The seats in a Falcon or Commo-dore have always been big, comfy and cosseting; the kind of sitting apparatus you can use for hours and hours. But on the 9-10 hour trip from Melbourne to Sydney, Holden’s efforts to shove massaging functions into the mix has had the opposite effect.

You can feel the rollers pushing into your back and overall the cushioning feels rock hard. The only need for the

massage is because you’ve been sitting on the hard seats so long it feels like they’re stopping you getting bed sores.

The attempt to over-spec the next-gen Commodore means they’ve over-done the most basic principle of what made the Aussie-made cars so good before – you could drive them for hours and still feel snug climbing back in after stopping at the servo. With the ZB Tourer, I didn’t want to get back in.

Then there’s the advertising. “For Sure” is the extended version of “fo sho”, one of those expressions a mil-lennial or Gen-Y uses in rap videos or to “vibe” with their “peeps” - the kinds of misguided youth who use vibe as a rebellious verb to describe music, not the noun it actually is.

Music junkies “hitting” Groove in the Moo do not buy Commodores, mostly because they can’t afford one, nor are they even vaguely interested in a wagon or sporty paddle-shifting AWD family car. They can barely af-ford fuel.

Holden needs to promote the VXR and Tourer, but not with product placements on Survivor, or mis-spoken colloquialisms. Hit the target buyers, show petrolheads the VXR is quicker around a track than the old T-Rex V8; tell the mums and dads how many more St Bernards will fit in the rear of a Tourer than an SUV; take them rallying; play something other than that bland techno song that has themed those ads for too long.

Basically, take what happened with Colorado advertising and do ex-actly that for Commodore, otherwise sticking with the hallowed nameplate will be for nothing. Also, listen and act on every single word Kristian Aqui-lina says.

I say this because the ZB is a bril-

liant car to drive and I adored driv-ing the beastly SS before it was lost to history. The new Commodore is a properly decent thing to replace it, but nobody knows about it – and they bloody well should.

Driving that VXR as hard as the conditions and road laws would allow is very satisfying, and the Tourer, mi-nus those god-awful seats, functioned exactly as I wanted it to. And I love wagons. Especially raised wagons – which is why we have an Outback.

Here lies the problem with the ZB Tourer. If you’re going to take on Suba-ru’s AWD hero, which has four genera-tions of loyal fans, while replacing the sacred home-made Commodore, you have to go hard or don’t bother.

The Outback is supremely comfy without look-at-me massage seats, it has everything the Commodore has, plus proper ride height, while still feel-ing like a car to drive, not a boaty SUV.

Tourer needs another two inches of ride height, the VXR needs to be louder, they both need to be scream-ing about how good they are from the rooftops (or billboards) and, in case it wasn’t abundantly clear, for Pete’s sake get rid of those massaging seats.

Don’t let the ZB just wear the VF’s shoes because that won’t work. Make it walk, stomp, run, jump and kick in them.

AUTOTALK.COM.AU | OCTOBER 2018 | 17

STATSTALK

Commodore in chief

VXR Commodore has the moves, but lacks the groove.


DIARYTALK

Dealer Association is pushing back against manufacturer brands forcing them to report unsold vehicle stock as sold.

Dealers have been under immense pressure to report an excess of holding yard stock, forced upon them by manufacturer, as sold when in fact they have no buyer, the association says.

Holden design legend misses auto show

Legendary director of Holden design Richard Ferlazzo has sketched his latest visionary vehicle, a “time attack” Ba-thurst race car. Holden Time Attack Concept Racer

Ferlazzo says in Australia’s present motoring landscape, he laments the demise of the international motor shows, once a must-see opportunity for fans to savour Holden’s finest lines.

October 9Auto industry opens doors to red tape reductionNew South Wales dealers and the wider auto industry are welcoming reforms to reduce administrative and regulatory barriers.

The state’s innovation and better regulation minister Matt Kean has outlined a series of reforms promising to save businesses $175 mil-lion between now and 2028 – changes applauded by the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA) and the Federal Chamber of Automo-tive Industries (FCAI).

Nissan dealers gearing for reborn Leaf

Nissan Australia is prepar-ing its dealer network for the arrival of the Leaf EV by mid-2019.

Speaking to AutoTalk at the Leaf unveiling last week, cor-porate PR manager Tony Mee says the company is, “offer-

ing all dealers an opportunity to take cars for the business; if they want to sell Leaf they can.”

October 10Former Toyota head to drive AHG

Ex-Toyota Australia chief executive Tony Cramb is chief operating officer of Automo-tive Holdings Group (AHG) in franchised automotive from October 22.

Three decades of Toyota experience have elevated Cramb to the role at AHG, where he will join manag-ing director John McConnell steering Australia’s largest automotive retailer.

October 11Dealers making safety sales pitch

Regional dealerships are tak-ing the vehicle safety message on board by putting crash-tested wrecks under show-room lights.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (AN-CAP) is urging more remote dealers to think about the two-thirds of all road deaths which occur in rural and re-gional communities – some-times within a dealership’s own family network.

