Ignition Magazine New Zealand | March 2023

Future Ride: GM SILVERADO

EV

ADVICE FOR EMPLOYING A FEMALE APPRENTICE

Creating a workplace that's inclusive and welcoming for women.

ARE YOU ACTING ON UNCONSCIOUS BIAS?

The importance of making all customers feel welcome.

David Fraser Group CEO

CEO’s message

Could improved diversity and inclusion be the key to fixing the problems holding our industry and our businesses back from achieving their full potential? It’s a question worth asking.

The idea of diversity and inclusion has, unhelpfully, become part of a culture war. It’s an idea often attacked as “woke” or do-gooding. Even if it is those things, viewing it in that negative context ignores, to our detriment, the opportunity that improving diversity and inclusion creates to address our skills and labour shortages.

It’s all about broadening our talent pool. It’s about saying to people from all kinds of backgrounds - gender, race, ethnicity, age, sexuality, language, education, disability - that, “you are welcome in our industry; there are good opportunities in the aftermarket for you to build a career, grow a business and enjoy success.”

Let’s take a quick look at the advantages of improving diversity and inclusion in our industry for women, as they represent the largest group.

In State of the Nation 2022, 39% of members said they were struggling to find good staff. Yet only 6% of Members employ one or two qualified female mechanics or fitters, and just 1% employ three or four. Twelve per cent of Members employ one or two female apprentices. When Members employ women, they tend to be in admin or retail roles. There is a huge opportunity to welcome more women into technical roles, grow our talent pool and create a more sustainable future for the auto industry.

In this month’s Ignition, we’ve got some tips to help get the ball rolling. Don’t miss our advice for hiring a female apprentice. We’ve spoken to two of last year’s Capricorn Rising Stars finalists, both female, about their experiences in the industry and their insights into how to make workshops more inclusive.

Speaking of Rising Stars, nominations are now open for the 2023 Capricorn Rising Stars Apprentice of the Year. The competition is all about recognising effort, rewarding hard work, and helping workshops retain their future leaders. There are great prizes on offer for both the apprentice and their workshop, so please consider nominating your superstar apprentice. As it happens, last year we had three female finalists and a female winner—Marama Thompson of Auto Super Shoppe in Hamilton, New Zealand—which suggests the task of improving diversity and inclusion is not only already underway, but it’s working.

There has never been any doubt in my mind that we are stronger together. That strength will only grow as we create a more diverse and inclusive workforce for our industry.

CONTENTS

David Fraser Group CEO

MARCH 2023

FEBRUARY 2023

4 INTRODUCING THE NEW-LOOK myCAP

A better way to manage your Capricorn relationship.

6 SETTING LABOUR RATES AND MARGINS ON PARTS

Why you cannot afford to get it wrong.

8 ARE YOU ACTING ON UNCONSCIOUS BIAS?

The importance of making all customers feel welcome.

10 STRONGER TOGETHER

As an industry, where are we heading?

13 ADVICE FOR EMPLOYING A FEMALE APPRENTICE

Creating a workplace that's inclusive and welcoming for women.

18 2022 BMW M240i Coupe

With engagement and driving pleasure at its core.

24 VALE KEN BLOCK

The man who inspired an entire generation of car enthusiasts.

26 FUTURE RIDE: GM SILVERADO EV

Meet the woman who put the power back into the Silverado EV.

information, material and content in this edition of Ignition is provided

NEWLOOK Introducing the

A better way to manage your Capricorn relationship.

It’s no secret that the online world plays a huge role in making our lives quicker, more convenient and more connected. A host of everyday tasks – from grocery shopping to banking – can now be done online, so why should managing your relationship with Capricorn be any different?

While you’ve been able to log on to the system for a while now, our new-look myCAP includes a range of improved features that have been designed to provide Members with more options and accessibility when it comes to how they engage with Capricorn.

Investing in our digital capability

Digital technology and the online world have revolutionised the way we live our lives. Ride-sharing apps, video and audio streaming platforms, and online food delivery offer consumers more choice and convenience than ever before.

At Capricorn, we understand this and are making significant investments in improving our digital capability. The aim is to empower Capricorn Members by giving them the ability to engage with us using the channel of their choice.

The new and improved myCAP is just the first step on this journey. Enabling Members to access and manage more aspects of their Capricorn relationship on their own terms (and on a 24/7 basis) will go a long way towards making things easier and more convenient, but we aren’t going to stop there.

Moving forward, Members can look forward to Capricorn making more use of digital platforms to help them connect with us and the products, services, content and advice we provide.

More options, not fewer

While we’re at it, we just wanted to reassure Members that our investment in digital capabilities (including the myCAP upgrade) is all about providing you with more options when it comes to engaging with us, not fewer.

All of the usual channels you currently use to interact with Capricorn – such as our contact centre and hardworking Area Managers – will still be there for you, if and when you need them.

If you still want to pick up the phone and talk to someone, we’ll be here. However, if you’d prefer to do some things online and/or after business hours, you’ll now have the option to do so.

myCAP 2.0

Designed to provide Capricorn Members with a better way to manage their Capricorn relationship online, the new-look myCAP contains the following features:

A brand-new, user-friendly online experience. This includes an interactive dashboard that provides a quick snapshot of your total account and quick links to allow you to easily access other products or services.

The ability to self-manage and update account or user information 24/7.

Near real-time visibility of balances due, spend to date, and statements.

Greater transaction history visibility.

