TRADE TALK
THE GOLDEN TOUCH
Ray Graham has had some great success in the industry thanks to hard work and never being afraid to give something new a go Automotive aftermarket stalwart Ray Graham is a pinup for the adage that entrepreneurs never retire, but he does admit he has slowed down a bit in recent years and now plays a bit more golf than he used to. Ray was born in Melbourne and grew up in the regional town of Traralgon in Gippsland, Victoria. He began his working career in the family business in 1965. His father and uncle ran a company manufacturing and selling fruit juice, known as Aygee. “The business is a 70-plus year-old family business in Traralgon that my father and his brother started way back around 1951, manufacturing and distributing fruit juices all over Gippsland, and later on soft drinks, eventually winning first prize at the Royal Melbourne show in 1958,” Ray explains. “Nowadays the company is a major confectionery distributor for all regions of Gippsland, with famous brands such as Allens, Cadbury, Schweppes, Cool Ridge, Bundaberg, Pepsi, Red Bull, Smiths chips, Kimberly-Clark and numerous others. It has over 4,000 lines.” With a solid grounding in entrepreneurship gained from the family business, Ray moved to Melbourne in 1968 where he worked in sales – and it wasn’t long before he followed his passion for cars and found himself joining an automotive aftermarket company. “I helped to set up the very first marketing and distribution channels of Armor All Protectant and eventually set up a large team of accessory sales
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reps and installers servicing car dealerships all around Melbourne,” Ray says. In 1969 Ray started Suntastic Accessories – Van Makers Australia in the Melbourne suburb of Cheltenham, installing sunroofs, roof and boot racks and other specialised accessories. Then in 1971 he established Auto Cosmetics in Dandenong and began working directly with the Australian OEM vehicle makers and vehicle importers including Ford, HSV, Toyota, Mazda, Nissan, Mitsubishi, Suzuki and Honda. In 1984 he changed the trading name to Burg Design and partnered up with Burg Design Austria (Europe) and never looked back from there as the business dramatically expanded. “Burg Design Australia became the largest and best manufacturer in the world of automotive, marine and motorcycle decals, emblems, custom badges and specialty trim products for OEM vehicle manufacturers and many others,” Ray explains.
for cars, trucks, boats and other vehicles. These were designed in Australia and manufactured in Austria and sold worldwide to both OEMs and the Aftermarket. More recently, he introduced one of the first ever parking sensors into Australia and went on to sell more than two million sets.
Ray has had some amazing successes over the years and is known in the industry as having the ‘Golden Touch.’
Being the super positive person he always is, somewhat unsurprisingly, Ray refuses to dwell on any negative or bad experiences. When asked what business decisions he got wrong, he simply answers: “luckily I never found that out!”
Some of these success stories include the invention of headlight covers for cars and trucks, where he pioneered the business and sold almost a million sets in the first 18 months.
He describes his secret for success as “passion, imagination, new product development, and creation,” while “thinking outside of the square,” he says, is also important.
Then, while visiting the Frankfurt Motor Show one year, he came up with an idea to develop the first ever artificial wood grain interior trim sets
When it comes to his competitive advantage, he states that comes down to “only ever offering for sale quality products that are fully tested, and