October 12Dealers ‘shouldn’t be’ pre-reporting cyber cars

The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries says the false reporting of unsold vehicles issue is a practice dealers shouldn’t be taking.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber tells AutoTalk : “If a dealer is pre-reporting cars, why are they doing that? They shouldn’t be.”


AUSSIE TALK DIARY AutoTalk Australia’s editor Scott Murray looks at the month gone by on autotalk.com.au

October 1Regulator responds to Royal Commission

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has responded to the banking and financial services Royal Commission’s “unac-ceptable” findings.

The Royal Commission has put significant blame onto ASIC for allowing institutions to go “unpunished” with only $1.3 million of fines issued to banks in 10 years – despite the Commonwealth Bank making nearly $10 billion in 2017.

October 2VW dealers honour brief unlimited kilometre warranty

Australian Volkswagen dealers have commenced five-year/unlimited kilometre warranties.

Vehicles purchased as of this week until December 31 on all MY18 Polo, Golf, Amarok, Passat and Arteon, Tiguan, Touareg, Caddy, Car-avelle and Multivan, Crafter and Transporter models are covered by the longer war-ranty period.

Motoring legend Bob Jane dies

Australian motorsport hero and tyre giant Bob Jane has died aged 88.

The four-time Australian Touring Car Champion and four-time Bathurst winner fought prostate cancer and a stroke in recent times.

Hyundai Ioniq pricing ‘confirmed’ below LCT

Leaked pricing for the Hyundai Ioniq hybrid and electric vehicle range indi-cates consumers will likely be safe from the Luxury Car Tax threshold.

A post on the Australian Electric Vehicle Association (AEVA) Facebook page from an unknown dealer reveals the Hyundai Ioniq will be less than $50,000 before on-road costs.

October 3Mazda electrifying all production vehicles by 2030

Mazda Motor Corporation has announced electrification and connectivity strategies but won’t ditch the internal combustion engine.

While the auto maker aims to develop two battery electric vehicles, one will be paired with a refined rotary engine as a range extender.

October 4

Aton Martins feature in James Bond Day

Global James Bond Day celebrations on October 5 include a London display of seven Aston Martin cars like those used in the 007 films.

Four of the cars – the DB10, V8 Vantage, DB5 and DBS – will drive through central London passing major landmarks and James Bond film locations.

October 5Dealers tell manufacturers to cease false reporting

The Australian Automotive


DIARYTALK

October 15Aftermarket fills cultural void as the industry ‘frontline’

The Australian Automotive Af-termarket Association says the scale and strength of the af-termarket has seen it become the frontier of the industry.

AAAA executive director Stuart Charity says the April 2019 expo, which will fill roughly 85% of the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, is now one of the most important auto events.

Stronger penalties proposed for franchise code breaches

The Australasian Competition and Consumer Commission has announced laws govern-ing the Franchise Code of Conduct need to be tougher.

In order to “better protect franchisees”, the ACCC says an increase in penalities for breaches and improvements in information disclosure are in the pipeline.

October 16Isuzu Ute celebrates decade of dealer growth

Isuzu Ute Australia is taking a moment to celebrate 10 years in the market.

IUA dealer growth has been a primary indication of the brand’s success, the company says.

October 17Gavel drops on Lloyds payment charges

Lloyds Auctioneers and Valuers has been penalised for overcharging customers on credit card transactions.

The Australian Competi-tion and Consumer Commis-sion has fined Lloyds $37,800 for overcharging customers between $30 and $350 above the amount it costs to pro-cess the transactions.

October 19Pre-reporting could render dealerships ‘unviable’

The practice of vehicle manufacturers forcing dealers to pre-report unsold vehicle

stock as sold is financially choking dealerships.

One anonymous dealer-ship’s finance department tells AutoTalk that pre-reporting the false sales of excess holding stock is increasing expenses to the point many vehicles eventu-ally sold don’t even cover financial costs forced upon the business.

October 25Backyard dealer busted

A Perth man selling cars from his backyard has been shut down by Consumer Protection.

John Salehi sold 12 of the 13 vehicles he purchased, from his Rivervale backyard in central Perth and has been fined $8000 and forced to pay $756 in legal costs after pleading guilty.


THE DIARY AutoTalk New Zealand’s group editor Scott Morgan looks at the month gone by on autotalk.co.nz

Connell is now leading the regulatory function within the Transport Agency.

October 17Car dealership fined for misleading consumersAuckland car dealership 1 Dollar Reserve Cars Limited and its owner Adam Cooper have been fined $12,000 on 16 charges under the Fair Trading Act.

The dealership and Coop-er were fined $8000 and $4000 respectively in the Auckland District Court on 12 October after each plead-ing guilty to eight charges brought by the Commerce Commission.

October 19Stadium proposal threatens vehicle imports

The future of vehicle imports being delivered at Ports of Auckland has been called into question again with a new waterfront stadium on the cards.

The Auckland Waterfront Consortium, which is pro-posing the venture, would build residential and com-mercial buildings next to the stadium and on the current Eden Park site to fund the project.

October 24 Wellington set for new fuel providerFuel supplier Waitomo Group has announced plans to open its first fuel stop in central Wellington in early 2019.