Improved Purple Pages search functionality that will make it quicker and easier to find the product or Preferred Supplier you’re looking for.

Setting LABOUR RATES and MARGINS on PARTS

Why you (literally) can’t afford to get it wrong

How do you set your labour rates and your margins on parts? Are they carefully crafted calculations? Or do you simply charge out your labour at the same rate as your local competition and either take your supplier’s advice or check a catalogue to work out your margin on parts?

If so, you’re not alone. But according to automotive business coach Rachael Evans, the Workshop Whisperer, you are potentially leaving money on the table.

Rachael has advised hundreds of businesses in the automotive aftermarket, helping them become more successful, efficient and profitable. We asked her for her tips and advice on getting these important calculations right—particularly at a time when the industry is being hit hard by both labour and parts shortages.

“Until you become aware that you are not pricing every job based on that job’s particulars, you will continue to leave money on the table,” Rachael said. “That goes for labour and for parts.”

How workshops are setting prices on parts

We know workshop owners use a mix of strategies for setting prices on parts. In State of the Nation 2022, 45% of Members said they set a standard percentage mark-up on all parts. Four in ten said they matched the retail price (up from a third in 2020), a third decide depending on the cost of the part, three in ten use their best judgement and a quarter decided depending on the nature of the job.

The average mark-up was 31% in 2020, 36% in 2021 and 32% in 2022. Despite the rate bouncing around a little, Rachael said the situation was not markedly different now from before the pandemic.

“If there’s a difference at the moment, I would say it’s that where there’s a delay or perhaps higher freight costs, the workshop owner is sometimes reluctant to pass that freight charge on,” she said. “But is it worse now than it was three years ago? No. We still have business owners who just don’t believe in their own ability to determine their own pricing.”

Rachael’s advice for setting margins on parts

Rachael said workshop owners who simply charge customers the pricing given to them by parts suppliers aren’t looking closely enough at the costs of running their own business.

“Your supplier doesn’t know your break-even costs, so you can’t put faith in the recommended retail price of a part or even of software,” she said. “There’s not a consideration for the profit required just to remain in business, and there’s the fear that, ‘if I actually priced this to make a profit, I’d price myself out of the market’. Most of the time that fear is unfounded.”

Rachael said in reality that wasn’t generally a problem unless you were operating at the genuinely budget end of the market, where customers are extremely price-sensitive and not loyal.

“If you’re a good general repairer, 80% of your customer base is going to trust the work you do and the price you charge,” she said. “As long as you are fair, and not being exorbitant. “But being fair means being fair to both yourself as the business owner and to the customer. We’re not in business to do favours for people.”

Rachael said in her experience, workshop owners (especially firsttime business owners) often “price with their own wallets”.

“They’re looking at estimates and parts pricing all day long, so they’re actually the ones who are price sensitive,” she said. “They think, ‘I wouldn’t pay this price for this part’, but it’s not about them. It’s about the convenience for that customer to get that job done properly the first time. When you look at it from that angle, it changes the game.”

Setting your charge out rate for labour

When we asked Members how they set their labour rates in State of the Nation 2022, again they used a mix of strategies. Fifty-six per cent said they compare against similar businesses, half said they use their best judgement, and 15% said they seek advice from industry groups. Just 18% said they used a specific formula to achieve a specific minimum profit margin. This was up from 12% in 2020, which is a step in the right direction. Two per cent said they didn’t know.

“The labour market is tight,” Rachael said. “We’re effectively short one technician for every workshop in the country. This means we’re probably paying more for labour than we would like to, which makes it even more important to know what the total on costs are of our team, particularly our productive members, our technicians.”

Rachael’s advice for setting labour rates

Rachael said in order to know if you are making enough profit from your labour, workshop owners needed to separate out their labour rates. So, you might have one rate for a general service, another for diagnostic work

(to help cover the costs of diagnostic tools and software), another for project work, another for dyno-tuning and any other task that requires special skill sets or equipment.

“Money is left on the table where we assume that every job’s the same and everyone in the workshop can do the same level of work, when they can’t,” Rachael said.

“Don’t think that you can’t be the one in town who’s charging the most for labour. Don’t measure off what other workshops are charging for labour because you don’t know somebody else’s cost of doing business. You can’t compare your apple with their orange.

“Price your labour based on your own costs of running your business and what you know you need to get yourself to the gross profit benchmark that you need on every job.”

One more place you might be leaving money on the table

Often, it’s the workshop owner who is on the front counter, meeting and greeting customers, setting prices, writing quotes and sending invoices. Rachael is a big advocate for taking workshop owners away from the front desk.

“Workshop owners are the ones who get in the way of profit,” she said. “They’re too price sensitive. That’s why having a properly trained service advisor is so important.

“Where we get the wheel falling off the process is where we’ve got either the owner who’s priced with their own wallet and is too afraid to put the actual scenario to the customer or we’ve tried to turn a receptionist or someone doing office admin into a salesperson and they don’t know how to do the job properly. That’s where we leave money on the table.”

A dedicated service advisor is an advocate for the customer’s car, ensuring all work is not only done but charged for appropriately, and they keep communication with the customer flowing freely.

Are you acting on unconscious bias?

Do you make all your customers feel welcome, or do you only think you do? Could you be doing or saying things that are turning your customers off, without even knowing it? Could unconscious bias be costing your business and impacting your bottom line?

According to the definition from peak academic body

The Royal Society, unconscious bias is when we “make judgements or decisions on the basis of our prior experience, or our own personal deep-seated thought patterns, assumptions or interpretations, and are not aware we’re doing it”.

