Motor Trader June 2014

JUN 2014

SIR JACK BRABHAM

1926-2014

OFFICIAL PUBLICATION OF THE MOTOR TRADES ASSOCIATION OF QUEENSLAND

B LA W AI O 30 AV N NE ES ER JU AC T S PL IS END 10 G R RE F E

OF

INSTITUTE OF TEC H N O L O G Y

LE

GET YOUR TRADE SKILLS RECOGNISED

Do you have trade skills and experience but no formal qualifications?

TRADE RECOGNITION Trade skills recognition is a way of gaining formal recognition of your skills and work experience. If you have not completed an apprenticeship in Australia or you have gained trade skills overseas, you can have your skills, work experience and trade qualifications nationally recognised.

Recognition of work or training (trade recognition) allows people to gain a certificate of recognition in Queensland in an apprenticeship trade, where: • A formal apprenticeship has not been completed • An apprenticeship or trade training has been completed overseas

AUSTRALIAN RESIDENCY CRITERIA 1. Are you an Australian or New Zealand citizen?

2. Do you have permanent residency in Australia?

3. Do you hold a provisional Visa (163, 309, 310, 457, 820 and 826) or Skilled Independent Regional (SIR) Visa or Temporary Protection Visa (TPV)?

MTA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY OFFERS TRADE RECOGNITION FOR THE FOLLOWING QUALIFICATIONS

• • • • • • • •

Automotive Refinishing Technology Automotive Sales Automotive Sales (Parts Interpreting) Automotive Underbody Technology Heavy Commercial Vehicle Mechanical Technology Light Vehicle Mechanical Technology Mobile Plant Technology Motorcycle Mechanical Technology

In most cases the Queensland Government covers the majority of the cost for trade recognition other than mandatory fees determined by Government.

COURSE LENGTH Once an application has been received with all supporting documentation, MTA Institute of Technology will assess and respond within 10 working days.

Evaluation can be completed at MTA Institute of Technology’s Eight Mile Plains premises or alternatively on site at the applicants workplace.

ENROL Should you wish to obtain more information regarding trade recognition, please contact one of our friendly team using the contact details below.

• Agricultural Mechanical Technology • Automotive Electrical Technology • Automotive Body Repair Technology

Address Building 8, 2728 Logan Road Eight Mile Plains Qld 4113 Postal PO Box 4530 Eight Mile Plains Qld 4113 Tel (07) 3722 3000 Toll Free 1800 884 137 Email training@mtaq.com.au

20130128

MTA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

Contents Official Publication of the Motor Trades Association of Queensland

Follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/MTAQueensland

HEAD OFFICE Building 8, 2728 Logan Road, Eight Mile Plains, Qld 4113 P.O. Box 4530, Eight Mile Plains, Qld 4113 Tel: 07 3237 8777 Fax: 07 3844 4488 Toll Free: 1800 177 951 Email: publications@mtaq.com.au Website: www.mtaq.com.au EDITOR Jonathan Nash ART DIRECTOR Marco Ilinic INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS Ted Kowalski Michelle Chadburn POLICY Kellie Dewar, General Manager MTA Queensland ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES Emily Metelmann 07 3237 8784 Facsimile: 07 3844 4488 Email: emilys@mtaq.com.au

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EDITORIAL Editorial submissions are welcomed but cannot be guaranteed placement. For more information telephone the Editor 07 3237 8777 SUBSCRIPTION RATES (including GST) Australia: $72.60 annually Overseas: $110 annually MOTOR TRADER PUBLISHING POLICY Motor Trader is the official publication of the Motor Trades Association of Queensland. The role of Motor Trader is to inform members of current issues and legislation affecting the industry. As such it can be regarded as the business magazine for the Queensland motor industry. The role of Motor Trader is not to be in competition with the technical magazines already on the market. It will advise of new vehicles being released and of the latest technology incorporated into them; it will advise of latest technology affecting members in each of the MTA Queensland Divisions; it will keep members abreast of the latest in motor industry training and industrial affairs; and it will keep members informed of the latest technical aids available through MTA Queensland Member Services, which will assist members in staying ahead of the technological revolution presently being encountered within the motor industry.

The publisher reserves the right to omit or alter any advertisement and the advertiser agrees to indemnify the publisher for all damages or liabilities arising from the published material.

28 02 From the editor 04 Policy/Viewpoint 06 Divisional news 07 News BUYER’S PREMIUM OBLIGATIONS 08 MTA Q&A JOHN AND MARK CALDER:

MTA QUEENSLAND ABN: 74 028 933 848 CORPORATE PARTNERS

BRITISH OFF ROAD

Feature 10 SIR JACK BRABHAM:

20140160

REMEMBERING SIR JACK

16 Members Classic A SIXTIES SENSATION:

1964 FORD LOTUS CORTINA MKI

16 MEMBERS ESSENTIALS 19 Training matters 23 Members matters 26 Member profiles 28 BANGKOK INTERNATIONAL

MOTOR SHOW

30 Industrial relations 31 Investment matters

MARKET WRAP

32 Industry insight

MAKE THIS FINANCIAL YEAR YOUR BEST June 2014 Motor Trader | 1

From the editor

JONATHAN NASH EDITOR

H

ELLO AND WELCOME to the June edition of Motor Trader magazine.

The sad news of the passing of Sir Jack Brabham on May 19 has meant there has been much talk over the past few weeks about the life and career of the motor racing legend.

A three-time Formula One world champion as a driver, Sir Jack’s tactical, business and engineering genius would see him not only collect two constructors’ world titles as well but, through his company Motor Racing Developments (MRD), he would also become the world’s largest manufacturer of open-wheel race cars.

To say his career was extraordinary barely does it justice, for it was marked by achievements most of us could only dream of.

His legacy is equally as remarkable.

The impact he had on the sport and the

business is significant and his family - first through sons Geoff, Gary and David and now through his grandsons Matthew and Sam, continue to uphold the Brabham family name and tradition on race tracks around the world.

Sir Jack’s legacy will continue to inspire us here at MTAQ. He lent his name to our new headquarters in Brisbane, The Sir Jack Brabham Automotive Centre of Excellence, and that is a privilege of which we are all most proud.

To have Sir Jack attend the opening of the facility in 2012, and to know that he was most impressed with what he saw, was deeply gratifying.

We do, of course, send our deepest condolences to Sir Jack’s family.

In this edition we pay tribute to the great man and talk to his son Gary, a racing driver of distinction himself, about his father’s life, career and legacy. ....................

In our Members Classic feature this month, we talk to Shane Brown from CarsGalore in Toowoomba. A collector of classic vehicles, Shane has amassed quite a number over the years but we focus on his beautiful 1964 Mark I Lotus Cortina. Check it out on Page 16.

MT also caught up with Wade Llewellyn of MTAQ member Llewellyn Subaru. The business was awarded Subaru’s Dealer of the Year award recently – a victory for hard work, attention to detail and their focus on service and customer relationships.

In our MTQ&A feature this month,

CALLING ALL MIT-REGISTERED, 3rd AND 4th YEAR LIGHT VEHICLE APPRENTICES

WIN

A PLACE ON THE 2014 QLD GREAT ENDEAVOUR RALLY'S MOBILE WORKSHOP TEAM AND TAKE PART IN THE TRIP OF A LIFETIME. FOR ALL THE DETAILS GO TO https://www.facebook.com/MTAInstituteofTechnology/ Competition closes June 13

2 | Motor Trader June 2014

we talk to John and Mark Calder from British Off Road on the Sunshine Coast. The Land Rover specialist has carved out a reputation that sees clients from around the state utilise their skills and services.

Also this month we take a look at the Bangkok International Motor Show. A huge and highly-professional event, the Show highlights the growing importance of Thailand in the vehicle manufacturing industry – an importance that may grow for us in Australia once Ford, Holden and Toyota close their manufacturing facilities here.

As always, we will endeavor to bring you news and insight into the automotive industry, the most up-to-date information regarding training opportunities and, of course, continue to highlight members’ interests with MTAQ&A and Members Classic features.

If you have a story you think is worth telling, want to appear in Member Profiles or have a classic car, bike or truck you would like to see featured, then please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Cheers,

Jonathan Nash jonathann@mtaq.com.au

Queensland’s Largest Agricultural Field Days • Toowoomba – 2–4 September 2014

EXHIBITOR NEWSLETTER ISSUE 7 MAY 2014

Heritage Bank Ag Show is on track to present a great event September 2–4 Late last year, the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland (RASQ) assumed total responsibility for the management of the Heritage Bank Ag Show making it the only Agricultural Field Days in Australia to be operated by an agricultural society.

The charter and very existence of the RASQ is the promotion of agricultural excellence through innovation and education and it is with this ethos that we aim to bring a raft of improvements to this unique annual event.

We see Heritage Bank Ag Show as being industry rather the bottom line driven.

A new working committee has been established including representatives from the Department of Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries, Queensland Trade & Invest, Ag Force, Queensland Farmers Federation, Motor Traders Association of Qld–Farm Machinery Division, University of Southern Queensland, APN and the Toowoomba & Surat Basin Enterprise. These organisations and individuals will bring a host of benefits to the event.

We also understand that the trading environment across rural Queensland continues to be difficult and as such we have reduced the majority of our site fees across the board. As a not-for-profit organisation our endeavour is to ensure that all site holders have the opportunity to generate a better result from the event.

Reducing cost is one way but attracting more patrons to the event is paramount.

To do this we have included more demonstrations, social and networking functions, education forums and innovation precincts. Our marketing program has been improved and in addition to the traditional marketing will include expanded database communication.

We understand that sometimes exhibitors

require additional resources and have included a designated business centre where you can bring clients, access administration services and connect to Wi-Fi. We are currently planning a number of networking functions. To date these include the Darling Downs Rural Ambassador Awards on Tuesday evening, the TSBE Agribusiness lunch on Wednesday and Rural Press Club Breakfast on Thursday Last year Heritage Bank Ag Show signed an MOU with AGREX & Food Korea. This partnership provides additional opportunities to those companies looking to export into Korea. With the recent signing of the Free Trade Agreement we will also be staging a “G’Day Korea” day which we hope will also include tours thoughtout the region.

Exhibitors displaying Korean produced equipment will also be offered additional display space.

Our demonstration focus this year will highlight all things “Excavating”. If you sell excavation equipment, large or small you will be provided additional demonstration space for patrons to try your equipment. Our demonstration area is located in the northern end of the Main Arena.

To date there has been a very good response to site bookings for 2014. Over 50% of the sites have been rebooked and we will be contacting all exhibitors in the next couple of weeks to determine your attendance. Site sizes outside are flexible and prices start at only $6 per square metre for the first 100 square metres and then reduce to $3

per square metre above that. Copies of the prospectus and booking form are available from www.agshow.com.au Each month we will update all exhibitors and potential exhibitors on what’s happening in the lead up to Heritage Bank Ag Show.

If you require further information please contact me on 07 46347 400, 0429 347002 or rasq-ceo@rasq.com.au Until next time.

A ROYAL AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY OF QUEENSLAND MANAGED EVENT For further information contact Damon Phillips, CEO, RASQ on 07 4634 7400 or email rasq-ceo@rasq.com.au

Policy/Viewpoint

KELLIE DEWAR GENERAL MANAGER MTA QUEENSLAND

A

FTER 14 YEARS of consistent advocacy our Automotive Remarketing Division is celebrating the achievement of industry specific legislator for the sector.

The Motor Dealers and Chattel Auctioneer Bill (the Bill), according to the text sent to my mobile by the Attorney General and Minister for Justice Jarrod Bleijie’s Office, became law at 10.15pm on 6 May 2014.

Across the years, there have been many meetings and discussions with Government and responses to issues papers and draft exposure legislation to achieve this industry specific law that includes less compliance costs.

This policy success emphasises the relevance and importance of the Association working with Government to deliver for its membership.

There is some unfinished policy relating to the legislation and that refers to the requirement for premises of licensed motor dealers to have a Council-approved identifiable address.

This was omitted from the Bill presented to Parliament. We agree with Government that it involves complex policy determination, particularly when the majority of used car sales are private-to-private and the prevalence of sourcing and purchasing of used vehicles via the internet is taken into consideration. Yet, the issue of “unscrupulous unlicensed backyard operators” must be tackled in the best interests of the consumer and licensed dealers.

4 | Motor Trader June 2014

Business Policy. In 2013, Consumer Affairs Ministers agreed to consider such an extension through the Legislative and Governance Forum on Consumer Affairs.

