“Ours is a Values-Driven Business” says Mark Woelders, Motorama Dealer Principal

Meet Mark Woelders, Dealer Principal at Motorama Group. I interviewed him recently for Automotive Dealer to find out more about his company's 'Customers for Life' vision and what it actually means for the car buyer.

Who initiated the Motorama Values?
They started as most companies do with a set of stated values. Normally it works in conjunction with a strategic planning session, which we first went through under my father’s control of the business. That would have been in the mid-‘90s, and those stated values have developed over a period of time, along with our vision. What we’re consciously trying to do with our values is bring them to life in the workplace, because I think a lot of companies have stated values, but quite often they don’t make it out of the bottom drawer.

How do you celebrate those values?
We drive our values through a ‘Values Calendar’, and we celebrate each of those values throughout the year and aim to have activities around the company to bring those values to life.

Can you give me an example of those values?
For instance in June we have ‘Team Work’ where each of our staff members in their own areas vote for a team member who has contributed the most value within that month. And then at the end of the year we have a Team Award’s Night, and the person who lived out the values throughout the year receives the pinnacle award of the evening. August has been Green Month, which is our newest value.

Is it important for dealerships to have an environmental focus?
We have a green focus across all of our facilities and currently have over 1.2 million litres of water stored in tanks. That’s one way of living out that value from a company point of view.

What’s the biggest challenge of managing 14 dealerships?
What we find is consistency and certainly having a set of values, stated mission and vision helps with that. We have three pillars across our business which is “People, Process and Technology.” We tend to get consistency by attributing everything to our vision, which is “Customers for Life.”

Motorama is a family business, did you start at the bottom?
I started as a first year apprentice in 1989, and grew in different areas, coupled that experience with a Masters of Business in 2001 and then took over the business as a third generation business in 2007 from my father, John.  So it’s not just about me, it’s about the whole team and the relationship I have with our financial controller and operations manager Costa Pappas.

What’s been the high point of your career?
The realisation halfway through my Masters of Business that the new-found knowledge would give me the confidence to really move the business forward.

Who inspires you?
My team and my family. I certainly get a lot of joy out of watching the success of our entire team and our company.

Would you encourage your children to follow in your footsteps?
I would encourage my son to be disciplined and successful in whatever he’d like to take on, whether that’s the family business or not.

Apart from your business what are you passionate about?  
Wine, food, friends and family.

What do you do to keep fit?
I like the outdoors, hiking, competing in offshore stand up paddle board racing – point A to point B stuff. I’ve raced from Surfers Paradise to Currumbin, which is 25 kilometres and in state and Australian Championships.

If you weren’t CEO of Motorama you’d be?
I’d just be running a business, if it wasn’t in cars, it would be in something else.  I enjoy business and I enjoy trying to run the business as best as I can.

What have you always aspired to own?
A sailing cat.

Your favourite travel destination is…?
Queenstown, New Zealand.

What issues do you think the AADA should be tackling on behalf of Dealers?
There’s obviously all the issues that often get spoken about. I wonder whether the AADA should be looking at opportunities rather than issues, because there’s a real move towards companies looking after and holding onto their customers longer, and whether the association can provide any training in that area, because the market itself is not growing.

In three words, what sells cars?
People, people and people.

Is there a future for single franchise dealerships?
Yes, but like anything, succession will be the key. Take the Melbourne market; there are a lot of successful smaller dealerships when you compare that to the Brisbane Metro and Sydney environments.Certainly I think single franchise Dealers can exist and do quite well, obviously the brand has to be sustainable.

How competitive is it with the large number of brands in the marketplace?
Whether we like it or not, I think history is the best dictator of the future; we’ll always have the big five, because worldwide they’re getting economies out of manufacturing. And because we’re in an extremely competitive environment, it’s very hard to get a voice. It takes substantial marketing money to grow share, so whilst the smaller brands might have a low cost entry, it’s not easy to grow volume and share.

Finally, what makes Motorama successful?
Our people, our process and our technology. And the leadership team plus the relationship between myself and Costa Pappas, our financial controller and operations manager.

Is George Soros looking to join the Car Club?

Reports suggest that talks are well underway between business magnate George Soros and major dealership groups

First it was computer tycoon Michael Dell and the former President of Sonic Automotive, Jeffry Rachor, who entered the retail automotive business.

Then, Edward Lampert and Bill Gates bought into AutoNation – the United States’ number one dealership chain. And most recently, billionaire Warren Buffett purchased the Van Tuyl chain of 78 dealerships through his company Berkshire Hathaway.