The classic example in the automotive industry would be a mechanic assuming a female customer doesn’t know anything about cars and talking to them about their servicing issues differently to the way they speak to men—behaviour which these days is called “mansplaining” in popular culture.

This might be a stereotype, and it might feel unfair, but it’s also the lived experience of many women, and unconscious bias tells us many mechanics won’t realise they’re making their female customers feel unwelcome.

But unconscious bias can take many forms and it influences our behaviour in a variety of ways. We might treat someone who looks like us preferentially (this is called affinity bias). We might go the extra mile for that incredibly beautiful customer. We might hear someone speaking with an accent and use simpler words or talk more slowly. We might make assumptions about someone based on their age or skin colour or their mobility. We might even assume things, positive or negative, about someone who presents as overconfident or well-heeled.

We don’t do this because we’re bad people. We do it because our brains see patterns and naturally take subconscious mental shortcuts. What matters are the effects of our unconscious biases on our customers—because how our customers feel when they drive out of the workshop determines whether they’ll ever come back.

The importance of making all customers feel welcome and valued

We know from our State of The Nation research that 36% of members say making customers happy is the best thing about their job. Our relationship with our customers is also key to our perceptions of our own success. When we asked Members what success looks like, 49% said customer recommendations and referrals, 41% said earning the trust of customers, and 36% said having lots of repeat customers. So, the impacts of unconscious bias risk undermining not just our own enjoyment of our jobs, but how successful and profitable we are, too—and all without us even knowing we have a problem.

So, how do we get it right?

Perhaps the first thing to do is better understand your own implicit biases. Harvard University has a free online test you can take. It’s a fascinating exercise. Visit: implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/takeatest.html

Once you understand your own biases, you can look at ways to counteract them.

One industry used to tackling unconscious bias is the recruitment sector. Hudson, a Sydney-based recruiter, has developed what it calls the SELF Model: Slow down your thinking, decisions and processes (we’re more likely to give in to unconscious biases when we’re busy, anxious or under pressure)

Empathise with others (“walk in the other person’s shoes” to see how it feels)

Learn about different groups (where you lack information about different kinds of people in our diverse society, seek it out)

Find evidence against stereotypes (celebrate people who don’t conform to stereotypes).

But what does all this mean in practice in our workshops? What does this mean for the potentially mansplaining mechanic inside us all? We asked Perthbased customer service expert Chris Smoje for his advice on combating unconscious bias. The first rule? Treat every customer as you would a guest in your home.

“Ask yourself, does the person feel like they belong and does the person feel comfortable?” Chris said.

“As a customer, when you are made to feel welcome and you feel that you belong, you’re more inclined to be more comfortable, and when you’re comfortable, you are happy to ask questions. When a customer comes in, you don’t want them to feel rushed.”

Chris said that greeting every customer warmly and asking open questions to make them feel comfortable and respected. Open questions are those like, “Is there anything more you’d like to discuss?” or, “Is there anything else you’d like me to address?” They stop you making assumptions about what the person knows or wants to know and empowers them to seek the information they want or need.

“Some people are very detail focused and others are big picture focused,” Chris said.

“There’s nothing wrong with asking a customer, ‘Did you want more detail or are you happy with the big picture?”

Chris said there’s no one-size-fits-all way to engage with customers and it is important that every customer feels like they’ve been treated like the individual they are.

Unconscious bias is a natural phenomenon. Being aware of it, and taking a few simple steps to mitigate it, could make all the difference not just to your customer’s experience, but to your success and your bottom line.

by Jeff Smit

Strongertogether

As an industry, where are we heading? For those like me who have been in this industry for many years, the dramatic changes that have occurred, and continue to occur, are hard to believe, let alone keep up with. These changes have only accelerated as technology has taken over the modern motor car.

As workshop owners and technicians, we have had to adapt to the fastchanging environment in which we work. The process of diagnostics has changed, together with almost everything we do during our working day. Most of us within the industry have learned to network, which has seen great results in making our challenging days easier. But what’s next?

I believe the next step is “Collaboration”.

The broad definition of collaboration is the process of two or more people, entities or organisations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is like cooperation.

Collaboration has long been one of the main drivers of overall business success. More often than not, businesses that put in place the right strategies and tools to promote and facilitate collaboration in business and knowledge sharing are more likely to come up with innovative ideas, form beneficial long-term partnerships and move ahead of the competition. Within such businesses, employees are often asked and are even expected to collaborate, both internally and externally.

Is it time for the professional aftermarket workshops to start to collaborate together going forward?

I think the most important section is the reference to employees being asked and even expected to collaborate, both internally and externally.

Internal collaboration involves individuals within the workshop or company working together on a problem car or project. I’m sure this has been happening a lot already in workshops all over the world. Workshop owners and technicians need to be great team players with the right set of soft skills and an ability to work well in often diverse and multiskilled teams.

External collaboration, on the other hand, refers to the exchange and sharing of knowledge and expertise outside the workshop walls, with the aim to help a workshop solve their customers’ problem vehicles. Along with the technicians, other different parties can be involved in this process, ranging from suppliers to other workshops who in the past might have been seen as competitors.

For external collaboration, the process is a bit more complicated and challenging. We may need to bring in more stakeholders, and indeed more diverse stakeholders. Strategically, workshops will need to determine which job functions with challenges and/or opportunities would benefit from external partnerships and expertise, to improve their performance and productivity.