A consultation paper, Extending Unfair Contact Term Protections to Small Businesses has been released by the Federal Government for comment.

Members may access consultation discussion paper at www.treasury. gov.au/ConsultationsandReviews/ Consultations. If members would like input into our submission please may we have it before the due date of August 1.

Minister Jarrod Bleijie, as promised in a telephone conversation with me, affirmed in his second reading parliamentary speech when introducing the legislation, the government’s commitment to work with the Association “to stamp out unlicensed used motor car dealing in the Queensland marketplace”.

As reported in previous Viewpoints, we are working with the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) with its ‘Operation Round-up’ to identify and report unlicensed used motor dealers. Our Dob in a Backyard webpage is part of this initiative. I urge Members to utilise the webpage to report unlicensed backyard dealers. We will ensure the details are referred to the OFT. Following the passing of the legislation, I wrote to Minister Jarrod Bleijie to thank him and the government for delivering on the industry specific legislation for the used motor vehicle sector and to assure him of our readiness to work with the OFT on the matter of unlicensed backyard operators. I wrote also to the Leader of the Opposition Annastacia Palaszuzuk thanking her for her contribution and support for the legislation. I took the opportunity to allay concerns about the removal of the legislative statutory warranty provisions for vehicles more than ten years old or that has travelled more than 160,000 kilometers, advising that The Australian Consumer Law Consumer Guarantee has applied since January 1, 2011 making the provisions redundant.

Policy work continues apace.

As indicated in April’s Viewpoint, the submission to the Queensland Government’s June 3 State Budget was lodged. In addition I am in the process of finishing off our responses to the Australian Treasury’s Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Discussion Paper and the PricewaterhouseCoopers National Injury Insurance Scheme Motor Vehicle Accidents Consultation Regulation Impact Statement. These are on our website for Members to read.

Upcoming submissions include the Statutory Review of the Personal Properties Act 2009, the Review of Competition Policy and Motor Accident Insurance Commission Compulsory Third Party Premium setting for the assessment period commencing October 1, 2014. Each of these submissions is due early June and Members' input is welcome.

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS STANDARD FORM CONTRACTS

VISIT TO MEMBERS IN CENTRAL QUEENSLAND

Another long standing policy issue we have been working towards is that the Australian Consumer Law should include provisions for business to business contracts in standard form contracts. Slowly but surely we are inching ahead to achieve this policy goal.

The Federal Government has followed through on the commitment to extend the consumer unfair contract term protections to the small business sector as part of the Real Solutions Small

POLICY WORK

On May 6-7, I visited Rockhampton for the general meeting of MTA Queensland members representing the industry sectors we embody. I was accompanied by Central Queensland Board Representative James Robertson.

I enjoy very much speaking with Members and hearing their issues first hand. As could be expected, the Motor Dealers and Chattels Bill was high on the agenda which, incidentally, was passed by parliament after our

meeting concluded.

A range of matters were canvassed including general information on price boards, OFT presence and operations on auction houses and unlicensed traders, the removal of the Environmental Relevant Activity 21 and the Code of Conduct.

I’m keen to pursue more Member involvement in their respective Divisions and more generally with the Association. To assist with this, our regional Members are encouraged to participate in their Divisional meetings by teleconference.

Regional Divisional Members should let us know if they would like notice of meetings so that we can arrange through the Chairman of their respective divisions that an invitation be extended to them to participate.

It appears members are not aware of this teleconference facility. I hope to see them taking advantage of it as it is a great opportunity to hear firsthand what the Divisions are working on in detail.

For example, a Member raised some specific industry issues for their parts recycling business and was encouraged and positive by the opportunity to participate in the discussions.

I took the opportunity to invite Members to contribute directly to Motor Trader by submitting information for stories, for Members Classics if they have a pride and joy they would like featured, or simply by completing a Members profile for inclusion in the magazine.

WORKERS COMPENSATION PREMIUM REDUCTION

The Queensland Government has announced that workers compensation premiums will be reduced by an average of 17 per cent from July 1.

Reductions will vary within sectors.

This is much needed relief for the automotive value chain and indeed all Queensland businesses.

Over the past years, the trend has been for the premiums to increase.

The MTA Queensland welcomes the Queensland Government’s reduction in premiums which comes on top of significant cuts to red and green tape and compliance costs that benefit the automotive value chain.

The Association recognises that the reduction in premium is a result of much initiative within WorkCover itself.

WEBINARS

Members are reminded of the online Digital Learning Series for small business which provides tips on assisting their business and maxmising their social media impact. It is a free 10-part series run by the Queensland Government and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland.

Businesses can register for webinar sessions and also access essential information and tools at www.business.qld.gov.au/events

SIMPLER TAX RETURNS

This story is for the staff of our Members. From July 1, the Australian Taxation Office will provide an online and substantially pre-prepared tax return for people without complex tax returns. It means the taxpayer will only need to review or change prefilled information before lodging their return. The ATO will prefill tax returns with information provided by other organisations such as banks and employers.

MyTax will allow people to lodge through a smartphone, tablet or computer using their web browser.

DRIVING TEST

Some Member’s children in the near future may be preparing to undertake the QSAFE practical driving test. The latest advice from Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson is that for the first time in 15 years, major changes have been made to the Q-Safe driver tests.

One of the reforms is that speeding won’t be tolerated. To be precise the test has “a zero tolerance for speeding”.

This measure is part of a pilot scheme being tried at seven different locations across Queensland.

The pilot is being carried out from April 28 to July 25, 2014, and an assessment will follow before the program is rolled out to other centres.

MOTOR VEHICLE SALES

The Australian Bureau of Statistics seasonally adjusted data, indicates new motor vehicles for the month of April in Queensland were improved on the previous month with an increase of 2.5 per cent, or 502 units. Nationally, new sales were stable with no change.

However, the Federated Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) raw data paint a different outlook with new motor vehicle sales being 17,041 for April - down by 624 units or 4.3 per cent compared with the previous month. This was higher than the national decline of 3.4 per cent.

The slowing in new car sales was attributed to the reduced selling month, owing to significant public holidays.

The FCAI’s analysis indicates that small SUVs were “resilient” with sales up 47.5 per cent compared with April 2013. Government purchase of new vehicles continued to rise with sales up 3.5 per cent on April 2013. Private and business buyers appear to be approaching the market with caution, with sales down 5.9 and 7.9 per cent respectively.

FEDERAL BUDGET AND THE ECONOMY

The good news is that the Reserve Bank has left the cash rate of 2.5 per cent unchanged and it appears from the Board’s minutes there will be no change in the short to medium term.

Prior to the May 14 Federal Budget, the common view was that it would be tough, and it was. It has received a hostile reception from the wider community but industry and business have expressed that it is an important step towards curtailing government outlays and in the longer term reducing the deficit and debt.

The adverse response to the budget was highlighted by the Westpac Melbourne Institute Index - reflecting sentiments prior to and after the budget - which fell sharply. The Index is at its lowest level since August 2011 - before the Reserve Bank began its recent rate cut cycle.

Westpac’s Chief Economist has commented that analysis shows that it is not unusual for sentiment to plummet at Budget time. These are unusual times. By now, past Budgets have almost been forgotten but it is clear the 2014 Budget reaction and comment will be around for some time.

If the budget strategy, in conjunction with low interest rates, lifts the recovery that was in evidence prior to the budget, then the community may be in a mood to be forgiving.

Time will tell.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 5

Policy/Viewpoint PERSONAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER (PIN)

Members are reminded of the Industry Security Initiative and to prepare for August 1, 2014 - when PIN will become the main form of card payment authorisation in Australia.

The industry-wide move to expand PIN at point-of-sale (POS) and phase out signature as a form of verification on Australian credit and debit card will take place over a short transition from August 1 as POS terminals migrate to the new software.

STATE BUDGET

The Queensland State Budget will be brought down on June 3. As in the past we will be in the briefing

“lock-up� to gain an understanding of its focus. In our submission we acknowledged that the Government faces difficult financial decisions due to the debt levels and the challenging fiscal circumstances inherited. With the exception of adjustment for inflation, taxes and fees should not be increased. We specifically requested consideration of a moratorium on the payment of stamp duties on business and household insurance policies.

ROAD RULES FOR MOTOR CYCLE RIDERS

As I prepare this Viewpoint, a Department of Transport and Main Roads Discussion Papers Discussion Paper on Road Rules for Motor

Divisional news Ben Chesterfield NACA

We have seen an increase in membership again this month which is always a positive, especially considering all the goings on within this terrific industry of ours. Welcome to MTAQ and I look forward to your input.

I attended the collision repairer forum in Sydney in May and it was good to see some QLD attendees, and all but one were our members. There was a lot of information at this forum and I will expand on this in my next newsletter which is due in a few weeks.

RACQI is now in lockdown as it goes through the process of selection with regard to its selected repairer initiative. I trust all of you that made it through have given it your best shot.

We recently held our committee meeting and high on the agenda was our shop grading program. We will be in a position to move forward with this in the coming weeks.

We are continuing to recieve a number of enquiries in relation to 6 | Motor Trader June 2014

Green Stamp and we have sent out a number of self-audit kits.

We have signed off on the final drafts of our choice of repairer flyers.

Keep an eye out for information relating to these in your inbox soon.

Committee nominations have now closed and it will be interesting to see if we have any new faces on the committee. We will keep you advised.

In closing, please remember that membership is a two-way street. I'm happy to do whatever I can, however I need your input to achieve this.

We have also recently sent a bulletin in respect of the new privacy laws that came into effect in March. Please ensure you have read and understand whether or nor they relate to your business. I would hate for one of our members to be the guinea pig in this arena.

ERAQ Mark Bryers and myself attended the national meeting in Melbourne last month and most of the agenda was in relation to the upcoming engine

Cycle Riders has lobbed on my desk. Motorcycle Industry Division Members may like to review the Discussion Paper and complete the online survey to show whether they support or do not support each of the proposals. The Discussion Paper maybe accessed at www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au

VISIT TO MEMBERS IN THE FAR NORTH

By the time your receive this Motor Trader I will have visited Cairns on May 29 for the general meeting and for the Tablelands New Car Dealers meeting the following day. I will report to you on this visit in the next Viewpoint.

Until then, take care.

with Ben Chesterfield and Ian Cole reconditioning conference. We finally have a venue and it will be held at the Grand Chancellor Surfers Paradise from September 25-28. We will be distributing more information over the coming weeks.

Also discussed at the national meeting was a website, which will be a great tool for the industry, and some discussions for nominations for life members of the ERAA. We held our last committee meeting a couple of weeks ago and if we are to move forward with this division we need input and some changes.

So please, get involved, have your say, attend some meetings and remember, united we stand, divided we fall.

AED As advised previously, we have formed a subcommittee with the intent of producing a marketing/ choice of repairer campaign and I am pleased to say we have worked hard behind the scenes to come up with a product we feel will be beneficial to all independent repairers. We have

News Buyer’s premium obligations THE OFFICE OF Fair Trading (OFT) is reminding motor and chattel auctioneers of their obligations when charging buyer’s premiums after reports some auctioneers have been failing to disclose that premiums will apply to auctioned goods.

A buyer's premium is an amount a buyer pays to the auctioneer when purchasing a chattel, including motor vehicles. This amount is a fee in addition to the price the property is sold for. Auctioneers often call this fee an administration fee, a bidder's fee or buyer’s administration fee.

Auction houses have particular obligations when charging a buyer's premium on goods sold at auction.

finalised a second draft and will be meeting shortly to, hopefully, approve what we believe will be the finished product.

I am continuing to resend the link to QLD transport with regard to the abolition of rego labels which is looming closer. If you haven't seen this link, or need it resent, please advise.

I am still fielding calls in relation to right to repair and access to information, however, at the time of going to print I have recieved only a few examples of consumer detriment.

Without any hard evidence we cannot make a case to support.

We have also recently distributed a bulletin in relation to the new privacy laws. Don't be fooled into thinking they don't apply to you. Have a read, make sure you understand it and make contact with Bennett Philp if you need more information.

Committee nominations have now closed, and it will be interesting to see if we have any new faces at our next meeting. I look forward to any input from you with regards to your division.

from the Office of Fair Trading It has become apparent some terms and conditions on auction house websites do not comply with advertising requirements. For example, stating that a buyer’s premium may be payable by the buyer on items purchased is not acceptable. The terms and conditions must state the actual percentage of the premium payable on the purchase.

If an auctioneer wants to charge a buyer’s premium, they must get written consent from the owner of the goods before the auction.