Managing director Jimmy Ormsby says the family-run business has long-wanted to offer Wellingtonians a more competitive fuel price.

October 2New vehicle sales soften in SeptemberThere was a 4% dip in new vehicle sales for Septem-ber, but the market remains steady year-to-date.

New vehicle registrations finished at 13,910 vehicles in September 2018, down 597 compared with the same time last year.

October 10Dip in vehicle sales reflects changing economy - HickeyVeteran financial journal-ist Bernard Hickey has used a recent dip in car sales to highlight some of the broader economic challenges facing the government.

Speaking to financial services industry leaders at the Financial Services Fed-eration’s annual conference in Auckland on Wednesday, Hickey told the audience peoples’ ability to purchase a car says a lot about how the economy is performing.

October 15Law firm to lead NZTA regulatory workThe NZ Transport Agency has hired law firm Meredith Connell to lead its regulatory work, acknowledging huge failures on how it moni-tors the vehicle compliance industry.

In late September the agency’s board engaged the law firm to review 850 open compliance files. Meredith autotalk.co.nz

AUSTRALIA’S NEWS SOURCE FOR ROAD TRANSPORT, LOGISTICS & HEAVY EQUIPMENT INDUSTRIES

20 | TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | NOVEMBER 2018

Iveco Australia New Zealand and CNH Industrial have launched the new Melbourne-made Stralis X-Way truck.TransportTalk was hosted by Iveco

at the unveiling of the all-new Stralis X-Way prime mover and heavy rigid range, being made in the company’s Dandenong factory in Victoria.

The new X-Way truck range will

have a strong safety focus, with elec-tronic braking assistance, autonomous emergency braking (AEBS), stability control and adaptive cruise control (ACC) as standard.

Iveco managing director Bruce Healy says this is a “pivotal point” for the company employing 600 people directly.

“This is our commitment to suppli-ers, our staff, Australian manufacturing and our customers,” he says.

“Effectively this company has been manufacturing for 80 years in Australia next year, and the closure of passenger car manufacturing these last few years has given Iveco even greater resolve to increase our local product mix and continue building trucks at home,” Healy says.

“We’ve taken on board customer comments in terms of locally manufac-tured trucks, particularly in the heavy vehicle segment.”

Healy says the transition from importer to manufacturer of the Stralis AT has been lead-ing to the heavy rigid produc-tion milestone. That transition began in 2017 and included tooling, training and software upgrades at the factory.

“This truck combines the best of local development and input, and also the latest European technology, resulting in a safer, more fuel efficient and environmentally sensitive truck coupled with robust underpinnings and enhancements,” he explains.

“We believe this is a recipe for suc-cess, that will appeal to our customers and attract a new range of people to the Iveco brand.”

The AEBS and ACC systems will keep drivers as far as 120 metres from preceding vehicles, and optional lane departure warning will ensure drivers stay between the lines, with a wind-screen mounted camera able to detect road markings.

Other options include a driver atten-tion system which will detect any lax steering wheel applications, signalling

rest stop warnings when fatigue is de-tected. Tyre-pressure monitoring will alert drivers to punctures or under-inflated rubber.

The Stralis X-Way will be powered by three common-rail Euro 6 engine com-binations. These are a

“Cursor 9” 310hp/1300Nm nine-litre unit available only in the rigid, or a “Cursor 11” 460hp/2150Nm 11-litre unit, or the 13-litre Cursor 13 engine with 510hp and 3200Nm, both available in prime mover.

The Euro 6 engines come with fuel injection designed with a more efficient

combustion process, helped by an injection pressure increase of 2200 bar. It is fitted to a “Hi-eSCR” single after-treatment emissions reduction system, using a passive DPF with intervention-free regeneration.

The Cursor 11 and 13 also receive a new Garrett Variable Geometry Turbo with electronic actuators directly con-trolled by the ECU to offer immediate, low engine speed response. The Euro 6 powerplant claims a 50% particulate matter reduction and an 80% reduction in oxides of nitrogen (NOx).

A 12-speed Hi-Tronix direct drive automatic unit delivers quicker gear changes which can also be manually

selected for unusual conditions. It has an extended life by up to 80% com-pared to other transmissions, accord-ing to Iveco. Along with offering “rock-ing” and “creeping” functions, plus four reverse gears, the company stands by a 1.6 million kilometre durability lifecycle.

The X-Way prime mover comes in day-sleeper or active-space sleeper body shapes, with a 25t GVM and 45t GCM, while the rigid truck ranges from 22-30t GVM depending on 6×4 or 8×4 configuration, and from 40-45t GCM in either 6×4 or 8×4 respectively.

The Stralis X-Way goes into full-scale production before Christmas, with orders taken by Iveco Australia/New Zealand in the meantime.

The new heavy rigid Stralis will also be joined on the production line – and share the basic architecture of the X-Way – by the incoming new Acco, also featuring Euro 6 Cursor engines in 6×4 and 8×4 configurations and with ACC and AEBS standard.

Iveco managing director Bruce Healy.

Iveco’s new home-made heavy truck

Stralis X-Way prime mover.

Stralis X-Way rigid.