Workshops should identify the right stakeholders and partners and choose the channels through which the collaboration would more likely be successful. I believe those who investigate and utilise this form of collaboration will be the most successful and least stressed.

Another form of collaboration is through strategic partnerships and alliances. This is where a workshop will have an agreement with other workshops or businesses. Workshops that engage in strategic alliances may share their resources and expertise for the sake of the partnership as a whole.

I believe this type of collaboration is the future for our industry. Workshops that form strategic partnerships and alliances do so to diversify their service offerings, mitigate the risks associated with undertaking new types of work, assist with the skill shortage, and continue to offer their clients a complete automotive service. To undertake all automotive repairs under one roof with internal staff is now becoming impossible. Collaboration is the key.

In reality, collaboration within the automotive aftermarket will take a wide variety of shapes and forms and will involve multiple stakeholders. For many workshops, the key to growth and ongoing success will depend on the workshops’ ability to lay the foundation for effective collaboration and to set up the right strategy and tools, taking into consideration the specific characteristics of our very unique industry.

For real success going forward, we need to learn to collaborate more externally.

An

UNTAPPED RESOURCE:

Advice for employing a female apprentice

How welcoming an environment is your workshop for female employees?

While the days when “dirty calendars” were seemingly compulsory on garage walls are, by and large, now long behind us, our industry still has a long way to go if we’re to encourage more women into our workforce. And we do want to encourage women into automotive careers. At a time when the industry is experiencing an ongoing skills shortage, attracting more women into our trade apprenticeships represents a fantastic opportunity.

Group Chief Executive Officer, David Fraser, said “We need to communicate the message that we’re a welcoming industry, we need to challenge perceptions that we’re an industry that’s only for the blokes. Providing opportunities for women and encouraging a more diverse workforce are solutions (to the skills shortage) that will make our industry a much better, happier place to be.”

Just 6% of workshops have a female mechanic and only 12% employ a female apprentice, according to Capricorn State of the Nation 2022 report.

While there’s much that can be done at an industry level to attract more women, like promoting automotive trades as a career option to girls at school, there’s plenty we can do at an individual level in our own workshops, too.

To find out the sorts of things workshop owners and managers can do to make their workplaces more welcoming to female apprentices, we spoke to two of this year’s Capricorn Rising Star finalists, Chelsea Bowers and Jessica Smith.

Creating opportunities and providing support

Jessica Smith was the kind of kid who liked to pull things apart. Like her mum’s $100 new toaster which, unfortunateLy, young Jessica was unable to put back together.

“We had a Nintendo 64,” Jessica said. “In fact, my mum bought two. A brand new one and a broken one. She gave me the broken one and said, ‘Here, this is your one’. She knew I’d have it apart in a couple of days. And I did.”

It’s the kind of behaviour that, when viewed in a young boy, would have any parent nodding to themselves, “He’ll make a good mechanic, some day”. But we might not make the same connection when a young girl exhibits the same behaviour.

By high school, Jessica was obsessed with motorbikes, off-road buggies and trucks. She did work experience at a local bus company, which cemented her desire for a career in mechanics. In 2011, she secured an apprenticeship at a local workshop. Everything was looking up. But things soon fell apart.

“I didn’t feel really supported,” Jessica said. “I realised that everyone was still in the mindset that, ’You’re a female, what can you bring to the table? You know you don’t belong in the workshop’.”

When that opportunity faded, Jessica went back to the bus company and worked there for a couple of years. Personal circumstances meant she spent a few years moving around, doing an apprenticeship in Toowoomba, Queensland, which she described as “good to start off with”. She moved to Mildura, Victoria, and contacted a local workshop advertising for an apprentice.Jessica said: “I called them up and I was like,

‘Hey, I’ve done so many years. I was just wondering if you would like my resume?’ And they actually laughed at me. He said, ‘No one wants a female in their workshop’.”

It wasn’t until 2018, when she started working at Harris Automotive in Ararat, Victoria, that Jessica said she was made to feel truly welcome in a workshop.

“The main thing is they don’t treat me like a female,” she said. “They don’t treat me like I’m something different. No one is walking on eggshells. They treat everyone like family, even their customers.”

Clearly, the culture and management style and philosophy at Harris Automotive creates a welcoming environment for Jessica. So, what other advice does she have for workshop owners wanting to encourage more female employees?

Don’t judge a book by its cover. Gender and outward appearance tell you nothing about someone’s talents, skills, work ethic or willingness to learn.

Something as simple as a “unisex” sign on the toilet door, and a lock, can make the work environment more comfortable for female team members.

If your employee has children at home or care responsibilities, be flexible and make accommodations (that’s actually great for all employees, regardless of gender).

Finally, Jessica said, if a woman calls your workshop looking for an apprenticeship or a job, don’t laugh at them.

“Give them a couple of weeks to show what they’re worth,” she said. “What’s the worst that could happen? Don’t discriminate. Give them a shot. It might be the best shot you’ve ever taken.”

Communication and culture are key to a welcoming workshop

When Chelsea Bowers told the school careers counsellor she wanted to be a mechanic, it was suggested that she might like to try hairdressing instead.

“She said, ‘Just letting you know, the trades are really hard and very physical, and you might not make it physically’,” Chelsea said. “I was like, ‘What’s physicality got to do with it? I want to be a mechanic’.”