Closer to home American billionaire Roger Penske recently signed a deal with MTU Detroit Diesel and V8 Supercar Team Dick Johnson Racing.

Now people are speculating that billionaire George Soros wants to travel down the same road and buy a large US retail automotive group after two of his executives were spotted meeting with Dealers at NADA in San Francisco recently.

For those who are not familiar with George Soros or his business dealings, he is a Hungarian-born American businessman, investor, and philanthropist.

He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management which is currently in talks with an undisclosed number of dealership groups.

Soros is also known as ‘The Man Who Broke the Bank of England’ because of his short sales of US$10 billion worth of pounds, giving him a profit of $1 billion during the 1992 Black Wednesday UK currency crisis. He is, unsurprisingly, one of the thirty richest people in the world.

So what’s the big attraction for Soros in buying dealerships?

Firstly, automotive dealerships represent a unique opportunity for Soros to diversify his fund’s holdings and boost his cash flow.

While profit margins in retail automotive are getting slimmer, helped in part by the price transparency provided by the internet, ‘cash flow is (still) king!’ thanks to new and used car sales, service, insurance and finance.

Furthermore, industry observers say that large numbers of vehicles will be coming off lease in the next few years which means owners will need to replace them with new models.

Then there’s the security of Dealers’ PMAs which in the US are protected state laws.

Another bonus for Soros – and other cashed-up investors, is that dealerships are relatively easy to buy, although much harder to run.

On the other side of the coin, OEMs are not that enamoured with Private Equity funds owning dealerships as in the past they have tended to buy-in then load up the ‘shop’ with debt only to off-load them down the track.

Also, corporate taxes in the US are as high as the costs of funding vehicle inventories and dealership renovations requested by automakers.

While some may argue that Soros doesn’t have the necessary skills and experience to successfully run a large dealership group, he may follow Warren Buffet’s lead and leave the original management team and culture in place to do what it does best.

Vale Noel Gould

In July 2015 I interviewed Noel for Automotive Dealer magazine. Here's what he had to say about his long career in the automotive industry.

Having owned numerous dealerships in Melbourne and regional Victoria during his long and successful career as an auto dealer it is easy to see why Noel’s profile is up there with some of the biggest names in the industry – thanks in part to Noel’s outgoing personality and his preference for starring in his own TV commercials and voicing his own radio spots. After briefly stepping out of the industry to run his own consultancy, Noel is back ‘in the game’ with his purchase of Swan Hill Holden, Swan Hill Nissan and Swan Hill Ford. His story makes fascinating reading.

How long have you been selling cars?
Since late ’54.

Where was your first job?
It was in my home town of Rainbow, with a Holden dealer, Strauss Brothers.

What made you choose a career in the automotive industry?
It actually chose me.  I was crossing Federal Street, Rainbow, and Jack Strauss – who became a wonderful friend and mentor of mine – approached me and said ‘What are you doing next year, Noel?’ and I said ‘I’m going to work for the Austin Dealer.’  He said ‘Bullshit.  He’s not much of a Dealer, come and see me.’

What’s the major thing that has changed since you first started selling cars?
There’s more of an emphasis on treating the customers better, and the computerisation of the industry has just been dramatic.

Who inspires you?
I’ve been inspired by Paul Keating and Adam Goodes who I think is an exceptional person.

How many dealerships have you owned?
13.

What are you passionate about?  
Watching the Sydney Swans win, playing golf and spending time with my family.

What does it take to run a successful dealership?
Capital, location and product.

Of the three franchises you now own, which brand is the most popular with your customers?
In Swan Hill we sell more Holdens than anything else.

Is there a special relationship between a Dealer and his local community?
Absolutely.

How do you foster that?
We sponsor several football teams, bowling clubs and the race club.

If you weren’t a Dealer, you’d be?
A lawyer. But I’ve always considered law as common sense. You can usually work out what is a fair legal outcome if you just apply common sense.

You’ve always wanted to own?
A house in Port Douglas.

What does Noel Gould do to relax?
I play golf and enjoy lunching with family and friends.

What are you looking forward to?
Mentoring a successful Dealer Principal in my business.

What was the biggest disappointment of your life?
The 2006 premiership when we got beaten by a point.

What’s the most challenging aspect of running a dealership?
Finding the right people, nurturing them and getting them to do the things that they should do.