Auctioneers must also disclose the percentage of the buyer's premium payable by the buyer in each of the following ways: • at the start of the auction, announcing the percentage that is payable on a successful bid • displaying a notice stating the percentage payable in lettering at

least 10 cm high in a prominent position at the auction • writing the percentage payable on each bidder's card in lettering at least 3mm high, and • stating the percentage payable on each written advertisement for the auction.

If an auctioneer fails to get authority from the owner of the goods or fails to disclose the buyer’s premium in these ways, they can face penalties of up to $22,000 for an individual or $110,000 for a corporation.

OFT has been conducting educational visits to auction houses to promote awareness of auctioneer obligations under the Property Agents and Motor Dealers Act 2000.

For more information about legal requirements of motor dealers, visit www.fairtrading.qld.gov.au or call 13 QGOV (13 74 68).

Ian Cole

so I encourage all QMID members to complete it asap.

QMID Thank you to all members who attended the last QMID meeting on May 8, 2014.

This was possibly the best attended meeting for some time and the feedback gained from our member base shows there are still a lot of challenges for the motorcycle industry which need to be addressed.

On Thursday, May 22, a Motorcycle discussion paper was released by the Qld Government which directly affects the motorcycle industry and your business. This document covers three main topics: • Lane Filtering • Motorcycle Control • Motorcycle Helmets To have your say in the future of the motorcycle industry in Qld, visit the Qld Government website www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au and complete the online survey.

There is a limited time to respond

ARD

The next ARD meeting, scheduled for June 11, 2014 is to be the most important meeting for this division for some time.

In my contact with ARD members the two most mentioned topics are unlicensed backyard operators and the Motor Dealer & Chattel Auctioneers Bill.

We have implemented the MTAQ 'Dob in a Backyarder' portal on our website and I would like to remind members that the site is there for industry and the public to use in order to report cases of unlicensed dealer trading.

Members have also reported the OFT have been active in the marketplace and their visibility has increased, helping our industry.

We shall also be discussing the status of the Motor Dealer & Chattel Auctioneers Bill and what the implications are for the industry.

I look forward to our members input at the next meeting.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 7

QA

MTA &

MT: What services and products does British Off Road provide?

JC: We work on Land Rovers only - from the early models to the latest Range Rovers. We service them, sell used vehicles, import new parts and dismantle older vehicles. There’s been a lot of capital expenditure and we’ve built the business up a lot since we purchased it. We’ve put in three extra hoists and there have been a lot of extensions, including to the land – we’ve got somewhere between 150-180 vehicles down the back for dismantling. We’re not a dealer but we do sometimes get people who come to us and ask if we can arrange a new Rangie or D4. We don’t do too much of that but people do buy new vehicles and end up coming here very quickly.

We also sell second-hand Land Rovers of all types and have 15,000 new parts and 6,000 lines of parts in stock.

MC: We do send parts nationwide and overseas - mainly to New Caledonia, New Guinea, Nauru and occasionally New Zealand.

MT: Who are your customers?

JC: Our clients are wide-ranging, from rural people to solicitors and bankers with their new Range Rovers.

They buy their new vehicle and will often gravitate to us to get their servicing. We also get calls every day from workshops wanting us to help them with jobs they don’t know how to handle. Those calls come in from far north Queensland to Melbourne.

We also get calls from customers who have bought parts and need to be walked through the job. We do spend time helping other people but in the long run we figure it’ll be a benefit John and Mark Calder

MTAQ Member British Off Road is a specialist in Land Rover. From the upmarket Range Rover to the rural workhorse Defenders and everything in between, British Off Road works on them all. The 30-year-old business was bought six years ago by the Calder family - John, wife June and sons Mark and Ross, and they now oversee an expanding business that covers every aspect of the venerated British marque.

- If they’re true Land Rover people then they’ll come back to us for parts or come here for servicing and repairs.

MC: A lot of Land Rover people are ‘real’ Land Rover people – cars are handed down in the family. You can find someone who is driving the latest model Range Rover, and they’ll also have a Series 1 Land Rover. It spans all age groups and demographics. People from all walks of life have Land Rovers.

JC: It seems to be very rare for people to move on from Land Rovers. A lot of people keep them on the road for generations. And they do last. One of Mark’s Land Rovers has gone over 1million kms.

MT: What's your background?

JC: I started as a Physical Education teacher and also worked in the building industry for quite some time. It was when I was in the building industry that I had my first Land Rover. We used it for our holidays too. We never had the desire to go to flash resorts - we would go to Moreton Island or Fraser Island or somewhere like that in the Land Rover and go camping and fishing.

I had a Series 3 then and since that time I’ve had a Range Rover, a Discovery 2 and now a Discovery 3.

MC: I probably got into Land Rovers because of Dad’s first Land Rover.

I harassed the previous owner here to give me a job in 1992. I was here for about 10 years then left to try some other things before coming back in 2007, the year before we bought the business.

How many staff do you have?

JC: We have 22 staff, including 8 mechanics and apprentices in the workshop and 6 people on the phones

“A LOT OF LAND ROVER PEOPLE ARE ‘REAL’ LAND ROVER PEOPLE – CARS ARE HANDED DOWN IN THE FAMILY. YOU CAN FIND SOMEONE WHO IS DRIVING THE LATEST MODEL RANGE ROVER, AND THEY’LL ALSO HAVE A SERIES 1 LAND ROVER.” looking after the parts. We’ve got three English-trained Land Rover mechanics.

One of our English apprentices actually heard of us before he came to Australia and was emailing us for about nine months to see if he could get a position with us.

MT: Are your staff as keen on Land Rovers as you are?

MC: Our 22 staff have about 38 Land Rovers between them. Most of them have been with us for a long time – before we bought the business - and there are a number of us who use Land Rovers to compete in 4WD competitions.

MT: How important is your relationship with MTAQ and MIT? MC: We’ve been members of MTAQ since we bought the business and we do use MIT quite a bit. I completed my Dealer qualifications there and about six of our workshop staff have

been trained through MIT. When we bought the business, the previous owner had a number of mature-age people who were very skilled but had no qualification. So we immediately enrolled them as mid-career apprentices so that they could get their qualifications. The onsite element of MIT training is crucial. We just can’t send people off to TAFE for six week blocks. It’s just not practical for us.

JC: There are so many jobs that go on around here that the apprentices are exposed to a whole lot of different things on the bench or under the bonnet.

MT: What do you do in your spare time?

JC: Fishing and camping.

MC: Camping and competing in 4WD competitions. Last year we won the ARB Winch Challenge Series and were runner-up in the Mickey Thompson SSS Winch Challenge. The first two years we competed were in the Tough Tracks competition – a rock-crawling competition – and we won our class in both those years.

JC: That was about four years ago and we got a lot of sniggers from the Japanese vehicle owners, but we did very well. The competitions are not just a hobby, there’s also a business benefit to doing them. We sell Terrafirma suspension and the idea was to do some competitions and show off its qualities. We had a good rub-off after almost every competition and a surge in orders for suspension and other items. We also sponsor the local Land Rover club - Mark is a past President and the Brisbane and Gold Coast clubs too. A lot of the people in the Land Rover clubs have become our friends as well as our customers.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 9

REMEMBERING

SIR JACK T

HE TRIBUTES CAME flooding in within minutes of the news being made public.

Twitter and Facebook - the new social media avenues by which many now choose to express themselves - were soon filled with words of praise and admiration for a man, a career, a legacy, and a life well-lived.

The television news reports, the newspapers and websites would soon follow, their message clear: Sir Jack Brabham was a true Australian original - a pioneer, a sporting icon, a legend of motor racing.

With Sir Jack Brabham’s death on May 19, another link to the golden years of motor racing and Formula One passes away.

It was an era of risk-taking and innovation; when legendary drivers such as Stirling Moss, Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, John Surtees, Bruce McLaren, Brabham himself . . . the list goes on . . . charged around circuits in cars designed with barely a thought for driver safety, only for speed.

And it was in this era that Jack Brabham would stake his claim as not only the greatest motor racing driver Australia has ever produced, but one of the greatest ever . . . from anywhere.

An audacious claim? Well, let’s put it this way: Amongst the names listed above, only two have won three Formula One World Championships – Jack Brabham and Jackie Stewart, and only Brabham won a World Championship in a car that he 10 | Motor Trader June 2014

“HE WAS AN EXTREMELY TALENTED DRIVER AND DECEPTIVELY FAST . . .

HE WAS A HUGELY IMPORTANT PART OF MOTOR-RACING HISTORY.”

THREE-TIME WORLD CHAMPION SIR JACKIE STEWART

helped design and build and which carried his name.

Think about that and you’ll probably agree with the words written in tribute to Brabham by Ron Dennis, boss of the McLaren Formula One team: “The word ‘legend’ is often used to describe successful sportsmen, but often it exaggerates their status,” said Dennis. “In the case of Sir Jack Brabham, however, it’s entirely justified.”

Born in Huntsville, NSW, in 1926, Jack Brabham served in the RAAF during the latter part of WWII, using the mechanical and engineering skills he had learned at school and college to become a flight mechanic.

Discharged in 1946, he opened a small motor repair and machine shop and it was here that he had his first contact with the world of motor racing when he met Johnny Schonberg, an American who raced dirt track midget cars.

“HE WAS A TRAILBLAZER;

HE TOOK THE HARDEST ROAD AND MADE IT EASIER FOR THE REST OF US TO FOLLOW.”

AUSTRALIAN FORMER F1 DRIVER MARK WEBBER

Brabham agreed to build a midget car for Schonberg and would, in fact, end up racing in the format himself. And with great success too, taking out the NSW title in 1948.

By then the racing bug had well and truly bitten and more championship wins would follow in other racing ventures, including hill climbing and road racing - ventures that would bring him into contact with Ron Tauranac, with whom Brabham would form not only a long-standing friendship but also a partnership that would be crucial to his future success.

By 1955, Brabham was ready to test himself on the world stage.

Moving to the UK, he struck up a relationship with the race car manufacturer Cooper Cars, a relationship that would prove most fruitful. It was, in many ways, mutually beneficial, with Brabham and Cooper utilising each other’s skills and knowledge to develop the cars Brabham would drive.

It would lead to the radical decision to shift the engine from the front of the car to the back – a move that made the car more stable with better handling. It was a decision that would be copied by all F1 constructors within three years.

By 1959 Brabham, now driving the Cooper T51, was set to make his run at the world title and the team, with Brabham and teammate Bruce McLaren, secured three race wins and eight podium finishes from the nine race season.

Nontheless, the drivers’ championship race was tight decided at the last race of the season, at Sebring, in Florida.

Brabham’s closest rivals, Stirling Moss and Tony Brooks, were just a few points behind and, though the odds were stacked in Brabham’s favour, nothing could be certain.

And so it nearly proved.

In extraordinary scenes, and as he was leading, Brabham ran out of fuel with just a few hundred metres to go.

Stranded, Brabham leapt from the car and, in a feat of strength and tenacity, pushed his Cooper across the line before dropping to the ground in exhaustion.

Several cars had overtaken him, but he had done enough.

“When I pushed the car over the line I didn’t realise what position I was in as far as the world championship was concerned,” Brabham told ABC television in 2009. “It was a big thrill to me to find out, after I was exhausted on the ground, that I’d actually won the championship.”

Brabham repeated his championship success the following year, amassing five race victories on his way to the title, this time in a Cooper T53, and his input into the development of the cars, and his skill in steering them to two championship victories brought words of admiration from team boss, John Cooper: “You don’t tell Brabham what tactics to adopt,” he said. “You simply keep him informed, during the race, of the general picture, and leave it to him to act as he sees fit.”

1961 would prove to be a difficult season.

Other manufacturers, following Brabham and Cooper’s lead, had embraced the concept of rear-engine cars and had moved ahead. Brabham knew he could do better.

Jack Brabham wins the French Grand Prix

in 1960.

SIR JACK BRABHAM'S CAREER Formula One driving career:

1955-1970

Number of F1 races:

126

Grand Prix wins:

14

Formula One Drivers Champion:

1959, 1960 and 1966

Formula One Constructors Champion:

1966 and 1967

First Formula One win:

Monaco, 1959

Formula One pole positions:

13

Formula One podium finishes:

31

So, in 1962, with friend and designer Ron Tauranac, Brabham became a constructor, setting up Motor Racing Developments (MRD), a company whose success in designing, developing and building race cars for the Brabham Racing Organisation team would lead to a customer list that would eventually make Brabham the largest manufacturer of open-wheel racing cars - by 1970 the company had produced 500 race cars across different racing classes.