Chelsea left determined to get her apprenticeship — motivated, she admits, “a little bit out of spite”. She secured one at a local dealership which, she believed, appeared to be making steps towards creating a more inclusive work environment. For the first year it was interesting and fun, and she learned a lot. Then she was taken out of the workshop and spent her time washing cars.

“I thought, ‘This isn’t what I wanted to do, I’m not learning anything’,” she said. “There was also quite a negative culture in the workshop and the banter started to get out of control, so I ended up leaving because it got a bit much.”Chelsea left the industry completely for a while. She went to university but didn’t enjoy it. Deciding she wanted to finish her apprenticeship, she knocked on the door of John Edwards Automotive in Geebung, Queensland, almost on a whim.

“It was the first time I wasn’t judged as a female, but just as a person walking in to get a job,” she said. “It was the first time I realised not all places were like that first one.”

This new environment has given Chelsea the opportunity and the freedom to thrive. It’s given her real perspective on the range of experiences women have in the automotive industry, and real passion for seeing the change the industry needs to make to become more welcoming to women. What’s Chelsea’s advice to workshop owners?

Talk regularly. Clear and honest communication is essential, and it must flow in two directions and it must be ongoing. Honesty is important. Sometimes conversations are better had one-to-one, rather than in front of the team.

A good culture is vital and it is set from the top. If a team member is out of line, it’s important for the leader to get them back into line.

Work should be a place where everyone feels safe and happy (everyone has tough days, obviously, but effective communication can solve most problems).

Having respect for one another goes a long way to creating a happy and productive workplace (that includes setting firm boundaries around what is unacceptable behaviour, like flirting, being sexual or being vulgar).

Finally, Chelsea has some advice for female apprentices, which is perhaps useful for workshop owners and managers to hear, too.

“If you’re at a workshop and it’s not working for you, don’t be afraid to leave and find somewhere else that will work for you,” she said. “Don’t think you’ll look weak, don’t think you have to make it work where you are. I was pushed to breaking point (at her old dealership job), then I came here and there’s such a positive workplace culture.”

In short, if you’re not being respected where you are, move on. There are plenty of good workshops who’ll welcome your talent and skills.

So, that’s the advice of the apprentices. What about some insights from a workshop owner? Respect and a few allowances for the right person go a long way

Chelsea’s boss is John Edwards — the man with his name above the door at John Edwards Automotive in Geebung. It’s a Bosch Service Centre and a family business that opened in 1989. It employs four people. Chelsea is the first female apprentice or technician John has employed.

“She came to me and told me her story, and I thought, ‘Well, you’ve got some experience, you know what you’re getting yourself into, and you’ve been happy to come back into the industry after a bad experience, so you must really want to do it’,” John said. “So, we gave her a go, and the rest is history.”

Plenty of apprentices, both male and female, leave after a bad experience and never come back. So, given Chelsea’s success at John Edwards Automotive, perhaps it’s worth understanding John’s business philosophy. How has he created such a happy and welcoming place to work?

John runs a team-based structure, rather than a hierarchical one. No one competes for jobs, everyone helps each other. “It gives everyone a sense of belonging,” he said.

Good staff are hard to find, so it makes sense to focus on retention. Treat staff well and they’ll want to stay with you.

Treat everyone with respect. “You want everyone to have their dignity as much as possible,” John said. He also has some specific advice when it comes to welcoming a female apprentice or technician onto the team, tackling directly the old “physicality” concern Chelsea’s careers counsellor raised.

“We had a little look at lifting wheels and gearboxes and we put some strategies in place,” he said. “We bought a gearbox lifter and a few other things that could make her job not as physically limiting.

“But Chelsea has no problems coming to us, to anyone in the place, to say ‘I can’t undo this bolt’. We help her, no problem. It’s just making sensible allowances and being practical about it.

“There are other times when I can’t get my big boofy hand in somewhere and I say, ‘Chelsea, can you get this?’ For everyone who says, ‘Oh, they should be able to do this’, well, you should be able to put your hand down this tight little hole and fix that as well.

“We treat people like people. That’s our philosophy. I don’t even look at Chelsea as a girl, she’s just another worker in the workshop. You don’t need to think of them as something different or something special. Yes, you make a few allowances, but people make allowances for you, too. It’s not that difficult.”

John said his experience also suggested that female apprentices and technicians have excellent attention to detail, actually follow the instructions in the manual and do the job “with no ego”. They’re also, he believes, generally happier.

“Maybe it’s because they have to fight a little bit more to get in or to gain acceptance or earn respect, I don’t know,” John said. “But I know with Chelsea, she’s been no issue whatsoever. Never late. Comes in every morning saying, ‘Good morning, how is everyone?’ And you’re thinking, ‘Oh shut up, Chelsea, You’re too happy!”

Chelsea Bowers / John Edwards Automotive, Geebung

Over $27,000 in cash and prizes to be won!* Entries close April 30, 2023

BMW M240i Coupe

Ihave been lucky enough to have tested both the original BMW M2 and the updated BMW M2 Competition. I loved both cars, the original a bit more than the Competition, and to date the original M2 is still my favourite M car.

So it seemed fitting that I would take the new BMW M240i on the same test roads as the older M cars.

The M240i has been designed to be a driver-focused vehicle, with engagement and driving pleasure at its core. I was excited to see how the new car would stack up against the older M2s, or could there be room for a new favourite?

What we like and dislike about the 2022 BMW M240i Coupe What

What’s in the 2022 BMW M240i Coupe range?

The M240i base price is $108,100, which comes in Alpine white.