TRANSPORTTALK

TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | OCTOBER 2018 | 21

Flow-On EffectThe Bonavista is the crucible for filters.

room, one quieter “dry” room, where oil and fuel are tested separately from air and dust.

One machine can simulate 4000km of driving in half an hour, with an oil-air mist spray sent through air filter media, testing a diesel catch can Hampton is working on which the aftermarket, car-makers and dealers should be getting excited about.

“We didn’t know about catch cans in the OE world because the problem you’re talking about doesn’t occur until a few years in, it’s not that visible to them,” he explains.

“Anybody who owns a diesel 4WD, says you need a catch can because it saves money on maintenance and your DPF because air entering the in-take becomes soot when it’s burned, and ends up in the DPF,” Hampton continues.

“I’ve spoken to a lot of workshops fitting these and we wanted to cater to Australia. Look at the vehicles we love here - diesel pick-ups. We have a lot of industry knowledge and we’ve bench-marked the competition and set out to

make the best on the market.”Hampton says he’s designed a larger

sump than the German competitor brand and that one of the largest deal-ers “selling the most popular pick-up in Australia” wanted to fit catch cans to avoid the maintenance issue plaguing their workshop.

“The vehicles catch cans go into, owners want to customise their engine bay and we’ve designed it to be as slim as possible to allow for that while still working for the oldest, filthiest diesel you can think of,” he adds.

Hampton is benchmarking the Ryco catch can for heavy trucks and the light duty passen-ger diesel product is already on its way to the market and is in demand from dealer workshops and independents alike. That says something.

With the pride of an 80-year-old name at stake, the company has moved its research and development scope to other areas of flow under the skin of the automobile.

It’s a mission Nicholls says couldn’t be done without the high calibre of Ryco’s team, with a proven employee satisfaction rating which puts GUD and Ryco as one of the best companies in Australia for looking after staff. But an anecdote tells the real story.

One severe dementia-suffering former Ryco employee loves the brand so much, it’s the only thing he can remember to talk about, Nicholls tells. Oh, and another customer presented themselves recently with a Ryco tattoo.

“That was a first,” Nicholls laughs.

Ross Cunningham is product manager busy building Ryco’s heavy duty truck and agri filters inventory.


down 25.8% against October 2018.With its swelling dealer network,

MG managed to report a 747.6% sales increase for October 2018 over October 2017, to the sum of 356 cars over the 42

in 2017. The brand’s 2323 reported year-to-date sales are also 361% up on the 1820 year-to-date efforts of 2017.

Ninety-four pure electric vehicles were sold last month, compared to 104 in October 2017.

FCAI chief executive Tony Weber acknowledges a softening market.

“Total sales so far in 2018 are a modest 1.3 per cent below the same number during the 2017 record year,” he explains.

“This demonstrates that the mar-

ket is broadly holding firm, despite evolving consumer preferences demonstrated through the shift from passen-ger vehicles to SUVs”, Weber says.

“Given the slowing housing market and the

current drought, the overall result dem-onstrates the resilience of Australia’s competitive automotive market.”

Tony Weber, FCAI

MG and its 25 dealers celebrated 2000 local sales last month.

New car sales continue to plateauContinued from page 15

TRANSPORTTALK

22 | TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | OCTOBER 2018

NHVR releases new heavy vehicles chart

New technology and safety features have prompted the National Heavy Vehicle Regu-

lator (NHVR) to release a new perfor-mance-based standards (PBS) chart for heavy vehicles.

The vehicle configurations table shows 32 common combinations ap-proved under the performance-based standards scheme.

NHVR chief executive Sal Petroc-citto launched the chart and a new booklet, PBS: A guide for road man-agers, ahead of a two-day Brisbane meeting of 70 local government engineers.

“Heavy vehicles approved under the PBS scheme are continuing to use newer technology and safety features and it’s crucial that those who are making decisions about network ac-cess understand the benefits of these high-tech innovations,” Petroccitto says.

“PBS approved heavy vehicles will make up almost one in five new vehicles built in Australia this year and are now a significant part of Australia’s heavy vehicle fleet.

“The material released today pro-vides road managers with robust and detailed information about the PBS

approval process and the type of safety features that are common.

“It will assist them to make informed decisions about which vehicles can safely access their local roads, intersections and bridges.

“The complexity of PBS access permit applications can cause delays in the decision-making process, so it’s important that we continue to provide road managers with information,” Petroccitto says.

The chart is the fourth in the NHVR series and is available at nhvr.gov.au/publications along with the booklet.

THL targeting global motorhome growth

Rob Campbell, THL chair

Tourism Holdings Limited’s (THL) partnership with United States RV manufacturer Thor Industries has

been signalled for global expansion.THL chief executive Grant Webster

told shareholders at the October an-nual meeting the opportunity for TH2 “is significant” and is capable of achiev-ing a net profit before tax in FY20 of up to US$10 million.

The 50/50 joint venture, named TH2, was announced in February this year.

It combines the assets of THL as the world’s largest renter of motorhomes

and campervans and Thor as the world’s largest RV manufacturer.