Brabham’s first Formula One product, the BT-3, made its debut at the German Grand Prix of 1962 and though he was able to score championship points with it – becoming the first driver/constructor to do so - it wasn’t until the 1964 season when the team, using the BT7 car, scored their first F1 win.

By 1966, the years of development and testing were to pay off with the BT19, and Brabham was once again to show his tactical and engineering brilliance.

A rule change for the season meant F1 cars were now allowed to use 3-litre engines. But whereas his rivals opted to chase the extra power available through new V12 engines, Brabham took the risk of looking at a less powerful, but lighter, more reliable and more fuel efficient V8 developed in partnership with Australian company Repco.

The decision was a stroke of genius and Brabham reeled off four first-place finishes as he became the first, and likely only, driver to win a world championship in a car he had helped design and build, and which carried his name. And with his teammate, New Zealander Denny Hulme, finishing fourth that season, Brabham also secured the constructor's title.

It was, and remains, a remarkable, and unique, achievement.

“It was a thrill, to not only build your own car but to win races with it was terrific,” said Brabham in later years.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 11

“Winning the world championship in ’66 was really the pinnacle of the whole thing, because to win a championship with an Australian made engine was a fantastic feather in our cap.”

1966 would be the last of Brabham’s Formula One championships. He would continue to race for a further four seasons, and would continue to perform well, finishing runner-up to Hulme in 1967 and securing another constructor’s title in the process.

He would take his final F1 victory in 1970 at the South African Grand Prix.

He retired that year, aged 44, and seemed to remove himself entirely from Formula One, selling his F1 interests and returning to Australia.

The team that bore his name, however, would endure, and would continue to be successful for many years.

For his astonishing achievements, a steady stream of

recognitions were bestowed upon Brabham. He was awarded an OBE, the Order of Australia, was named Australian of the Year, and was knighted in 1979 - the first racing driver to be so honoured.

By the late 1990’s poor health was beginning to take hold of Sir Jack. Deafness brought on by decades of racing without ear protection, fading eyesight and kidney problems that required dialysis treatment restricted his activities.

However, he was still making public appearances up until the very end. On the day before his death he made an appearance on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast where one of his classic race cars, the 1967 BT23, is now kept.

A brilliant engineer, Sir Jack Brabham helped develop the sport of Formula One into the specatcle it is today.

As a driver he was skilled and fiercely determined, eliciting admiration from rivals: “I would say he was

“BUILD THEM, RACE THEM,

WIN THEM, WE WILL NEVER SEE ANOTHER LIKE THE GREAT SIR JACK BRABHAM.”

HOLLYWOOD STAR ERIC BANA

Jack Brabham collapses after pushing his car across the line to finish fourth at the 1959 United States Grand Prix, clinch ing the championship.

Jack Brabham leads the 1960 Belgian Grand Prix.

12 | Motor Trader June 2014

probably one of the toughest drivers I ever raced against,” said Stirling Moss. “Most of the drivers, once you’d passed them, you can forget about them, but Sir Jack, you never knew. He was always there, hunting along. He was competitive, I mean, he wanted to win.”

And yet, for Brabham himself it wasn’t just about the driving: “I had just as much enjoyment out of being the mechanic and looking after and getting the cars to the line as I did out of driving,” he said. “The driving part was just relaxation after it had all happened.” ....................

Though Sir Jack may be gone, his legacy will live on, and not just in the memories of those who saw him race; or in the black and white films of his victories; or in the museums which showcase his cars.

The successful racing careers of his sons Geoff, Gary and David made sure the Brabham name continued to resonate with fans around the world through the 80s and 90s, and, now, Sir Jack’s grandsons, Matthew, who competes in the Indy Lights championship in the US, and Sam, who competes in Formula Ford in the UK, are making their mark.

Who knows. The Brabham name could be gracing the race tracks of Monaco, Silverstone and Monza again within just a few years.

THE BRABHAM FAMILY’S involvement in motor sport now stretches to three generations. Sir Jack's sons had successful careers and two grandsons have begun racing as well: GEOFF BRABHAM, 62 Has raced mostly in the US, competing in 10 Indianapolis 500 races.

With brother David, he won the Bathurst 1000 Super Touring Race in 1997 and with Gary, the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1991. Was also victorious at the 24-hour Le Mans in 1993.

GARY BRABHAM, 53 British Formula 3000 champion in 1989. Won the 12 Hours of Sebring with brother Geoff in 1991. In 1993, Gary was the first Australian to qualify for the Gold Coast Indy.

DAVID BRABHAM, 48 A two-time champion in the American Le Mans Series, David also won Le Mans in 2009 and, amongst many other racing achievements, drove for two seasons in Formula One MATTHEW BRABHAM, 20 Geoff’s son, Matthew is the reigning Pro Mazda Champion and has made a winning start in Indy Lights - the feeder series for the Indy Car Championship.

SAM BRABHAM, 19 David’s son, Sam drives in the Formula Ford series in England. He placed fourth in the 2013 championship.

A SON'S PRIDE: GARY BRABHAM ON HIS FATHER'S LEGACY ALONG THE CORRIDORS of MTAQ’s headquarters and training facility, The Sir Jack Brabham Automotive Centre of Excellence, are some striking items of memorabilia.

There are paintings, photographs and posters - all of them referencing the remarkable career of Sir Jack Brabham and that of his motor racing sons, Geoff, Gary and David.

These magnificent items were loaned to MTAQ by Gary Brabham himself.

“The building and designing of cars was what really interested him,” says Gary of his father. “And considering what you do here, it’s quite appropriate that they should be in the building named after him.” ....................

“I was nine when he retired,” says Gary of his father and his racing career. “I don’t really remember much about him racing, but I do remember the people. Stirling Moss, Jim Clark, Graham Hill and John Surtees – all the old greats - used to come around for dinner.”

That’s a dinner party any motor racing fan would have sold their right arm to be invited too, but it’s unlikely any such gathering would take place these days – the intense, media -fuelled rivalries of today’s Formula One are much different to the rivalries of Sir Jack’s heyday. Back then, life for an F1 driver was often too short to hold grudges.

“There were a lot of deaths back then,” says Gary.

“Dad lost 30 drivers in his time and because of the danger they tended to look out for each other.”

Despite that danger, for Gary, as for his brothers, following his father into motor racing was inevitable.

“What sparked it for me was when I went over to America

This painting was commissioned by Sir Jack Brabham in 1989 to celebrate another unique achievement by the family. Sir Jack's three sons, Geoff, Gary and David had each won an international motor racing series that year.

as a mechanic on my brother’s race team. I had been working on the farm, but I thought that if I didn’t at least have a go, I’d spend the rest of my life thinking ‘What if?’.

“So that’s what I did. And in my first proper race in Australia I qualified ninth, led the race and equalled the lap record in a nine-year-old car. After that I thought I’d rather be doing that than shearing sheep.”

So, surely dad gave him lots of pointers and advice on what it took to be a race car driver?

“I thought he would have been able to tell me all sorts of things about race craft and driving,” says Gary with a chuckle.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 13

“But his philosophy was that he couldn’t steer it for you.

The only tip he gave me was to ‘keep it between the green bits’.

“But then there was the engineering side of things.

He showed me how to set the car up, to do the wheel alignments, the changing of gear ratios, that sort of thing.

He did pass that on.”

Having the Brabham name and the mighty Jack Brabham as dad might have made a few doors open slightly but the name could also be a burden for a young racer trying to strike out on his own “It was different,” says Gary. “His fame wasn’t so bad in childhood because you sort of just grew up with it. Later on, when I started racing, then there was a bit of pressure.

“If you came fifth, then you knew the media would say ‘Well, he’ll never be as good as Jack’. And if you won, then they’d say ‘Well, no wonder, he’s Jack’s son.”

Gary and his brothers did have plenty of success though, and that was one of the things of which Sir Jack was most proud.

“Winning the World Championship in a car that bore his name and that was an all-Australian effort - that was an incredible achievement," says Gary of one of Sir Jack's proudest moments.

“Another was winning his first Grand Prix in Monaco and getting presented the trophy by Princess Grace.

“Another one, believe it or not, took place in 1989. That year, Geoff, David and I all won an international motor racing championship each: David won the British F3 Championship, I won the Formula 3000 Championship and Geoff won the American Sports Car Championship.

“Those are the three things he spoke about regularly.”

That third feat, of his three sons winning championships in the same year – and which saw Gary beat future Formula One world champion Damon Hill by a very comfortable margin - prompted a proud Sir Jack to commission a painting to commemorate the accomplishment. It now hangs in the MTAQ building.

With Sir Jack’s passing, the tributes that have come in show how popular he was and how much of an impression

Gary Brabham on the grid watched by a proud

Sir Jack.

“DESPITE HIS SUCCESS AND FAME,

HE WAS TOTALLY UNAFFECTED BY IT. HE’D ACT THE SAME WAY IN PUBLIC AS HE DID AT HOME. HE WAS A VERY HUMBLE MAN.” he made on the sport and its fans.

But to Gary, Sir Jack Brabham’s legacy is more than the sum of his world championships, or the many cars he built, or the many races won.

“The only way I can explain it is like this: You have sports people who do well, and then you have sports people who become superstars, but very few of them are pioneers in their sport. And that’s the thing that separates people like Dad. “I’m just really proud of him. Despite his success and fame, he was totally unaffected by it. He’d act the same way in public as he did at home. He was a very humble man.

“That was him. He was just Jack.”

MTAQ'S HQ NAMED IN HONOUR OF SIR JACK MTAQ’S HEADQUARTERS, THE $10million Automotive Centre of Excellence, was named in honour of Sir Jack Brabham on October 13, 2012, and the great man was in attendance for the official naming ceremony.

The event was also attended by the Premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman, who gave a keynote speech.

The facility was name after Sir Jack in recognition of his reputation as innovator and trailblazer who revolutionised the sport of motor racing both as a driver and a constructor.

Steve Ghost, the Managing Director of the MTA Institute of Technology said at the time that the organisation was thrilled Sir Jack had agreed to lend his name to the facility.

“Naming the Centre in Sir Jack’s honour guarantees that the 2000 students training at the facility each year will be inspired to achieve great things in the automotive industry,” said Mr Ghost.

“The Sir Jack Brabham Automotive Centre of Excellence sets the standard for automotive training in Australia.”

14 | Motor Trader June 2014

Sir Jack Brabham with the Premier of Queensland, Campbell Newman.

At the launch, Sir Jack and his family, including his wife Lady Margaret Brabham, were taken on a tour of the centre and treated to equipment demonstrations by MIT students.

Sir Jack was extremely impressed by the facility and the skills of the young apprentices and told the 200 assembled guests he had ‘learnt a lot’ on the day.

Solar revolution

SOLAR POWER A BOOST TO BUSINESS

W

ITH ENERGY PRICES on the rise, considering an investment in solar power is a sound business proposition.

And with systems available that can supply almost all of a business’s power requirements and which have a financial payback within just a few years, the savings, as well as the environmental benefits, are substantial.

The team at Australian All Energy Solutions (AAES) have installed systems across Qld, providing just such solutions for customers ranging from the rural farming sector to commercial and industrial projects - including the 30kW system at MTAQ’s headquarters.

AAES also recently installed a similar system at the Toowoomba Showgrounds, home of the Royal Agricultural Society of Queensland (RASQ), which plays host to a number of major events during the year, including the Toowoomba Royal Show and the Heritage Bank Ag Show.

Damon Philips, RASQ CEO, has been impressed both with the system installed at the Showgrounds’ Founders’ Pavilion, and with the service supplied by AAES. “AAES were very proactive,” he said. “They came to see us with some proposals and, though we did go to the marketplace and ask a number of organisations for submissions, we found AAES could answer all our questions, had the experience in

“THE SYSTEM WAS COST POSITIVE FROM DAY ONE - THE SAVINGS GENERATED EXCEED OUR PAYMENTS.” these bigger systems, and were really proactive in supplying us the data.

“And the system was cost positive from day one - the savings generated exceed our payments.”

With new, common standards developed between Energex, Ergon Energy and the Solar Power industry, now is an even better time to be considering a move to solar power.

The new standards, proposed to apply across Qld from July 1, include the removal of technical assessments for systems up to 30kVA with a power-limiting device, and the support of battery energy storage systems.

The changes mean there will be less bureaucratic red tape to install large solar systems, and battery power systems will ensure that businesses have power on hand should there be any outages or blackouts.