If you want to get it in any of the five metallic colours, that will cost you another $1,690.

There are not a lot of options available for the M240i; you can choose to add the M Sport Pro Package ($2,800) or the Innovations Package ($3,650). The M Sport Pro Package includes the black high-gloss trim, M rear spoiler, M sport brakes in red gloss and M seat belts. The Innovations Package includes the alarm system, BMW Drive Recorder, remote engine start, steering wheel heater, sun protection glazing and tyre pressure indicators. Our review vehicle came with the M Sport Pro Package fitted.

The M240i is packed with the 3.0-litre straight six petrol engine, with twin turbos. This helps to generate 285 kW of power and 500 Nm of torque, which propel the 1,765 kg car to 100 km/h in 4.3 seconds. That’s pretty mental when you consider that’s the same as the old M2, and only 0.1 second slower than the M2 Competition. God only knows what they have in store for the new M2 with this new chassis and running gear.

How does the 2022 BMW M240i Coupe compare to its competition?

Unlike many of the other market segments, the coupe section has very few options these days, especially around the $100k mark. However, there are some Japanese cars that you may also need to consider.

All prices below exclude the refund or additional cost of the New Zealand Clean Car Programme.

First impressions of the 2022 BMW M240i Coupe

I really like the look for the new M240i; it’s got a strong but cheeky presence that clearly signifies it as a sporty performance car. The best part is that we have looped back around to the sleeper design style, instead of the obnoxious looking top spec M cars. The M240i looks like it’s a bit of fun, but you won’t be aware of how much fun until you drive it.

I also liked the active front grille vents that open and close as needed. I am not sure how functional they are, but they are very cool, and that’s almost more important than functionality.

What’s the interior like in the 2022 BMW M240i Coupe?

Inside, the new M240i is much like any other BMW from the last few years: clean and clinical feeling, with sporty accents around the cabin. I really liked the trim panels on the door that had the BMW motorsport colours across them.

The inside is all black, with aluminum tetragon trim finishes, which is a nice contrast to the black. The other option for this trim is black high gloss, which I think might have been too much within the rest of the interior.

The seat selection was leather Vernasca Black with contrast stitching in blue, which made for a very nice sporty looking seat, and the blue blended in with the exterior colours well, too.

The seats themselves are very comfortable; the extra length of the car over the old M2 is really noticeable for taller people. It’s spacious and easy to find that just-right driving position. Seats are firm and sculpted, allowing for good support on the sides for those high-G corners.

The rear seats are similar to the front, less sculpted while still only having two seats, not three. The central section is a cubby tray and armrest. The space in the back is the opposite to the front; for a guy as tall as me, it was cramped and very tight. I am not even sure if the seat went back to the driver’s position. But to be fair, it’s not meant for full adults in the back, is it? Kids would be ok, to a certain height. If I had my way, the back seats would be out, and it would be a true two-seater coupe.

The infotainment screen blends cleanly into the dash; it’s not a huge screen but it is wide. Nothing new here in regards to features. Everything we have come to know from BMW can be found here: radio, media, phone, car settings, nav and apps.

Within the car settings and displays there is one menu which displays all of the performance gauges—turbo pressure, G meter, engine rpm and speed—which was cool. Not very useful, but a bit of fun.

Visibility all around is good, while the A pillar would be the least visible area, like any other car. The rest of the vehicle allowed for good awareness of your overall surroundings. Even the view out the back is good; however, it was rarely used as the BMW 360-degree parking system is great and gives the driver full confidence in the surroundings, even below the visible eye level of the driver.

Boot space is bigger than I had thought it would be for the size of the car. You get a 390-litre boot which is not much below a standard mid-sized sedan. The rear seats fold down with a 60/40 split, allowing you to carry some longer objects. There is a nice cubby either side of the boot to allow for storage of smaller items. Under the floor there is no spare tyre, as BMWs generally run with runflat and a tyre-gel limp-home system.

What’s the 2022 BMW M240i Coupe like to drive?

The M240i has hit every nail on the head so far, but does it drive like a performance car should? In short, yes it does, and it never seems to miss a beat.

The M240i is a proper mix of midweek life and wild weekends. In Comfort mode the M240i is great to drive, and easy to drive, too. The suspension is light and smooth, gear changes are almost unnoticeable, and the engine noise is refined. It’s such a nice and easy car to potter around in, from picking up the kids to doing the weekly shopping.

In the central console beside the gearstick, you have a range of drive mode selection buttons. If I were to complain about anything, it would be about where these buttons are positioned, just a touch too far back on the console where they’re awkward to get to. But once you get your hand there, you have the ability to switch between Comfort, Eco, Sport, Sport Plus and Sport Individual.

It’s when you switch to one of the sports modes that everything changes, and for me it was always Sport Plus. It stoked a fire within the car and gave you that tingle on the back of your neck. You can feel that car transform from the mild-mannered office clerk to an underpants-wearing superhero. The whole car becomes alive: stiffer suspension, quick and brutal gear changes, louder engine and turbo whistle and beautifully precise steering, so light to the touch.

The other exciting thing that happens when you go to Sport Plus mode is that the xDrive four-wheeldrive system dials it back a bit, letting the rear of the car become a bit loose. So if you were to nail it out of an intersection and turn towards the direction you wanted, you would find yourself in a bit of a drift as the car lets go in a playful way and then digs in and shoots off down the road. It’s such a glorious feeling, and exactly what a driver’s car needs to be like.