The partnership also includes technology-based assets such as road trip planning software company Roadtrippers; booking, rental and fleet management provider Cosmos; peer-to-peer RV rental service Mighway; and top Australia and New Zealand camp-ing app CamperMate.

“TH2’s main purpose is to improve every aspect of RV use and ownership through technology. To do so, sig-nificant engagement will be required with three key customer segments, RV

owners, RV rental customers and self-drive customers.

“The potential size of these ad-dressable markets globally is extraor-dinary, with RV owners alone likely to

be around 15 million,” Webster says.

THL chairman Rob Campbell says the TH2 venture was a “key highlight” for the year and has “substan-tial opportunities for the future”.

TRANSPORTTALK

TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | OCTOBER 2018 | 23

Second half sales continue to ‘cool’

Heavy duty, medium duty and light duty truck categories re-corded monthly sales growth in

October, despite a “cooling back half” of 2018, the truck industry says.

Heavy hauler sales were up 17.7% in October compared with the same month in 2017, while medium duty managed a 10.6% jump. Light duty de-livered a rockstar 18.1% improvement over October 2017.

Seemingly unbeatable Kenworth reigns supreme in HD, 19% up on October 2017 with 276 reported sales last month, and 2361 for year-to-date sales a full 20% ahead of last year’s efforts.

Volvo and Isuzu battle it out for the heavy duty podium, with the former holding silver with 178 October 2018 sales (up 12.7%) and 1759 year-to-date sales a chunky 15% up on last year, while Isuzu came close on 175 Octo-ber sales, and clinches third on 1517 reported sales (up nearly 13% year-to-date).

Heavy sales are also ahead in year-to-date figures, tracking with a solid 24% lead. However, the Truck Industry Council says the light-duty segment is the “star performer”, not only for October’s efforts, but also for powering ahead of 2017’s year-to-date sales by over 13% or 1290 units.

Light duty van sales are also in good stead, holding on by 4.5% over October 2017, although the sector lost ground 18.5%.

Mercedes-Benz Vans remains top dog, sitting pretty on 2148 for the year and 156 last month, ahead of French rival Renault’s 1088 and 95 respective sales for the year and October.

Both brands are ahead of last year’s targets, Benz up by 42% for the year and 36% over October 2017; Renault is pulling decent best-efforts, 21% up on yearly sales compared to 2017, and 22.2% up on October last year.

Without some insane sales figures in November and December, it looks like Toyota’s Hino will keep Daimler’s Fuso in third place for overall sales in 2018, with the former’s 4647 year-to-date sales (up 13%), holding the Japanese brand at bay on 3554 sales (up 10% on 2018).

Kenworth looks likely to hold onto fourth, keeping Volvo in fifth overall for now, unless sixth-placed Mer-cedes-Benz can rise to the occasion, sitting on 1648, just 145 units behind the Swedish brand.

Iveco sits in seventh with 1606 year-to-date sales after 246 October sales puts it in fifth place for the month but sitting 42 sales behind Mercedes-Benz. Well off the pace is MAN in eighth,

Mach in ninth, and UD Trucks holding onto 10th ahead of Scania.

Truck Industry Council chief execu-tive Tony McMullan says it was “great to see strong light duty truck sales in October”.

“Although we are witnessing a slowing of sales in most segments in the past three or four months, the overall results for 2018 remain strong,” he says.

“The heavy and medium sector continue to perform solidly, while van sales were weak in October, however, continue to perform slightly above 2017 sales on a year-to-date basis,” McMullan assesses.

“With just two months remaining in the year we are inching ever closer to a new all-time sales record for heavy vehicle sales in Australia. We may even crack that elusive goal of more than 40,000 new truck sales in a calendar year.”

Kenworth can’t be beaten in heavy sales.


EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU

AUSTRALIA’S NEWS SOURCE FOR ELECTRIC, INTELLIGENT AND AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORTATION

Jaguar Land Rover Australia’s new head office in Mascot, Sydney, comes with in-built EV charging

infrastructure.JLR’s new crib also comes with 13

electric vehicle charging stations for employee use, in time for the recent arrival of the Jaguar I-Pace electric SUV and what the company describes as “an EV-rich future”.

The 3.2 square kilometre, three-sto-rey building is not only bigger and bet-ter but is also much closer to Sydney airport than its old North Ryde base.

The $6 million Mascot HQ comes with a decked-out technical training academy, with 150 office workstations, 20 conference rooms, five large train-

ing rooms, and a gym.The JLR head office will be a

busy place in the coming year, as the training academy expects to host 138 technical training cours-es in the new facility from next year to 2020, with a further 2800 delegates passing through for 182 customer experience programmes.

The JLR hive will have 100 staff coming and going full time and will be the “nerve centre” for the brand’s 46 Aussie dealerships.

Jaguar Land Rover Australia managing di-rector Mark Cameron

says the new base camp will support the big events coming for the brand locally in 2019, including two major product launches.

“We now have a head office and training facilities that aligns with our newest retail facilities and gives our employees an inspiring work environ-ment,” Cameron says.

“It is an era in which we will have sales growth, expanded model line-ups and breakthrough technology,” he adds.