AAES takes a broader view of energy solutions, complementing the solar panel business with other energy saving plans.

“It’s not a matter of saying ‘put solar panels on every building’,” said AAES founder, Paul Reynolds. “It’s a matter

of identifying what’s the best course of action. We do an energy audit, look at the power bill - we look at everything to determine how best we can help.

Depending on what the customer wants to achieve, we can put a plan together.”

And this approach should be attractive to automotive businesses.

AAES has also teamed up with finance companies to provide plans that let customers install a range of energysaving solutions without a large upfront payment and which have a number of benefits, including no deposit and flexible terms up to seven years.

One example of AAES’ broader energy saving approach is a voltage optimisation system that works in conjunction with solar power.

A high performance unit, the voltage optimisation system reduces and manages the voltage of electricity supplied to equipment, saving energy across lighting, general power and motor loads. Energy savings with the system are in the range of 8-14 per cent, with a payback of two-three years.

Whatever the client’s needs, AAES can help, and once the system is installed, AAES performs regular checks to make sure everything is working well, something that Mr Philips of the RASQ can appreciate.

“Their after-sales service is very good,” he said. “They really want to make sure the system is working, and working for us.”

June 2014 Motor Trader | 15

A SIXTIES SENSATION

S

HANE BROWN LIKES cars. All types of cars.

On the forecourt of CarsGalore - the business he runs with wife Leanne in the picturesque city of Toowoomba - are more than 200 cars of all types, all models, and all marques, ready to be sold to eager buyers.

But these are not the only cars he has, for Shane has a passion for cars that has seen him build a formidable collection of classics that are tucked away in a number of anonymous garages and buildings around the city.

“I’ve got three twin-cam Mark I Escorts, two Mark I RS Escorts and two Cortinas,” he says. “We’ve also got a Lotus 11 reproduction, a ’66 MGB, a ’66 Mini Cooper S, a 1936 Singer Shelsley Special, four Alpha Romeos - including two mid-60s Alpha Junior step noses, a ‘73 Alpha GTB, a VL Brock Commodore that I’ve had from nearly new . . . . . . .”

Shane pauses and thinks for a moment. There are so many in his collection he might have forgotten a few.

“I did have GT Falcons and Triumphs too but I’ve sold all of them,” he adds with a smile. “And I had two Lotus Cortinas until recently, but I sold one of them too.

“That was quite an expensive car - a 1963 pre-airflow A-frame rear-end which was the first of the type.

“I advertised that on the internet and a chap from England bought it and shipped it back over there.”

The words ‘pre-airflow’ are quite important when talking about the Lotus Cortina. The ‘airflow’ itself is just a vent in the back frame that runs down from the roof, but the very first models didn’t have them and, in the world of classic cars, such distinctions are important – and worth a pretty penny.

16 | Motor Trader June 2014

Shane sold the ‘pre-airflow’ Cortina for nearly $90,000.

The ‘airflow’ model he still owns, and which is pictured here, is ‘probably worth in the $50,000 mark.’

However, though it’s worth less than the model Shane sold, this 1964 Mark I is still a rarity.

“They never sold the Lotus Cortina in Australia,” says Shane. “They were a special order. I think only two or three brand new ones ever made it here and the rest were imported over the years. There’s probably only 20 in the country.”

Shane found this Cortina in West Australia and bought it about six years ago.

“It started off with an owner in Queensland,” he says.

“Then it went to Victoria, then to Adelaide than to West Australia. The chap there had it for about ten years.”

The car is, basically, a high-performance Ford Cortina built in collaboration with Lotus to take on the challenge of saloon car racing popular in the ‘60s.

Its 1598cc engine – a 1600cc engine would have moved it into a different racing Class – proved very successful and a Lotus Cortina won the British Saloon Car Championship in 1964 and the cars performed well in the many races then prevalent throughout Europe and the USA. Its racing pedigree is still put to the test when Shane has the chance, most often in ‘Regularity’ races (events in which

Make: FORD MODEL: LOTUS CORTINA MKI YEAR: 1964 ENGINE: 1598CC TRANSMISSION: 4-SPEED MANUAL OWNER: SHANE BROWN OWNED: 6 YEARS

a driver nominates a time it will take to negotiate one lap of a track and the winning driver is the one who can complete laps most consistently near that time).

“I use it as a road car but have used it for ‘regularity’ races too, and hill climb events like the Noosa Hill Climbs.

“I didn’t buy it with the intention of racing it,” he adds. “I just always liked the Cortina and they don’t come up for sale very often.”

When Shane bought the Cortina it was in such good shape that he had to do very little work to it, and anything that does need doing he does himself.

“Most of the people who bought them were enthusiasts and didn’t drive them all that much,” he says. “This one has only 57,000 miles on it. None of these old cars, especially these kinds of cars, have done big mileage.

“And they’re a very easy car to work on too. No computers or electrics! They’re pretty easy to look after. The only thing I did was put a set of track tyres on and upgrade the brake pads so I could race it.”

And although he has raced it on occasion - and in its lifetime the car has taken part in the Classic Adelaide Rally – Shane, like many classic car owners, is sparing on its use, driving it enough to keep it ticking over and healthy.

“I probably only do 100 miles a year in it now,” he says.

DO YOU HAVE A PRIDE AND JOY IN THE GARAGE THAT YOU WOULD LOVE TO SEE IN THE PAGES OF MOTOR TRADER? Contact Jonathan Nash at jonathann@ mtaq.com.au or 07 3237 8721 and let’s see if we can share your classic with other members.

“I might drive it to work 10 times a year but I only live 4kms away, so that’s not a lot.”

Driven by a passion for motorcars, it seems entirely possible that Shane will find more classics to join the Lotus Cortina in his collection.

“I’ve never gone looking for the cars I’ve bought,” he says.

“I’ve just come across them. They’ve all been impulse buys.”

Quite where he will find room to keep them is another story. The real estate agents of Toowoomba must be rubbing their hands with glee at the prospect.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 17

News

HOCKEY’S ‘TOUGH’ BUDGET of undertaking their training and the program is designed to provide assistance with the expenses associated with living, learning and completing an apprenticeship.

Other, smaller commitments to fund programs designed to help small and medium sized businesses, include a $2.8 million commitment to assist businesses in bidding for Government contracts.

The Budget will likely hit some bumps in the road with some members of the Senate saying they will block parts of it. We will keep an eye on proceedings.

M

AY’S FEDERAL BUDGET was one of the most contentious in decades.

Benefit cuts, welfare restrictions, tax increases – all found their way into Treasurer, Joe Hockey's Budget and Prime Minister Tony Abbott was firm in his pronouncements: “The tough but responsible measures are absolutely necessary to secure Australia’s economic future,” he said.

And there are certainly some ‘tough’ measures: The $7 ‘patient contribution’ fee for GP visits; the reduction of the eligibility threshold for Family Tax Benefit B; the pension age increasing to 70 in 2035 . . . and the list goes on.

Unsurprisingly, these propositions were met with howls of indignation.

‘Tony Abbott’s budget emergency is nothing more than a cheap attempt to justify unnecessary taxes and unfair cuts,” stated Labor leader Bill Shorten.

The government, however, insists such measures are necessary to tackle a ‘debt and deficit disaster’ left for them

by Labor. According to them, Labor ran up five record deficits, a further $123 billion in projected deficits, and gross debt was headed towards $667 billion.

The claim in the weeks since the budget, and one that will likely be repeated as the government tries to sell the Budget to the public, has been that 18 | Motor Trader June 2014

Australia is now spending $1billion just to pay the interest on that debt.

For small to medium-size businesses, and motorists too, there is both pain and gain.

For motorists, the pain will be felt thanks to the reintroduction of the twice annual indexation of fuel excise to the Consumer Price Index.

The government has said it will invest the funds in road infrastructure.

These investments will include, they say, $229 million for a national highway upgrade program, $200 million to reduce road ‘black spots’ and $350 million for a Road to Recovery program – a program designed to support maintenance of the nation’s local road infrastructure.

The government also announced the company tax rate will drop from 30 per cent to 28.5 per cent - a change the government estimates will help 300,000 small businesses.

However, high-income earners - those who earn more than $180,000 will pay more via the 2 per cent ‘deficit tax’ or ‘temporary budget repair levy’ over three years.

For apprentices there will be the new Trade Support Loans, paid in instalments and totalling up to $20,000 over four years. The loans are intended to help apprentices with the costs

SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISE INITIATIVES From July 1, 2015, the Corporate Tax rate will be cut by 1.5 per cent to 28.5 per cent.

From January 1, 2015, the Government will establish a training fund for SMEs, allocating $476million over four years.

Funds will be allocated to the ACCC to ensure that protection against unfair contract provisions are extended to SMEs, as well as consumers $2.8 million has been allocated to assist SMEs to ensure they can be more successful in bidding for Government contracts.

A Small Business Ombudsman will act as a point of contact for SMEs to access Government support programs and engage in dispute resolution.

An estimated $484.2million will be spent over five years as part of the Entrepreneur’s Infrastructure Program to help SMEs in the commercialisation of new products and boost job creation.

Business will get up to $10,000, over 2 years, to hire full-time, mature age workers (over 50 years old) as part of the Restart program.

Individuals with taxable income exceeding $180,000 per year will pay a Temporary Budget Repair Levy at a rate of two per cent for three years.

ESSENTIALS Contents 19 Training matters 23 Members matters 26 Member profiles

ACTION TRANSMISSIONS KILLARNEY AUTOWORKS ULTRA TUNE WEST TOOWOOMBA

30 Industrial relations

THE DROP-OUT RATE FOR APPRENTICES IS EXCEPTIONALLY HIGH - MORE THAN 50 PER CENT OF STUDENTS LEAVE WITHIN THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF THEIR COURSE.”

have an in-depth knowledge of industry and the national training system and are available to the apprentice and the employer through the apprentice’s initial training period.

Since 2012, MTA Institute of Technology has assisted MAAP consultants in identifying apprentices that may need help during the first year of their apprenticeship.

And it has been a most successful enterprise.

Though the national statistics reveal a 50 per cent drop-out rate amongst apprentices, for those identified as ‘at risk’ and who have been assisted by the MAAP mentoring program, the statistics are much healthier, with the drop-out rate in single figures.

It’s a success that MIT and MTAQ can be proud of.

MT talks to three of our MAAP mentors about their work, their motivations and their backgrounds.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 19

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MEMBERS

OR MANY INDIVIDUALS, starting an apprenticeship will be the first time they have been involved in industry, and it is a step that can be both exciting and daunting.

For the young and inexperienced, dealing with the requirements of a new workplace, and any personal or work difficulties that crop up at the same time, can be extremely stressful - a challenge that can affect their capacity to work productively, or even to complete their apprenticeship tasks.

And, unfortunately, this does take place far too often.

In fact, the drop-out rate for apprentices is exceptionally high - more than 50 per cent of students leave within the first two years of their course.

It is a sobering statistic.

And it is a problem recognised by the federal government which, in 2012, began funding the Mentors/ Adviser Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) program - an initiative designed to encourage apprentices to keep on and kick through to finish their apprenticeship.

The key aim of the program is for industry-experienced automotive mentors to support apprentices in their first 12 months of training, to help lift overall apprentice retention rates and to improve the apprenticeship experience for apprentices and employers in a more sustainable way.

Those who take the positions of automotive apprenticeship mentors

M E M B E R S

MAAP MENTORS MAKING A DIFFERENCE “ F

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Training matters

MAL BEATTIE

MAL BEATTIE IS the newest recruit to the MTAQ MAAP team, joining in November 2013.

A 31-year veteran with a global agricultural machinery company, Mal’s experience runs the gamut from area service manager, retail store service manager and training manager on a national, and indeed international, basis.

A diesel fitter by trade, Mal’s experience however, extends well beyond the agricultural machinery industry. He also worked in quality assurance for Boeing’s Wedgetail program that saw the development of the state-of-the-art, early-warning Wedgetail aircraft now in service with the RAAF.

“IT IS SATISFYING

WORK WHEN YOU HELP, BUT THEN THERE IS THE REALISATION THAT YOU’VE ACHIEVED SOMETHING BECAUSE SOMEONE WAS IN TROUBLE.”

“That was a very exciting project,” said Mal. “And what that showed me was that you can transfer certain skills across a broad range of projects.”

And those skills, and that experience, have helped Mal with his mentoring role.

“I am a diesel fitter by trade, but you don’t get a certificate for experience.