Driving this car reminds me of The Fast and the Furious movies, as the twin turbos sound like the NOS sound effects from the movies. While driving along, the turbos are noticeable, which is cool. Maybe they have even been designed to have more audible impact in the cabin. Each time you give it some gas or floor it, you hear this great rush of air and spool sounds from the turbos. It’s super childish, but it’s great.

When on the throttle, the car purrs along with a muscular undertone in the background. And when you lift off, you get these lovely gurgles from the exhaust as it overruns. It’s rather intoxicating. From the first time you hear it, you remember to lift off quite a lot, which brings a silly grin to the driver.

The brakes are excellent and sharp and bite in when they need to. I found them perfectly balanced with the steering wheel, which gave the driver a lot of control and confidence.

The steering wheel feels fairly generic from the rest of the BMW range, nothing too flashy about it. You have easy access to the paddle shift buttons, cruise control, audio and menu setting. The only thing missing was a quick selection button to cycle through driver mode, like an M button, but maybe just a Sport button.

Fuel economy is not terrible for what is a grunty little sportscar. BMW advertises 8 litres per 100 km, and over my time in the M240i, I was only able to get it as low as 10 litres per 100 km. That’s not great, but it’s also not unexpected for this type of car. If fuel usage is a worry or concern, then these kinds of cars are just not for you, as they come hand in hand.

The driver’s aids on the M240i are a bit more stern then I remember BMWs of the past being. This is especially noticeable when driving on the motorway and you get too close to the centre or edge line. The car steers back away from the lines with some force that’s hard to correct if the system is incorrect. In every case it was doing the right thing, just with more force then I had expected.

I really couldn’t find anything to gripe about driving the M240i; it’s got the right amount of everything for what it is. Simply a joy to drive every time I got into it.

Summary

The new M240i is a bit of a wolf without the sheep. You know it means business right from first sight, but it’s not loud enough for you to think it’s capable of what it is. It hits the Goldilocks zone, where it’s not too sporty or slow, quiet or loud, garish or subtle; everything is just right.

There are not many cars that come close to the M240i for driving feel, comfort, spec and overall experience. Without the cost of a top-spec M vehicle, the M240i is a bargain for what it costs.

The M240i has not knocked the first M2 off my favourite spot just yet, but it’s on the podium stand. So if you’re in the market for a weekend sportscar or a do-it-all vehicle, the new BMW M240i is a must for your test-drive list.

2022 BMW M240i Coupe

VALE KEN BLOCK

by Paul Marinelli

The incredibly talented American Gymkhana, Rally and out-of-thisworld racer left us after a tragic snowmobile accident while on holiday with his family in his home state of Utah (USA). Ken Block was just 55 years old.

Many people had the privilege to see Block in action in Australia and New Zealand, doing his magic behind the wheel of one of our 800 horsepower Ford Falcon V8 Supercars alongside one of his mad 650 horsepower Ford Fiestas some years back.

To watch Ken Block in action was just magical: the things he could do with cars with pinpoint accuracy, the incredible modifications he made to cars and the excitement he generated about cars appealed to millions of enthusiasts all over the world.

As auto expert Stephen Ottley outlined in a recent Torquecafe.com article, aside from his amazing driving and rally racing skills, Block managed to redefine car culture at a time when people, especially younger people, were drifting away from cars.

Block also managed to change the definition of the word “Hoon”. He even called himself a Hoonigan—and created a global brand around that exact word. This changed its context from the negative to a major positive, aligning performance car driving with absolute skill rather than just doing burnouts or racing in a straight line for a few seconds.

He also changed the way young people look at cars. Block proved that this generation is just as interested in cars, if not more interested, than every generation before them.

It was all about achieving cut-through to make the new generation pay attention and be excited about cars. Block did this by speaking to them where they live—on smartphones and computers. He made cars cool on the internet and in computer games. He made cars cool by doing fun stuff with them on YouTube rather than just focusing on specifications and statistics.

Block drove these cars with flair and total skill, really showing what these cars could do. This made his fans love him and his cars even more. He introduced a whole new generation of car enthusiasts, and more importantly customers, to the global auto industry and the evergrowing high-performance aftermarket parts and tuner industries around the world.

Our industry needs more people to follow the brilliant trails that Ken Block has blazed. People who are always well-presented, respectful and good fun—with the unique ability to talk to new generations in the exact language they best understand.

The world recently lost a person who transformed the way our younger generations look at cars and motorsport—Ken Block.

GM EV

Silv rado

Meet the woman who put the power back into the Silverado EV

One of the single most common complaints you hear about electric vehicles is that you can’t drive very far before you need to stop, for an unreasonably long time, to recharge. It’s one argument people use to suggest EVs just aren’t right, in particular, for Australian conditions. At least, not outside metropolitan areas.

Rivkah Saldanha is the woman who is helping to blow that argument out of the water. Rivkah is a Vehicle Performance Engineer at General Motors in the US. She’s responsible for energy and power integration and is one of the people GM says is “helping us reimagine the EV experience by working to optimise vehicle range without compromising performance”.

“It is thanks to the innovative drive of employees like Rivkah that we will be able to offer vehicles like the 2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV that, with an available 400 miles (about 640 km) of range and up to 10,000 lbs (3600 kg) of towing capacity, is breaking the boundaries of what it means to drive an electric vehicle,” the company said.