EV future welcomed at JLR Australia’s new base

EV sales target wanted by Electric Vehicle Council

A 5% sales target for all new elec-tric and plug-in hybrid vehicles is sought by the Electric Vehicle

Council and Environment Victoria.It’s among policies the two organi-

sations want delivered in the next five years.

Others are to cut stamp duty and provide a five-year registration holi-day for all electric cars, offer rebates for building public charging stations, setting an “ambitious” emissions tar-get for Victoria’s government vehicle fleet and allowing EVs to use high occupancy lanes.

Their drive follows Infrastructure Victoria’s release of a report on future mobility on October 18.

Both organisations ask all parties to provide a long-term plan to support the rollout of EVs ahead of the Victo-rian state election on November 24.

“With the right investment and strong government ambition, Victo-ria can become a leader in deploying

electric cars,” Environment Victoria public policy and advocacy manager Dean Rizzetti says.

He says it’s vital to continue invest-ing in large scale renewable energy to keep costs down with EVs drawing power from the grid, and to reduce carbon.emissions.

Electric Vehicle Council of Australia chief executive officer Behyad Jafari says the report is the latest “in a long line of evidence that shows Australians stand to benefit from the transition to electric vehicles”.

“What we need now is clear leader-ship from our governments to accel-

erate the deployment of electric vehicles and charging sta-tions,” he says.

“Today Australia lags the world in sup-porting the change to electric vehicles, but with the right policies

and regulations that can change fast. We need to see leadership from all parties who intend to run the state, by getting behind zero emissions trans-port and the clean electricity we need to run it.”

Jafari says it’s also an opportunity to reinvigorate Australia’s automotive industry.

Meanwhile, the EVC has welcomed the announcement of a national ultra-fast electric vehicle charging network as the latest sign of a burgeoning Australian EV industry.

The network includes 21 charg-ing stations, built by network operator Chargefox and supported by Austral-ian motoring clubs and a grant by the federal government.

The EVC has called on the federal government to set a national target for EV adoption, supported by a nation-ally co-ordinated range of policies and regulations to transition the road fleet from fossil fuels to electric.

Behyad Jafari.

Mark Cameron.

JLR’s new Sydney head office.


EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU

Electric vehicle infrastructure company Chargefox has secured industry-changing funding to

build new rapid charging stations across Australia.

Public charging stations will be built with $15 million invested by motor-ing clubs like NRMA and RACV, Wilson Transformers, and Carsales founder and incoming Chargefox chairman Greg Roebuck, plus funding from the Vic-torian government and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

Chargefox says it will build the world’s third 350kW charging network, avail-able to owners of all electric vehicles by simply downloading the Chargefox app and paying with a credit card.

Co-founder and Australian EV Council chairman Tim Washington says it’s a milestone.

“I’ve been working on this for two years, and it has been an incredibly humbling, challenging, frustrating and ultimately rewarding experience,” he says.

“This is just the start, of course, and I look forward to the immense amount of work to come. Thanks to all those who have supported me personally during this time, you know who you are,” he adds.

The company, in partnership with Tritium, also opened Tasmania’s first DC charging station in Launceston, the city’s first 50kW DC fast charger, offering driv-ers an 80% recharge in 30 minutes.

Chargefox plans to build a govern-ment backed network of electric vehicle

stations connecting major cities in Australia and has opened its first station in Euroa, Victoria, on the Hume Highway, about 160km north-east of Melbourne.

It has selected ABB as a key technol-ogy partner and supplier for its ultra-rapid charging network.

The site features two of ABB’s most technologically advanced high-speed chargers, the Terra HP. The 350kW Terra HP charging stations are the first with liquid-cooled cables to be installed in Australia and are capable of delivering up to 400km of range in 15 minutes.

The Chargefox ultra-rapid network will extend to a total of 21 sites before 2020.

The second Chargefox site, which will also feature two 350kW Terra HP charg-ers, is planned for Barnawartha North, near Albury, before the end of 2019.

The addition of a further two high-power charge stations on the main cor-ridor between Melbourne and regional Victoria will dramatically reduce charging time for drivers travelling interstate.

“ABB is proud to collaborate with Chargefox and its partners on this in-novative venture, the first of its kind

in Australia, and to be able to assist in deploying the first of the new generation of high-power charging stations in Asia Pacific,” ABB’s EV charging infrastructure managing director Frank Muehlon says.

“Australia has set itself some ambitious carbon reduction targets and we are de-lighted that our pioneering charging tech-nology can assist in driving the increased adoption of electric vehicles and the resultant benefits for the environment.”

ABB’s chargers have the CCS charg-ing format, one of the main industry standards. They can also support the Chademo DC fast-charging standard enabling them to charge all EVs available and those soon to be released on the market.

The ABB Ability Connected Services digital networking suite portfolio links the charging station to payment platforms and smart grid systems, also enabling smart trip planning by indicating where the next recharge stop will be.

Network operators can perform remote monitoring, remote diagnosis, remote upgrade, online payment and energy management, while ensuring

high levels of safety and availability of the charging service.

Fortune Magazine recently ranked ABB eighth on its list of companies that are “changing the world” for advances made in e-mobility and EV charging.