Why aren’t there more female sales consultants in the industry?  
Well we have two exceptional ones in Swan Hill. In our dealership of 36 people, we have 14 females, which I think has been something of a record.  That’s almost 40 percent of our staff.  Also, we didn’t do it by design, it just happened that they were the best applicants for the various jobs we were looking to fill.  We have them in every department and I think it’s made a hell of a difference to the way the business runs.

Your favourite travel destination is?
France.

What have you learned about yourself over your career?
That I’m a gypsy, I can never settle in one spot.

The first car you ever owned was?
An FX Holden, a black one. The registration number was RM-828.

Can you remember your first sale?
I may not remember the first sale, but I recall my brother-in-law who was in the Defence Force recommending his lift driver to buy a car from me.  And I suffered from asthma in those days and my wife had to drive me to Dustings in Burwood. She drove me there and I did the deal and she drove me home.  So I’ve always remembered that one.

In three words, describe Noel Gould.
Show-off. Amiable. Passionate (about my sporting interests).

What issues do you think the AADA should be tackling on behalf of Dealers?
I think a fair go for the Dealers.  In particular, what manufacturers expect in terms of capital expenditure on dealerships, particularly the ones that have lost market share.

Finally if they were going to make a movie about Noel Gould, who would you like to play you?
George Clooney or Richard Gere
– but, probably Boris Karloff.

Noel's funeral will be Webcast live and can be accessed by visiting the tribute page for Noel at: www.tobinbrothers.com.au

‘I absolutely love what I do!’ What drives John Hughes to keep going at 78 years of age?

Perth’s John Hughes is one of Australia’s most successful businessmen, renowned for his hands-on management style, 12 new car franchises and his uncompromising attitude towards customer service excellence.

CB: What's different about selling cars in Perth compared to Melbourne or Sydney?
JH: There’s not a great deal of difference. One advantage buyers have is that Perth is not as big as some major cities, making it easy for customers to get around.  So within a couple of hours they could go and get a price from two, three… even four Dealers, whereas it might take you that length of time in Melbourne or Sydney just to get to one Dealer. Perth is also more accessible to Dealers, which might encourage the buyers to shop around more, which obviously then makes it a more competitive market.
 
CB: Does that mean that Perth buyers use the internet less frequently to find their best price?
JH: I can’t answer that because I don’t have comparative statistics. I wouldn’t think so, but don’t forget people also use the internet as part of the buying process. They still want to go and drive the vehicle. And they still want to visit a couple of dealerships, especially if they’ve got a trade in. You can get your best price on a car on the internet, but you can’t get a trade in price, or not a firm one, so they still need to see a Dealer.
 
CB: Did you always intend to become Perth’s biggest Dealer?
JH: I was always very ambitious. No matter what I did I wanted to be the best. I don’t pound my chest and raise my voice, but I think you’ve got to have that quiet sense of inner confidence that says ‘hey, I know where I’m going, get out of my way.’ I’ve always been driven and I don’t want to settle for second best. Forget this year; go back to 2013, which horse ran second in the Melbourne Cup?  Who cares? There’s no prize for second.
 
CB: What are the qualities that make for a successful car dealership?
JH: Like any other business, it’s the focus that the manager or the owner of the business applies to it. I am totally focused on it. I get here at 7:45 in the morning 
and leave at quarter past 6:00 in the evening. My lunch is ten minutes at the desk, we never, ever go out for lunch, and it’s MBWA (Management by Walking Around). I visit my service department every Wednesday morning and make the coffees, wipe the tables, unwrap the newspapers and talk to the customers. And like every other business, I do a lot of public speaking, and the question I always get asked is ‘Mr Hughes, can you sum up in a few words what it takes to run a successful business?’  I always say there are many attributes, but if I had to sum it up in two words, it’s: be there.
First to arrive, last to leave. The other important aspect is customer service of course.  I know everybody preaches this, but in most cases it goes in one ear and out the other. I am paranoid about customer service, I built my business on it. I survey all of my customers, and every time I get a survey form back I read it. Comments from customers help me to run a better business, and if I get an adverse comment, I’ll ring the people personally…
45% of my sales are from direct advertising, 55% from personal recommendation, reputation, and repeat business.  I get this information from my survey forms and I’m the only Dealer in Australia that regularly runs double page ads in the press with unsolicited comments from satisfied customers.
People want first class service, non-pushy and friendly salespeople and that’s what I offer.
 
CB: Are you still the world’s biggest selling Hyundai Dealer?
JH: I got the award in Istanbul in October, 2012 – we did 6,250 for the year. A couple of yanks came up to me afterwards and asked how many dealerships I had. When I said one they were absolutely shattered, they couldn’t believe it, so they just walked away with their tail between their legs, I felt pretty chuffed about that.
 