“For instance, for part of my career I was involved with spare parts for 20 | Motor Trader June 2014

agricultural machinery. Some of the apprentices I deal with now are Parts Interpreters, so I can identify with them by drawing on experiences I’ve had.

“That broad spectrum of experience is very beneficial in engaging with others.”

Mal currently assists 86 apprentices in an area west of Brisbane – out as far as Charleville, to Goondiwindi and up as far as Emerald.

“A huge percentage of apprentices have only minor issues,” said Mal. “The most common is the transition from school to work - schooling doesn’t have the same disciplines as the workforce.”

For Mal, an apprentice who can secure a relationship with a mentor within their own workforce has a better chance of staying in the trade.

“The reason I say that is because that partnership can help the apprentice mature,” he said. “They need to bridge the gap between school and work as quickly as possible.

“Because the apprentice only sees us a few times a year, it’s important for them to engage with someone else.”

As with other members of the MAAP team, encouraging apprentices to open up to discuss their personal issues is something Mal has to work at.

“It’s a matter of giving them the confidence to share with you,” said Mal. “The hardest information to get out of that relationship is 'outside-ofwork' issues.

“Generally they will talk about their boss, or their colleagues, or other workplace issues but if we leave it there then a lot of them will fall through the gaps.

“The personal life issues are different and you have to dig for it sometimes.”

And that leads Mal to recognise the irony in the work he does.

“It is satisfying work when you have made a difference, but then there is the realisation that you’ve achieved something because someone was in trouble.

“A big percentage of the job is dealing with minor things, which may be less interesting, but that’s the way we’d like it to stay.

“However, when you can see you’ve helped, it’s very satisfying indeed.”

MARK REYNOLDS

COVERING AN AREA that he describes as ‘basically the top of Queensland’, Mark Reynolds can cover a fair bit of ground in his role as mentor.

From Cairns to Townsville to Mt Isa, and plenty in between, Mark’s days can be long.

“Some days I can drive 600 km and see three or four people. Other days I’ll be in Cairns and Townsville for a few days in a row and see 20.”

With more than 100 apprentices on his books, Mark puts his experience as both a trained mechanic and high school teacher to good use.

“I worked as a mechanic for quite a number of years and ran a workshop for a national freight company.

“When my children came along I retrained, became a teacher, and spent 8 years in high school teaching automotive and engineering. But I really wanted to be involved in the industry, supporting people and helping them to achieve their life goals. In 2012, I took on the position as a MAAP mentor.”

As with the other members of the MAAP team, Mark sees many reasons for apprentices struggling to sustain their enthusiasm for their positions.

“I don't think there is one single key issue,” he said. “But one would definitely be the transition from high school. Moving from school to the bottom of the food chain in the career structure can be a culture shock.”

“There is an issue of the commitment to an apprenticeship too,” said Mark.

“And I have seen a lot more employers put on apprentices who are in their twenties - who have a bit of life

MIT TRAINER PROFILE

“WE’VE HAD 841 apprentices on the MAAP program since it started and currently we are working with 504 apprentices across the state,” said Peter Ruhanen, the manager of MTAQ’s MAAP team, commenting on the scale of their work.

Though the mentoring program has been running for only two years, Peter’s working background has seen him accumulate vast experience in the automotive training industry.

“I’ve been part of the MAAP program since the end of 2012.”

“I did my apprenticeship in the heavy commercial sector, had my own business and then moved into the area of apprentice training, managing a number of training organisations,” he said.

“Apprentice training has been the majority of my career. I was a training

What is your specialised area?

Qualified light vehicle and heavy vehicle mechanic, and auto electrician.

What is your background in the automotive industry?

Mechanic for 26 years working on cars and trucks, and performing RACQ callouts.

When did you become a trainer for MTA Institute of Technology?

I started with MIT in June 2010.

What geographical area do you service?

I cover the Wide Bay Area, Hervey Bay, Maryborough and Gympie.

What is the most satisfying aspect of your role as a trainer for MTA Institute of Technology?

Being able to sign up an apprentice

and being able to train them right though to being qualified.

What do you believe is the most important aspect of training?

Being able to share my experience and knowledge with apprentices.

Why should someone consider a career in the automotive industry?

It is very satisfing to be able to fix faults in cars and have the thanks of customers.

What is the best piece of advice you can give to an apprentice starting out in the industry?

It is a hard field to get into but very rewarding - it can take you places.

When you’re not training, what do you like to do?

Work on mates' cars and trucks, relax with the family and watch motor racing.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 21

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TERRY PALFREY

PETER RUHANEN

ombudsman here in Queensland for seven years before moving into this role and the MAAP program.”

For Peter, the MAAP program is something the industry needs, especially the smaller businesses.

“The bigger companies can have professionals to look after these situations,” said Peter. “But the small business operator - the bloke with the small workshop - doesn’t have time.

“That’s where we come in. We can help assist them to fill that sort of gap.”

Currently, Peter works the Brisbane and Gold Coast area, mentoring 140 apprentices across that region.

“We try and work with them to see what their issues are. And there can be any number of reasons.

“Young guys, and girls, have a whole raft of issues they have to deal with, and once they do open up you can hear some quite amazing things - from drug problems to relationship problems.

“Whatever it is, we try and come up with a plan to keep them at work, to take the long term view and get them to see five or ten years down the line.”

Peter’s experience and dedication to the industry is something shared by the MAAP team, fueling their desire to help apprentices reach their potential.

“We have a real passion for our industry,” he said. “And the apprentices are the future of the industry.”

M E M B E R S

experience and are ready to make that commitment.”

“I also think there is a point to be made about recruitment practices,” he added. “I would even say to businesses that they use a recruitment company.

They might charge you a few dollars but the business can be saved a lot of pain.”

Mark has also had to deal with apprentices who have gone through some very tough situations indeed.

“I've helped a couple of kids whose parents have died and I’ve dealt with kids who have had drug abuse problems. Those were pretty rough.

“The majority of my kids are young males and talking about mental health or emotional resilience topics like that with young adolescent males is not prevalent in Australian culture. It can be a very difficult topic to broach.”

Mark said there was one thing that a prospective apprentice could do to ensure they were going in to the apprenticeship with their eyes open.

“Get work experience at the place you want an apprenticeship. That way you know what the work is and the personalities you’ll be around. Get to know the business and the people in it.”

As tough as the job can be, and as dire as some of the situations he deals with are, the satisfaction when an apprentice is helped to stay in the job is undeniable.

“It is good when you see a gleam of gratitude in the apprentice’s eyes,” said Mark. “There are those heartwarming moments.”

E S S E N T I A L S M E M B E R S

Training matters

JORDAN SCORES TOP APPRENTICE NOMINATION J ORDAN GEARY, A 20-year-old newly qualified tradesman working at Brisbane City Council’s Virginia Bus Depot, has been nominated for the prestigious regional Queensland Apprentice of the Year award.

In what proved to be a fruitful couple of weeks for the MIT-trained mechanic, he completed his apprenticeship (a dual qualification in Cert III in Automotive Mechanical Technology-Heavy Vehicle Road Transport and Cert III Automotive Specialist-Diesel fitting), was offered full-time employment with Brisbane Transport and, on the very same day that he was signing his full-time employment papers, was told of his nomination.

“I wasn’t aware I had even been nominated,” said Jordan. “I was signing some paperwork when I was told.

“I was pretty happy. The whole day was good news. Being put on full-time and being told of the nomination - I was pretty happy with that.”

Peter Kelly, Garage Manager at the Virginia Depot, was proud of Jordan’s nomination.

“Jordan has become a hardworking

Jordan Geary

and valuable member of the team,” he said. “He takes a lot of pride in his work and he’s a real go-getter. That’s the main thing that makes him stand out - he always wants to go that one step further.

He’s proactive, that would be the best way to describe him.”

Jordan’s MIT trainer, Scott Lewis, was equally pleased for his young charge.

“Jordan poured it on at the end – and gave it a big push to complete the apprenticeship,” he said. “He’s worked really hard.

“He’s a lively, upbeat, well-liked person in the workshop and the fact that he’s now got a full-time position speaks volumes for his ability.”

And Jordan is just as enthusiastic about his MIT training.

“The first trainer I worked with, Paul Darwin, was really good and Scott has been fantastic since I started working with him. He worked really hard to get me signed-off for the full-time job.”

As for the future, Jordan’s happy with his position with Brisbane Transport and looking forward to proving that his nomination - an impressive achievement in itself - is one he fully deserves.

“I am happy for myself but I want to prove that it’s not just a stroke of luck,” he said. “I want to show that I have worked hard to get where I am.

“I like to try and push myself. I don’t like to stand around – I’m being paid to work, after all.”

With an attitude like that, it would be hard to think there would be a more deserving winner.

MIT BACK AT GOLD COAST CAREER EXPO MORE THAN 10,000 people searching for inspiration made their way to the Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast in May to attend the annual Gold Coast Career Expo.

And MTA Institute of Technology (MIT) was back too, taking its place among the more than 100 exhibitors offering encouragement, information and guidance to those with an interest in the automotive trades.

Business Development Manager Anthony Bonaccorso and Administration and Sales Support Officer Danielle Taylor were on hand to offer advice to the would-be tradies.

And the interest was not limited to

22 | Motor Trader June 2014

Danielle Taylor and Anthony Bonaccorso at the Gold Coast Career Expo

high-school students, with a number of mature-age attendees expressing interest in automotive trades and the work of MIT. “Career Expos are a component of our business in which we need to have a presence,” said Mr Bonaccorso.

“Everybody who works in our industry, including industry bodies, are represented here and it’s all about giving students options.

“If a student is keen to do automotive trades, we can give them the information about the courses we do and let them know that, if they get an apprenticeship, world-class training is available right here with us.”

ARD WORK AND attention to detail has paid off for MTAQ member Llewellyn Subaru, with the Ipswich-based dealership securing the prestigious National Subaru Dealer of the Year Award for 2013.

The award - that will sit nicely next to the ‘Brisbane Region Dealer of the Year’ that the business also won recently - was presented to Dealer Principal Wade Llewellyn at an awards night in Sydney in March.

It was an award the business had been working towards for some time.

“We’ve been striving for this for several years,” said Wade. “But everything came together for us in 2013.

“Why we are excited about it is because the award takes a look at the whole dealership. It’s not just about the sales - it’s about customer satisfaction in sales, customer satisfaction in parts and service, accessories, even the financial reporting - everything is taken into account.”

Wade puts much of the success down to Subaru’s ‘Net Promoter

Score’ (NPS) system - a system that enables the business to track customers' considerations of its performance.

“Anybody who buys a car, buys a part, or gets their car serviced gets a call and, to put it simply, are asked to tell us, on a scale of one to ten, whether they would recommend us to family and friends,” said Wade.

“If they don’t give us a nine or ten, then we ask what we would have to do to get a nine or ten. That information is tallied up in our systems and is presented to the service advisor and sales staff at the beginning of every day.

‘Those highlighted items are what we try to rectify. That’s how we’ve been able to achieve what we have - by listening to customers and implementing changes based on their feedback.”

Llewellyn Subaru was established in 2004, becoming part of the Llewellyn Motor Group.

Founded by Wade’s father Ross Llewellyn in 1991 after many years in the business, the Group now encompasses Holden, Toyota and

Hyundai dealerships, as well as Subaru.

The Llewellyn name has been a fixture of the automotive industry in the area for many years. In fact, as MT conducts this very interview, Ross Llewellyn’s career in the industry hits the quite astonishing mark of 20,000 days - that’s approximately 54 years.

With that legacy to build upon, it’s little wonder Wade sees the Group continuing to move successfully forward. And that includes Llewellyn Subaru which, with this National award, has already achieved its' milestone goal but will strive to keep improving.

“Winning the award was very nice.

It was genuinely a surprise,” said Wade.

“When I got back it was good to be able to show everybody that the work they’d been doing had resulted in such national recognition.”

“The NPS system keeps us very focused,” he added. “Our mantra is to ensure that every person is promoting our business. That will be our focus and we hope that keeps us at the level we are at now.”

Wade Llewellyn receives the 2013 National Retailer of the Year Award from Subaru Australia Managing Director Nick Senior, while Mr Tomohiro Ishitobi, Fuji Heavy Industries General Manager of the Asia-Pacific and Latin America Sales and Marketing Department looks on.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 23

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LLEWELLYN SUBARU WINS DEALER OF THE YEAR H

M E M B E R S

Members matters

YOUR SUPER OBLIGATIONS A FEW REMINDERS SUPER GUARANTEE

The Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate has started its gradual climb from 9% to 12% over seven years.