Meanwhile, the Andrews Labor Government will fund more of Aus-

New charging infrastructure for EVs

Kia e-Niro in Australia next year

The fully electric Kia e-Niro may be on sale in Australia before the end of 2019.

That’s the prediction from Kia Motors Australia media and corporate com-munications manager Kevin Hepworth, announcing it is in the final stages of confirming the local launch – with two other battery-electric vehicles set to follow.

The e-Niro made its European debut at the Paris motor show last month.

“We are pretty confident we will have the e-Niro in by next year,” Hep-worth says.

“That will be followed, in a managed time scale, by a small passenger vehicle

and a larger SUV-style vehicle.”It’s the two other EVs will be built on

a dedicated electric vehicle platform.Kia says it is among the first main-

stream carmakers to announce plans for a fully-electric, large SUV Down Under.

Asked if Kia’s EVs will carry existing nameplates with the “e” prefix, like the e-Niro, Hepworth was unsure. However, he says the brand has a policy that all EVs should be immediately identifiable.

“People should recognise it as an electric vehicle,” he says. “It doesn’t need to have wings or whatever. But there should be recognition that this is a specific vehicle, and to that purpose

it sits on a specific electric-vehicle platform.”

Pricing for the e-Niro has yet to be determined, though Hepworth says it will not be in the A$60,000-plus bracket like earlier EVs from compet-ing manufacturers.

He says Kia’s EVs will be marketed according to its philosophy of great value, but that it is “a fact of life that they will be more expensive than an equiva-lent petrol vehicle”.

The Kia e-Niro.

At the Euroa launch are, from left, ABB’s Steve Amor, energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio, ABB’s David Sullivan and Chargefox’s Evan Beaver.



EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU

Victorian cities like Melbourne could benefit hugely from zero-emission, self-driving and shared transport.

That’s according to a 224-page report from Infrastructure Australia, requested by the Victorian government on the benefits, impacts and challenges faced in a future of electric and autonomous vehicles (AVs).

Infrastructure Victoria asks the govern-ment to clear the way for the roll out of driverless and zero emissions vehicles to reap “unprecedented benefits for the economy, community and environment”.

“Our advice and 17 key recommen-dations seek to help Victoria navigate through the inherent challenges and uncertainties that new technology brings, while maximising the benefits and minimising the risks associated with its introduction,” the report says.

The recommendations include up-dating roads, rethinking the road space, planning and managing the transition, boosting information and communica-tion technology (ICT), future proofing, and integrating new transport options.

The report also suggests that while Victoria is well placed for the roll out of

new vehicles, significant investment will be required to fully maximise potential.

This includes up to $1.7 billion to up-grade mobile networks, around $250 mil-lion for improved road line markings, and at least $2.2 billion for energy network upgrades.

“While significant, these investments should be viewed in the context of the potential benefits of automated and zero emissions vehicles,” the report adds.

Recommendations the govern-ment can take action on are how to get Victoria ready include integrating on-demand and mobility as a service (MaaS) offerings into the public transport mix, sharing transport data in real time and allowing flexibility in the planning regime to make it easier for people to charge their electric vehicles.

“All could have an immediate impact and deliver benefits, regardless of how new vehicle technologies roll out.”

The report says a fleet comprising entirely zero emissions vehicles could remove about 27 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria in 2046 and deliver $706 million in health

benefits to Victorians in the same year.The potential health benefits of AVs

are even more significant – although less certain, the report adds.

“Automated vehicles offer reduced congestion, faster travel times, safer roads, improved access to services and a stronger economy.”

The report suggests AVs could improve Victoria’s road network efficiency by up to 91% and boost economic growth by up to $15 billion in 2046.

Visit http://infrastructurevictoria.com.au/AVadvice for more information.

Massive benefits from electric AVs - report

Online renewable energy centre planned

An online resource centre and a marketplace platform for renew-able energy, the Business Renew-

ables Centre Australia, will be formed with help from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA).

The $1.74 million project aims to make it easier for Australian corpo-rates and local councils to purchase or procure renewable energy through corporate power purchase agreements, expected to also aid electric vehicle uptake.

Face-to-face events for its industry members are planned also.

On behalf of the Australian Govern-ment, ARENA will provide $500,000 in funding to Climate-KIC Australia, WWF-Australia and UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures for the project.

The New South Wales and Victo-rian governments have each provided $150,000 in funding.

The goal is to help Australian busi-nesses and local governments procure

1GW of installed renew-able energy by 2022 and 5GW by 2030.

The centre draws on the Rocky Moun-tain Institute’s Business Renewables Centre in the USA, to provide members with infor-mation, a network of energy buyers and project developers, inexpensive training and advice on power purchase agree-ment requirements.

Last year, ARENA released a report on the Business of Renewables which out-lined how Australia’s biggest businesses were falling behind their global peers in transitioning to renewable energy.

The report also found that Australian consumers support businesses making the switch, with more than three-quar-ters of Australian consumers surveyed saying they would buy a product or service powered by renewables over one that wasn’t.

ARENA chief executive officer Darren Miller says the Business Renewables Centre Australia would have a wealth of knowledge to draw upon.