CB: How did you get involved in the Hyundai product?
JH: I was initially involved at the grass-roots level in 1986 with Alan Bond when we brought the vehicles into Australia.
 
CB: Was there a lot of buyer resistance to the brand then?
JH: Nobody wanted to know us, so we had to get a ‘big brother’ involved and that was Alan Bond. We went to Dealers and they couldn’t pronounce the name, they didn’t know anything about it, really didn’t know much about South Korea and we had great difficulty getting Dealers in those days. Now people are fighting over each other to try and get a franchise.
 
CB: What will you do when you retire, if you ever do?
JH: Never going to happen. I don’t have any other interests other than family and business. I don’t race horses, I don’t have a boat, I don’t play golf, I don’t play bridge, don’t go bowling, and I haven’t got a property at Margaret River. The thought of gardening fills me with dread.  I just love what I do. I absolutely love what I do. And when you love what you do, you never have to go to work. This is a full time hobby.
 
CB: What’s the most challenging part of your job?
JH: Number one, trying to handle Dealers and trying to compete with Dealers who are financial lemmings, committing financial suicide by putting cars on the internet at ridiculous prices, but then not backing it up with service. My biggest challenge is to try and put my head on their shoulders. Now I know I can’t do that. But I can provide regular training and I can let them see what I do. I do my own television and press ads so I’ve got to make sure that if I stand up on television and make these promises, my people will carry them through to the letter. We do it pretty well most of the time.
 
CB: If you weren’t a car dealer, what would you be?
JH: I originally wanted to be a lawyer when I left school, but we couldn’t afford it, I couldn’t afford to go to University. So I finished up as a personnel cadet in the Department of External Territories in Canberra, although I was born in Perth. I hated it and after 18 months I came back to Perth, I needed a job in a hurry, and I saw an ad in the paper for a clerk at Attwood Motors – they were Vauxhall and Bedford distributors and I graduated from there. I could also have been an accountant, I’m wiping my brow while I say this and thank goodness it didn’t happen.
 
CB: What have you discovered about yourself over the course of your career?
JH: I never pronounce O-L-D or A-G-E, I talk about maturing. As I mature, I’ve gotten better. Better and better. I will be 79 in December and I’ve never been more on top of my game.

CB: Your best car memory?
JH: I sold three new Austin A-55s in one day in ’58 and I can still remember the surnames of the three people I sold them to. I thought that was a remarkable achievement.

CB: Favourite travel destination and why?
JH: Best city in the world is New York, I love it, I love the vibrancy, I love the ease of getting around and I love the action. And I also like Asia, because there’s no jetlag, they’ve got great hotels and they’ve got first class service.
 
CB: What sells cars?
JH: Passion, product knowledge, and a determination to put the customer first.
 
CB: What was your first car?
JH: I’ve only ever owned one car – a 1936 Austin 10.
 
CB: Favourite movie of all time?
JH: Stalag-17 and Zulu.
 
CB: Finally, have you ever considered opening a dealership in Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane?
JH: I have. And I’m doing an IPO later next year. I’ll be looking to expand then and that’s when that will happen. Until then, I’m concentrating on WA. I do have an outlet in Chatswood called North Shore Auto Centre, where we sell late model pre-owned vehicles, predominantly prestige, all on the internet, and that’s going very well.
 

Driverless cars to be street legal by 2025

 

“Automated vehicles are far from science fiction, but rather a short-term reality that Australia needs to be prepared for.” – Gerald Waldron, ARRB Group MD

According to the RACV, in the next 24 hours almost 5000 Australians will be involved in a road accident. More than 500 of these road users will be injured and four will die.

Around 30,000 people are seriously injured each year from road accidents in Australia. The “hidden toll” of people who are hospitalised, and others who suffer long recovery periods or even permanent injuries, is very real.

While all individual state and territory governments have on-going road safety strategies in place, they are also partners with the Commonwealth in a national three-year Action Plan to improve the safety of Australia’s road transport system.

At the same time, some observers suggest that removing the reliance on human behaviour with driverless cars could help reduce the number road accidents and fatalities, not only in Australia but worldwide.

It’s a known fact that about 90 per cent of all crashes are the result of driver error, so it is easy to understand why this concept is gaining traction with some media commentators and industry observers.

While autonomous vehicles could help the elderly and disabled remain independent, there are some things that even a fail-proof computer can’t prevent, such as a drunken pedestrian, extreme weather, unexpected road users such as ridden horses, problematic terrain, complex road rules and road construction sites.