Not far enough for you? Rivkah and the team at GM have developed fast-charging capabilities of up to 350 kW which add around 160 km of extra range in just ten minutes. Not enough towing capacity for you? Rivkah and the team at GM are working on a 9000 kg model.

The take-home message here is that car manufacturers like GM are well aware of the criticisms they face about range, recharge times and power, and they’ve got their best people working hard to develop the technology that will neutralise those complaints. Before we look a little deeper at the Silverado EV and its performance, let’s learn a little more about the person engineering that performance.

Rivkah Saldanha is a car person, through and through. The daughter of an Indian coffee planter, she grew up in India and earned a mechanical degree from the Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology. In 2015 she told The Times of India: “I think the love of cars is universal; it’s not defined by borders or gender. It’s something you dream about, you are passionate about. If you share that passion, I don’t think it should matter where you come from or whether you belong to the fairer sex.”

Rivkah was one of four women in her undergraduate engineering class. She then went on to lead a team of eighteen men at Clemson University Center for Automotive Research in the US where, as a graduate student, she projectmanaged the production of a futuristic prototype vehicle called Deep Orange 5. It was a very hands-on role.

“I realised that project management and systems integration is my calling and really what I want to do. Design on the computer is good to visualise but actually building stuff is amazing,” she said in an interview for Clemson University.

The two-year-long Deep Orange 5 project was sponsored by GM, which is how Rivkah came to the company’s attention. Since joining the company she has worked on the development of highperformance Cadillacs, the 2022 CT4-V Blackwing and the Celestiq EV. So, the development of the 2024 Silverado EV was always in the safe hands of someone with a proven track record in innovation.

GM calls the Silverado EV a “reimagining” of the brand’s bestselling nameplate. It’s set to release two models in the US in the middle of this year, the Work Truck and the sportier RST. Higher spec versions, like the Trail Boss, are already in development.

The WT has a pair of electric motors for a combined 380 kW and 834 Nm, with a 24-module Ultium battery pack, that’ll get you that promised 640 km. By way of comparison, Ford’s latest F-150 Lightning EV will get you nearly 390 km.

The RST has slightly larger electric motors, at 495 kW and upwards of 1058 Nm. It can do 97 kmh in under 4.5 seconds. It has four-wheel steering, automatic adaptive air suspension, a multi-flex midgate that expands the truck’s cargo capability while maintaining seating for rear row passengers, a large LCD infotainment screen and reconfigurable driver instrument display, and “Super Cruise”—GM’s hands-free driver assistance technology. Both the WT and RST can carry a bit over half a tonne in the back.

But it’s the battery module, GM’s Ultium Platform, that is such a remarkable innovation. Not only is GM keeping motorists on the road longer, getting them further, and allowing them to pull more, Rivkah and the GM team are also revolutionising the way people can use their vehicles.

“When combined with the available accessory power bar, the Silverado EV’s PowerBase charging system offers up to 10 outlets, to provide a total of 10.2 kW of all-electric power for countless worksite or recreational needs, including powering your home, with the required equipment,” the company said.“The Silverado EV is also capable of charging another EV using the available accessory charge cord, sharing its power in times of need.” Effectively, the Silverado EV is a mobile, all-purpose power source.

The increased range and power of the Silverado EV compared to other EVs is a game changer. But GM is well-aware that, thanks to their designers and to engineers like Rivkah, the technology driving EVs is likely to continue to develop and evolve quickly. So, while the Silverado EV is packed with the latest technology, they’ve also ensured the technology can be upgraded over time by including an advanced software system.

While Rivkah and the GM team are constantly improving and evolving their ideas, perhaps it’s time those of us who worry about whether EVs really are the future, improve and evolve our ideas about EVs, too?

Rivkah Saldanah, Vehicle Performance Engineer

PREFERRED SUPPLIER PROFILES

Don Kyatt Spare Parts has thrived in the automotive industry for over 50 years thanks to a consistent ongoing culture of listening, problem-solving and hard work. With a focus on service, innovation and quality, Don Kyatt Spare Parts provides solutions, with their staff being some of the most knowledgeable in the industry.

Don Kyatt Spare Parts is a 4WD parts specialist who boasts a product range of over 50,000 unique part numbers. Also, the company behind the Terrain Tamer 4WD and Flashlube brands, Don Kyatt Spare Parts ensures each part goes

through rigorous research, development and testing. Before the part can bear the brand’s stamp, it must be at least equal in quality and strength to its original equipment equivalent. Often, the part will far exceed the required standard.

donkyatt.com

DON KYATT SPARE PARTS NEW ZEALAND

FUN ZONE

SPOT THE DIFFERENCE 5 Differences To Find

Email your entries to ignition@capricorn.coop before the 31st of March 2023. Winners will be selected by a random draw of the correct Member entries occurring in West Perth on 3rd of April 2023. The winners’ names will be published in the May edition of Ignition. Please ensure you include your Member number and email address when submitting your entry.

Last Month’s Winners

1st Prize - VAC JET N TRUCK - 4,000 points

2nd Prize - CUMMINS TYRE CENTRE - 2,000 points

LAST MONTH’S ANSWERS

WORD HUNTER

Find the 15 words hidden in the jumble. They could be horizontal, vertical, diagonal or backwards. See if you can find them all!

APPRENTICES

BLOCK

COLLABORATION

CULTURE

ELECTRIC

EXPANDS

GEARBOX

MECHANICAL

MOTIVATED MYCAP NOMINATE OPPORTUNITY

PASSIONATE

TECHNOLOGY WORKSHOP