WWF Australia chief executive officer Dermot O’Gorman says the Business Renewables Centre Australia will build on the success of WWF’s Renewable Energy Buyers Forum, which comprises more than 230-member organisations, as well as the growth in corporate renewable power purchase agreements in the last year.

“The future of renewables in Australia looks positive because it makes sound business sense. Contracting for long-term renewable energy will save custom-ers money and will support growth in renewable energy infrastructure across Australia,” he says.

Climate-KIC Australia chief executive officer Christopher Lee says the BRC (Business Renewables Center) will drive capacity building in the industry.

Darren Miller.


EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU

The pace of electric vehicle uptake in Australia seems to be slowing.

Marginal declines are reported across almost the entire vehicle industry, with SUVs the only category show-ing real growth, according to the latest VFACTs figures.

Every state reported declines in overall vehicle sales during October except Tas-mania, which sold just six more cars than October 2017.

That trend looks to flow through to electric vehicle and hybrid sales for the past month.

While private passenger electrics totalled 14 in October 2018 (up five on the same time last year), non-private passenger electrics dropped 24 – from 30 in 2017 to just six this October.

Private SUVs did much better, up from 13 last year to 32 in October 2018, but the see-sawing continues with non-private SUVs dropping from 52 to 39 for the same months.

Hybrids fared a little better in all cat-egories except SUV non-private where they fell from 94 to 70.

That shows a preference for hybrids compared with pure electrics in most segments, particularly evident in year-to-date totals where hybrids vastly outnum-ber their all-electric counterparts – often in the hundreds and, in the passenger segments, in the thousands.

Hybrids were up 54 to 289 in the pri-vate passenger sector in October 2018 compared with the same month in 2017, up 96 to 669 in the non-private passen-ger segment and up just one to 61 in the SUV private category.

Year-to-date (YTD) totals for electrics and hybrids continue to show a slight increase in most segments apart from

electric private SUVs, down just 12 to 145.Increases were shown in private pas-

senger electrics – up 51 to 208, private passenger hybrids – up 1089 to 3111, non-private passenger electrics – up 88 to 346, and non-private passenger hybrids – up 123 to 6501.

Private hybrid SUVs were up 68 to 564 on YTD and non-private hybrid SUVs increased by 113 to 807.

Non-private light commercial electric vehicles increased by 13 on YTD totals

from just one in 2017, three recorded in that category for October 2018 com-pared with none for October 2017.

All totals, which included diesel, petrol and LPG as well, were down both in monthly and YTD figures.

Whether the coming introduction of new EVs, like the Hyundai Ioniq in late November, make a difference to EV sales remains to be seen.

Until now, Australians have been lim-ited in their choices.

The Hyundai Ioniq range is due to be launched to the press on November 28 and 29.

NEW VEHICLE SALES BY BUYER TYPE AND FUEL TYPE OCTOBER 2018

Month YTD Variance +/- Vol. & %

Total Market 3374 3373 3374 3373 MTH YTD MTH YTD

ELECTRIC Passenger Private

14 9 208 157 5 51 55.6% 32.5%

Passenger Non-Private

6 30 346 258 -24 88 -80.0% 34.1%

SUV Private 32 13 145 157 19 -12 146.2% -7.6%SUV Non-Private

39 52 436 348 -13 88 -25.0% 25.3%

Light Com-mercial Non-Private

3 0 14 1 3 13 - >999%

Sub Total 94 104 1,149 921 -10 228 -9.6% 24.8%HYBRID Passenger Private

289 235 3,111 2,022 54 1,089 23.0% 53.9%

Passenger Non-Private

669 573 6,501 6,378 96 123 16.8% 1.9%

SUV Private 61 60 564 496 1 68 1.7% 13.7%SUV Non-Private

70 94 807 694 -24 113 -25.5% 16.3%

Sub Total 1,089 962 10,983 9,590 127 1,393 13.2% 14.5%

TOTAL 1,183 1,066 12,132 10,511 117 1,621 11.0% 15.4%

tralia’s fastest EV ultra-rapid charging stations, with five more to be built across Victoria.

Energy and climate change minister Lily D’Ambrosio made the announce-ment on October 25 while opening Australia’s first ultra-rapid electric vehicle charging site at Euroa.

The Labor Government is continuing the rollout with $2 million to support charging stations in Melbourne, Bal-

larat, Horsham, Torquay and Traralgon, boosting tourism opportunities for these regions.

The stations are sourced from 100% renewable energy.

Earlier this year, energy company Chargefox received $1 million from the Labor Government to develop the Euroa and Barnawartha North sites. Chargefox is matching the funding to build the stations.

Victoria is leading the nation with the

rollout of this technology, with its trans-port sector on the road to a low carbon future in line with its legislated net-zero emissions by 2050 target, D’Ambrosio says.

“Uptake of electric vehicles will help us reduce emissions and to tackle cli-mate change,” she says.

“More Victorians will be driving electric vehicles in the future, that’s why we’re building the infrastructure to be ready to meet this demand.”


New charging infrastructure for EVs

Australian EV uptake down to a crawl

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