A white paper published by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute on the safety of autonomous cars, warns that after the introduction of driverless cars the interaction between driverless cars and manual cars could prove to be problematic.

“In many current situations, interacting drivers of conventional vehicles make eye contact and proceed according to the feedback received from other drivers. Such feedback would be absent in interactions with self-driving vehicles,” the authors said.

“The expectation of zero fatalities with self-driving vehicles is not realistic. It is not a foregone conclusion that a self-driving vehicle would ever perform more safely than an experienced middle-aged driver.”

Driverless cars may never be perfect but unlike us humans they’ll never be drunk, tired, stressed or aggressive.

Overall, many Australians have a positive attitude towards driverless cars as evidenced by the survey results published in the UMTRI Survey*.

When asked “What is your general opinion regarding autonomous and self-driving vehicles?”, 61.9 per cent had a positive view, 26.7 per cent were neutral and 11.3 per cent responded in the negative.

When respondents were asked: “How concerned would you be about driving or riding in a vehicle with self-driving technology?”, 16 per cent were very concerned, 37.2 were moderately concerned, 34.5 per cent were slightly concerned, and 12.3 percent were not at all concerned.

People’s negativity may change once the results are released of the first ever on-road trials of driverless cars in the Southern Hemisphere, to be held in Adelaide in November.

Volvo will bring a fully-automated Volvo XC90 that is being used in the ‘Drive Me’ project in Sweden, to assess how the technology needs to be modified to integrate with Australian driving behaviour, climate and road conditions.

The XC90 will be tested on a closed section of Adelaide’s Southern Expressway in real-life driving scenarios with other vehicles such as changing lanes, emergency braking, and using the on and off ramps.

In addition to Volvo and the independent road research body ARRB Group, partners in the trial include Flinders University, Carnegie Mellon University, the RAA, Telstra, Cohda Wireless, and Bosch.

Stephen Mulligan, SA’s Transport Minister, said the trial would be the precursor to laws being passed that would allow driverless cars on SA’s roads by 2025.

The legislation would be based on similar laws in US, Britain and Sweden.

Gerald Waldron, Managing Director of the Australian Road Research Board Group (ARRB) said recently: “Driverless cars have a range of benefits that could significantly improve road safety and the quality of life of everyday Australians, add to the nation’s economic competitiveness and help relieve rapidly growing congestion that is crippling our infrastructure and creating productivity deficits in our capital cities.”

http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/108384/103024.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

Making Business Finance Easy

How many finance brokers do you know that rock up to the office in full leathers on a BMW R1150GS – the same motorcycle made famous by the UK TV presenter and actor Charley Boorman in his highly successful adventure travel series? 

While the choice of commute is a little unorthodox for the Managing Director of one of Australia’s leading equipment finance brokers, his company’s tailored solutions to providing clients with out-of-the-box solutions and stress-free personalised service is what sets Finmax Finance apart from its competitors.

In this interview with Wheel Spin Media, the company’s Managing Director Lawrence Hohnjec reveals what it takes to stay ahead of the curve.

What were you doing before you started Finmax? I started in sales with Xerox Canada then progressed to sales trainer with finance being an additional tool. In 1988 I founded Hampton Group Leasing Inc., which I sold 10 years later and moved my family to Australia. That same year I launched Hampton Group Finance and in 2006 HGF transitioned to Finmax Finance specialising in Equipment Asset and Vehicle Finance.

How did the business come about?

I felt there was an opening in the market for a company that could provide a much better service and make it easy to access crucial funding allowing businesses to function at their maximum capacity.

READ MORE → https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HmwObZ8GYuur3Tvq0K6v2d18j2M1LsV7/view?usp=sharing

Aussie Dealers Jazzed About NADA

Over 20,000 auto dealers and industry representatives including a select group from Australia embraced this year’s National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) Convention & Expo in New Orleans Louisiana USA, January 24 – 27.

Despite the colder than normal weather caused by an unseasonal polar cyclone, our AADA Study Tour group managed to roll with the crowd and participate enthusiastically in the many NADA University workshops as well as exclusive hospitality functions and group activities arranged by our experienced tour hosts, Corporate Blue.

This year the Convention featured 100 speakers presenting over 60 different workshops in 171 sessions including Dealer Ops, Human Resources, Sales, F & I and Internet Marketing.

READ MORE → https://automotivedealer.com.au/aussie-dealers-jazzed-about-nada/