The table below shows the timetable for the increase in the SG rate. The Government has proposed a 2 year delay to the timetable for making further increases to the SG rate, however this delay is proposed only and is not yet law.

Note – if your employees are covered by an award or agreement which specifies a higher contribution, then you must pay the higher amount.

And remember – you now have to pay the super guarantee for employees over the age of 70 as the upper age limit has been abolished.

Year

% Rate

2013/2014

9.25

2012/2013 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019 2019/2020

9

9.5

10.00 10.50 11.00 11.50 12.00

CHOICE OF FUND

If your employees are eligible to choose a superannuation fund, the choice of Fund legislation requires employers to nominate a default fund for their employees’ superannuation payments.

From 1 January 2014, all employers who make contributions into a default super fund on behalf of their employees must pay those contributions into a Fund that has received MySuper authorisation from the Government.

MTAA Super is a complying fund and is MySuper authorised. My AutoSuper, our balanced investment option, is our MySuper authorised product.

NEW DATA AND E-COMMERCE STANDARD

As part of the Government’s SuperStream reforms, from 1 July 2014, data standards and use of e-commerce will become mandatory for employers with 20 or more employees making contributions. This will represent a change for many employers, even those currently utilising an electronic channel.

In addition, employers will be required to submit both their default and choice contributions in the same electronic format.

To assist with these changes, MTAA Super is now offering a Clearing House solution to its employers. The MTAA Super Clearing House will enable employers to submit a single contribution advice and single payment for their employees which will cover all fund memberships (MTAA Super default and choice).

It will also manage the reconciliation of payment to the contribution advice and distribute the payment to all nominated funds (and fund member accounts).

With the introduction of the Clearing House, employers will see a significant benefit in terms of reducing the time and cost in managing superannuation obligations, and most importantly, will be complying with the 1 July 2014 legislative requirements.

FREE SEMINARS FOR EMPLOYERS

To help you understand your obligations we will be running seminars throughout the year.

If you would like to attend a seminar on super obligations for employers, contact your local Business Development Manager, whose details can be found at www.mtaasuper.com.au/BDM

HELP YOUR EMPLOYEES MAKE THE MOST OF THEIR SUPER

We know you value your employees and they are important to your business. Helping them understand the importance of their super is doing them a favour that will benefit them in years to come. An MTAA Super Business Development Manager (BDM) can run education sessions in your workplace covering all aspects of super. Call us on 1300 362 415 to be put in touch with your local BDM.

This document is issued by Motor Trades Association of Australia Superannuation Fund Pty Limited (ABN 14 008 650 628, AFSL 238 718) of Level 3, 39 Brisbane Avenue Barton ACT 2600, Trustee of the MTAA Superannuation Fund (ABN 74 559 365 913). Motor Trades Association of Australia Superannuation Fund Pty Limited has ownership interests in Industry Super Holdings Pty Ltd, ME Bank Pty Ltd and Superpartners Pty Ltd. The information provided is of a general nature and does not take into account your specific financial needs or personal situation. You should assess your financial position and personal objectives before making any decision based on this information. We also recommend that you seek advice from a licensed financial adviser. The MTAA Super Product Disclosure Statement (PDS), an important document containing all the information you need to make a decision about MTAA Super, can be obtained by calling MTAA Super on 1300 362 415. You should consider the PDS in making a decision.

mtaasuper.com.au

An Industry SuperFund

THE INDUSTRY SUPER FUND FOR THE AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY.

Follow us on facebook: MTAA Super Pathways for news on careers and employment.

Motor Trades Association of Australia Superannuation Fund Pty Ltd (ABN 14 008 650 628, AFSL 238 718) is the Trustee of MTAA Superannuation Fund (ABN 74 559 365 913). You should consider whether or not MTAA Super is appropriate for you. The MTAA Super Product Disclosure Statement (PDS) can be obtained by calling us on 1300 362 415. You should consider the PDS in making a decision.

E S S E N T I A L S M E M B E R S

Member profiles

Action Transmissions

Killarney Autoworks Location: 35 Willow Street, Killarney QLD 4373 Type of business: Car sales – automotive repairs Number of employees: 4 Trading since: 2009 MTAQ member since: 2009

Ultra Tune West Toowoomba

26 | Motor Trader June 2014

How did you hear about the Motor Trades Association of Queensland? (MTAQ) Trade knowledge.

How has being an MTAQ member benefited your business?

Through tech support, car sales merchandise, signage, legal advisory service.

What has been your proudest business achievement to date?

Winning Heritage Business Award 2010. Becoming a motor dealer.

What is the best thing about working in your industry?

In a small town your customers are your friends.

What is the best piece of business advice you have ever given or been given?

Work like you’re always being watched.

What would you say to someone thinking about joining MTAQ? Don’t hesitate.

Type of business: Automatic Transmission Specialist Number of employees: 3 Trading since: 1972 MTAQ member since: 2005

How has being an MTAQ member benefited your business?

Keeps us up to date with technical support and other useful information.

What has been your proudest business achievement to date?

Being able to survive in business through difficult times.

What is the best thing about working in your industry?

Satisfaction of being able to solve difficult transmission problems and having happy customers.

What is the best piece of business advice you have ever given or been given?

Be honest and straightforward with your customers and perform every job with pride and care.

What would you say to someone thinking about joining MTAQ? Very beneficial - well worth being a member.

Killarney Autoworks

Ultra Tune West Toowoomba

How did you hear about the Motor Trades Association of Queensland? (MTAQ) Through the Ultra Tune group.

Location: Shop 2, 189 Anzac Ave, Toowoomba QLD 4350

How has being an MTAQ member benefited your business?

Help with resolving customer disputes.

Type of business: Automotive repair and service Number of employees: 6 Trading since: 2004 MTAQ member since: 2004

What has been your proudest business achievement to date?

Winning the Queensland Ultra Tune Franchisee of the Year Award for 2009.

What is the best piece of business advice you have ever given or been given?

To set your standards very high and word of mouth is the best form of advertising.

What would you say to someone thinking about joining MTAQ? It is cost effective and you always have advice at your fingertips in the time of need.

What is the best thing about working in your industry?

I have been in the industry for 25 years and I love seeing the changes in motor vehicle technology.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 27

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Location: 9 Baclava Street, Woolloongabba 4102

How did you hear about the Motor Trades Association of Queensland? (MTAQ) We have always known the MTAQ existed.

M E M B E R S

Action Transmissions

E S S E N T I A L S M E M B E R S

Members matters

BANGKOK INTERNATION WORDS CHRIS NIXON

B

ROWSING THE BANGKOK International Motor Show, it’s impossible to not make comparisons with the automotive scene in Australia. Here is evidence of a local manufacturing industry going at full revs – and some of that production inevitably will replace our domestic output lost with the closure of Ford, Holden and Toyota.

Currently, Australia does not have a major motor show. Soon it will not have a car-making industry.

The 35th Bangkok International Motor Show staged recently saw estimated attendance of around 1.7 million and retail sales of 40,000.

Supported by substantial government incentives, Thai-based manufacturers built 2.5 million passenger and commercial vehicles last year, with free-trade partner Australia the destination for almost 230,000.

While Thailand builds a wide range of vehicles – everything from Honda Accords to HiLuxes – the industry’s big driver is the government’s Eco Car program.

As it seeks to build its strength as a regional production hub and its stature within the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN), Thailand has persuaded Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and Suzuki to join Phase One of Eco Car. The segment accounted for just less than 180,000 domestic sales, or 30 percent of the car market, in 2013, on the back of a short-term incentive for first-time buyers aimed at helping the industry recover after disastrous floods.

Overall sales dropped 40 percent in first-quarter 2014 after the incentive ended, but all makers were expected to sign up for Phase Two by April.

Additionally, GM Thailand confirmed it would build its first Eco Car at a new plant at Rayong and Ford signed up, although it has not confirmed production.

Eco Cars must be less than 1.2 litres’ capacity, consume less than one litre 28 | Motor Trader June 2014

The new MG6

of petrol per 22 kms and produce less than 100 grams per km of CO2. They must be designed and built in Thailand, in return for reduced taxes and duties on machinery, reduced excise and 12 percent tax on cars using E85.

Production requirements are 100,000 per year by the fourth year of Phase Two. While helping to put the increasingly prosperous Thai middle class on four wheels instead of two, Eco Cars also are intended as a major export offering.

Australia already sees the Nissan Micra and Mitsubishi Mirage as examples of the type. In Thailand, Toyota sells a version of the Yaris with more economical CVT transmission, Honda produces the Neo and Suzuki has a 1.25 litre Swift. Soon, Suzuki will build another small car, named Celerio, which is expected to come to Australia.

While the light car market in Australia will never be huge, it’s no less likely there is more sales potential from the increasingly sophisticated Eco Cars.

The 1.0 litre Celerio is a high-roof hatchback offering more interior space than conventional Eco Cars. It’s already being built in India, but Australian cars will come from Thailand.

The Celerio was the only new Eco Car at this year’s Bangkok International Motor Show at the

palatial Impact Muang Thong Thani exhibition centre, but there were several other highlights among the 28 car brands exhibited.

Honda brought out an all-new version of its City small car - since released in Australia - and GM showed an updated (Chevrolet-badged) Captiva SUV. Specifications will differ on Australia-bound Captivas, but the most evident changes will be a bigger, squarer front grille and different rear bumper and lights.

In other SUV news, Ford displayed its EcoSport, for which Thailand now is the production hub for markets including Australia.

The Ford Everest appeared as a concept model, but there was no attempt to conceal the fact this is the long-awaited wagon version of the Ford Ranger. Like the Ranger, the Everest was designed by Ford Australia. It will go up against the Isuzu MU-X in local showrooms.

MG, owned by Shanghai Automotive (SAIC), could lift its miniscule profile in Australia when the MG6 starts CKD assembly at a new facility in Rayong in June.

Replacing current deliveries from China, Thai-built MGs are expected here before year’s end.

Members of the Australian auto

President of Grand Prix International,n Dr Prachin Eamlumnown

industry who have forgotten what a car show looks like would find Bangkok International Motor Show a dazzling display.

It drives sales hard. Large and lavish stands display cars at the front, while at the rear are hospitality areas and ranks of sales people ready with order forms. Sales incentives include zero percent finance, zero deposits and free accessories.

While no show opening day is complete without extravagant dazzledazzle, Thai exhibitors continue these ‘reveals’ several times every day for the public. The lighting is so bright, the music so loud, it’s numbing to a western visitor although Thais embrace it cheerfully.

So-called “pretties”, dainty Thai hostesses in extravagant costumes, primp and pose for photographers like models in a teen fantasy magazine.

They’re a vaguely bizarre example of the motor show hostess genre.

The ringmaster of this massive industry showcase is the ambitious President of show organiser Grand Prix International, Dr Prachin Eamlumnow.

The 72-year-old has run his company for 43 years. It stages the motor show, publishes automotive magazines, runs a dedicated internet TV channel Grand Prix TV, a motor

The 'pretties' help are part of the motorshow tradition

racing circuit and is developing a prestige golf resort.

Naturally, he is an enthusiastic advocate of the Thai automotive industry, but his ambitions extend beyond the kingdom. GPI will stage a motor show in Cambodia this year and hopes to do the same next year in Myanmar, then Laos.

He wants to pioneer land-based tourism in Asia, encouraging people to take driving holidays via a six-lane freeway currently being built to connect Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.

Dr Prachin sees a market for Thai-built caravans and motorhomes.

That’s not enough to do? Dr Prachin promises Bangkok International Motor Show 2015 will be bigger, with sections devoted to motorsport, parts and accessories, plus more motorcycles.

He also wants to put Thailand in the spotlight with its own Formula 1 grand prix and has begun talks with the sport’s organisers. Rather than developing a new permanent track, Dr Prachin favours a less expensive street circuit, possibly in Bangkok.

He says the Thai motor industry’s goal is to build three million vehicles a year by 2017. If it achieves this, he will have played a part as the industry’s very public face.

WITH THE AUSTRALIAN International Motor Show cancelled in 2013 and 2014, the opportunity to visit a major international show was an opportunity too good to miss for Rod Pether, MTAQ member and owner of Rod Pether Motors in Townsville, and fellow MTAQ members Steve Eaton from Cairns Accident Repair Centre, and Tim Kane from BP Yandina.

"I hadn't been to a motor show in quite a while,” said Rod. “And I'd heard good reports about it, had checked it out online, and we decided to go.”

The size and prestige of the Show was one that truly impressed and, Rod said, highlighted what Australia needed.

"The support the Bangkok Show gets from the manufacturers is brilliant,” he said. “And that's the reason they can have such a huge and successful show. It seemed like every 15 minutes a manufacturer was presenting something.

“A truly major motor show is something we’re missing here. It would be great to see all the major manufacturers here get together to bring it back.”

Manufacturers took the chance to show off a wide variety of vehicles in Bangkok, including the likes of the luxury McLaren MP4-12C supercar and BMW's $300,000 hybrid i8.

"It was a huge mix,” said Rod. “There was a motorcycle section, and even a section devoted to old Volkswagens.”

Although Thailand is facing some internal political strife, Rod found the trip uneventful in that regard - the Thai people being both helpful and friendly.

The only drawback, it seems, was the weather which, even for a North Queenslander, was a little fierce.

“They're a happy people,” said Rod. “They always want to try and help you.

But it gets very hot. It probably gets to the same temperature as North Queensland but the humidity is tremendous.

“If you can handle the heat it's a lovely country - and of course the food is terrific!”

June 2014 Motor Trader | 29

E S S E N T I A L S

MTAQ MEMBERS TAKE THE TRIP TO THAILAND

M E M B E R S

NAL MOTOR SHOW

E S S E N T I A L S M E M B E R S

Industrial relations

A RECAP ON ANNUAL LEAVE – RIGHTS AND OBLIGATIONS

A

TED KOWALSKI INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS MANAGER

NNUAL LEAVE MAY only be taken by “mutual agreement” between the employer and employee. This applies to when the leave will be taken and how long it will be for. However, a request for annual leave cannot be unreasonably refused and there is no minimum or maximum period of annual leave that may be taken- except that an employee should not be allowed to take more annual leave than has actually accrued. Annual leave accrues at the rate of 1/13th of the ordinary hours worked each week – which equates to 2.923 hours per week for a 38 hour week.

Under limited circumstances, an employer may direct an employee to take a period of annual leave.

The Vehicle Manufacturing, Repair, Services and Retail Award and the Clerks Private Sector Award both allow an employer to direct an employee to take annual leave in the following circumstances: • Where an employee has accrued excessive leave i.e. more than eight weeks’ leave; and • As a part of the annual close-down of the business (e.g. Christmas break).

“UNDER LIMITED

CIRCUMSTANCES, AN EMPLOYER MAY DIRECT AN EMPLOYEE TO TAKE A PERIOD OF ANNUAL LEAVE.”

Where the employee has accrued excessive leave they cannot be directed to take more than one quarter of their total accrued leave.

At times you may have employees that exhaust their personal (sick) leave entitlements. If the period of personal leave exceeds the accrued personal leave there is no automatic entitlement to be paid the balance of the absence from their annual leave. In such a case the employee must request for the balance to be paid out of their annual leave accrual.

You are not obliged to agree to that payment from annual leave, however, as stated above, you cannot unreasonably refuse a request for annual leave.

If you are unsure as to your rights and obligations with regards to annual leave please contact either Ted Kowalski or Michelle Chadburn in our Industrial Relations Department for further assistance.

MTA QUEENSLAND WELCOMES THE FOLLOWING NEW MEMBERS Business Name

Principal/s

Address

Email

Division

Archerfield Smash & Mechanical Repairs

Fui Lim

Unit 1, 10-16 Lensworth Street COOPERS PLAINS Q 4108

Archerfield.smash@gmail.com

NACA

City Auto Repair Service

Danny & Peter Elisseos

104 Deshon Street WOOLLOONGABBA Q 4102

sbbw@bigpond.com

NACA

Classic Body Works

Ricky Norris

5 McLaughlin Street NORTH ROCKHAMPTON Q 4701

rick@classicbodyworks.com.au

NACA

Dymock’s Mechanical

David Dymock

2 Hogan Street, STUART Q 4811

ddymock@bigpond.net.au

AED

General Panel Works

Mark & Tammy Jamieson

91 Denison Street ROCKHAMPTON Q 4700

repairs@generalpanel.com.au

NACA

Stuart Drive Autocare

Rhys Essery

362 Stuart Drive, WULGURU Q 4811

admin@sdautocare.com.au

AED

Terry Nangle Smash Repairs

Noel Wagner

24 Price Street, Nambour QLD 4560

nwagner@nanglesmash.com.au

NACA

30 | Motor Trader June 2014

Investment matters

MARKET WRAP

O

VER THE PAST month we witnessed a large divide in markets. High PE growth stocks came under pressure, while defensives performed well despite trading at lofty multiples. We will focus this month on the valuations in these segments that are causing us some concerns, and then look at the banking sector to see if the strong run can continue.

The past month has seen a significant contraction in the valuation dispersion between high and low PE stocks. We view the recent pullback as healthy, but are still concerned about the ability of these stocks to maintain these multiples, especially given the flow of money these stocks have attracted in a world where growth is scarce and they are susceptible to further pullbacks.

As quantitative easing is unravelled and bond yields rise, the relative attractiveness of this segment wanes.

In a growth-constrained global market we expect companies that can deliver sustainable double-digit growth will continue to deserve a premium.

However we are seeking to find that growth in areas not as well covered by the market.

Defensive stocks were the first to attract interest following the GFC when investors remained risk averse.

As a consequence, we have seen the PEs on these companies increase despite the growth profile deteriorating in recent years. While earnings for these companies remain defensive, we note a deteriorating returns profile. Consumer staples have been buying growth in recent years (e.g.

Woolworths expanding store capacity at a faster rate than population growth).

Woolworths, Wesfarmers and CocaCola in particular have delivered soft earnings growth despite heavy capital expenditure over the past three years.

Each of these companies has spent well over 2x capex to depreciation, which is not good for shareholder returns, particularly in a low-growth environment. In addition, Tatts and Tabcorp face increased competition and structural change from the internet and Telstra faces significant disruption from the introduction of the NBN. The Australian banking sector has experienced solid share price growth over a numbers of years. Despite the impact of the GFC, bank profits have risen steadily driven by improving net interest margins, cost efficiencies and low bad debt charges.

The GFC solidified the dominant position of the major banks in the market place as foreign banks retreated from Australia, while regional banks were either taken over (Bankwest and St George) or distressed and undercapitalised. This has enabled the major banks to capture market share. However a significant level of improvement in profitability has come from a decline in bad debt expenses.

The banks were quick to aggressively provision for problem loans, and with low interest rates and an improving economy, losses have been more subdued than expected. For example, ANZ has improved profits by $2.9b since 2009, but $1.8b of this (62%) was from an improvement in bad debt expenses.

Future profit growth will be more reliant on underlying improvements in revenue and costs. While we expect the bad debt environment to remain subdued, the level of write backs

will slow and the bad debt charge will slowly normalise. Future profit growth will likely be driven by a small pick-up in credit growth offsetting a slight pick-up in competitive behaviour and a continued focus on extracting efficiencies from IT. We expect steady mid-digit profit growth.

The largest risk to the sector is, as always, economic conditions in Australia. Australia has a greater exposure to the housing sector than other countries and as a result will be vulnerable to a decline in employment.

This seems like a moderate risk at present.

Dominant market positions, steady profit growth, strong capital levels, and benign asset quality provides a reasonable basis for steady dividend growth, and ultimately steady share price appreciation. However we are somewhat cautious in the short term regarding the multiples the banks are attracting, particularly given the bad debts are at a low point in the cycle.

DISCLAIMER This document provides general information only and is not intended to be a recommendation to invest in any product or financial service mentioned above.

Investment in a Dalton Nicol Reid individually managed account can only be made on completion of all the required documentation.

Whilst Dalton Nicol Reid has used its best endeavours to ensure the information within this document is accurate it cannot be relied upon in any way and recipients must make their own enquiries concerning the accuracy of the information within.

June 2014 Motor Trader | 31

Industry insight

MAKE THIS FINANCIAL YEAR YOUR BEST W ITH THE END of financial year just around the corner, it’s a great time to consider the results for this year and what you want to achieve next year.

There is an old saying “If you aim at nothing you will hit the target with amazing accuracy.” If you want to improve the results in your business a target to aim for and a system for monitoring progress is a great start.

As a business owner here are a few questions to ask at this time of year: • How were our results against target for this year?

• Did we have a target for this year?

• Are we happy with the results for this year?

• How accurate are the results for this year?

• What do we want to achieve next year?

• What can we learn from this year to improve next year’s results?

It can be difficult to find the time to consider these issues when you’re busy running a business, but a small amount of time spent NOW can pay big dividends to your results next year.

Here are a few ‘key issues’ to consider and get control of: Compare Results: Have a budget i.e. something to compare actual results against, that way you have a regular procedure for checking income and costs are on track. You can see very quickly if margins are slipping, find out why and take corrective action.

Identify Overspending: If you don’t have a monthly budget you may not find out until way after the financial year (sometimes eighteen months later, if you rely on accounts produced for tax) that you have overspent on some items.

Imagine if you had a small number of items of overspending that added up to say $1,000 per month. If you left it until tax accounts are prepared it could cost you $18,000 in lost profits.

32 | Motor Trader June 2014

With a monthly budget you can identify overspending quickly and take action to fix it. A budget can be entered into most accounting software systems and a ‘Budget versus Actual’ Profit and Loss can be printed so that you can easily see any variances and manage them.

Spending Limits: A budget lets your staff know there are limits on spending.

It’s amazing how some staff will keep spending if they don’t have a limit.

Tip: A really valuable tool to use here is a ‘Purchase Order’. This is a one-page document that is completed by staff wanting to order/buy something over a value of say $100, that needs to be authorized by a senior manager prior to order placement.

The value of this tool is that the senior manager may know something the person ordering doesn’t know, such as obsolescence or a better way of achieving the result. This can save literally thousands of dollars every year!

Resources: A budget helps you to plan what resources will be required to achieve the sales you plan.

It’s important to match the outgoings with the income and plan what resources will be necessary. Thus avoiding ‘Crisis Management’ which is no good for morale.

Funding: If you want to acquire new business funding or ‘roll over’ current lending, you will definitely be required to produce a Budget and probably a Business Plan.

A lending institution needs to be confident you have ‘thought through’ your business and funding requirements.

If they can see that you regularly measure actual versus budgeted results they will feel much more comfortable with you as a borrower.

Break-Even: Some people say “It’s too hard to do a budget because I can’t predict what I will sell”.

However, most businesses know what their direct costs and overheads

are, so it should be possible to calculate the “Break-even” point. ‘Break-even’ means the level of income you need to cover costs and overheads i.e. not making a profit or a loss but a $0 result.

By knowing your break-even point this puts you in a good position to target sales for profit and create targets for individual people, departments, regions etc.

Anything you can do to increase the Net Profit can have a big impact on the value of your business. As many businesses are sold on a multiple of EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Tax), it makes sense to increase this result.

Many businesses have been run in the past with the aim being to minimise tax, but this isn’t a good strategy if you want to sell your business in order to retire or do something else.

Multiples of EBIT vary depending on the industry and business management, but say it is three – this means that for every extra dollar you can add onto Net Profit, that would be three dollars added onto the value of the business.

If you could increase your profit from $100,000 to $200,000 you would add an extra $300,000 onto the sale price and potential contribution into your superannuation fund on retirement or exit from the business.

It makes sense to invest a little time planning for the profit you want to make in your business and reap the increased business value benefits down the track.

If you would like a ‘kick start’ to producing a simple Budget CFO OnCall has a ‘Budget Tips Sheet’ ( http:// info.cfooncall.com.au/budget-tipswhitepaper ) that can help you on your path to better Profit and Cash flow!

CFO On-Call is a team of financial and business advisors who work with open-minded people, committed to business growth and achieving success.

For help call us on 1300 36 24 36 or visit our website www.CFOonCall.com.au

Vehicle Specific, No Compromise.

If you thought all glow plugs were the same, you’d better think again: on closer inspection, you’ll see that glow plugs come in a variety of shapes and also differ in terms of properties and materials.

All NGK Glow Plugs are designed to suit the specific requirements of each individual make and model to ensure that your customers’ engines perform at their optimum.

• Have a long service life • Offer the latest in high-technology for today… …and tomorrow Installing a set of NGK glow plugs will ensure your engine runs quietly and smoothly and that it’s kinder on the environment too, thanks to the promotion of clean combustion and lower toxic emissions.

Additional benefits include: To find out more about NGK Glow Plugs call 1300 55 40 59 or visit www.ngk.com.au J000068A

• Start engines quickly and smoothly • Offer an excellent post-glow function

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