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VOLUME 5 ISSUE 7 FEBRUARY 2019THE VEHICLE DEALER’S NEWS SOURCE
INSIDE
104
Continued on page 6
Continued on page 7
Bidding adieu to an industry legend P4Sun, Americans versus Aussie genius P8Off-road rebel arrives Down Under P10Beaut ute for clever clogs P15
Dealers reject senate claims on EV sales
The suggestion dealers are not promoting EV sales has “disap-pointed” the Australian Automo-
tive Dealer Association (AADA).The response comes as the Senate
Select Committee Inquiry into Electric Vehicles recommends the Australian government develop a national EV strategy increasing EV uptake. It cites the Tesla Owners Club suggesting dealers are “not providing prospective EV buyers with all of the facts” when it came to plugging in.
The Tesla Owners Club of Australia suggested to the committee “tradi-tional car dealerships have generally not been good at promoting electric vehicles.”
“[This is] either due to lack of staff education or a conscious decision to not promote the new technology which needs less after sales service support [which drives their profitabil-ity],” TOCA says in their submission.
AADA chief executive David Black-hall says the idea of car dealers opting not to sell an EV is “completely false”.
Only a fifth of Australian fran-chised dealership sales people reportedly understand their
customers’ needs. The latest JD Power Australia Sales
Satisfaction survey results, from of more than 3000 customers from March 2017 to January 2019, shows Holden and Mazda have the highest mass-brand dealer satisfaction.
In descending order, Kia, Subaru, Mitsubishi and Hyundai dealers need to lift their game in customer under-standing and satisfaction, all scoring below average ratings, behind Honda, Volkswagen and the mass market aver-age score of 802 out of 1000 points.
Based on six criteria - dealer sales consultant, delivery process, dealership
facility, working deals, paperwork pro-cess and dealership website - Holden and Mazda tie for first.
They best Toyota in third, Nissan in fourth and Ford in fifth, while BMW beats luxury brands Audi in second and Mercedes-Benz in third.
The survey shows sales consultants failed to ask 17% of customers what their preferences and requirements were in buying a new car. The same trend was experienced in roughly the same volume of first-time buyers.
For young buyers, 35% aged under 39 years found sales consultants were under unwanted levels of pressure to buy; a further 24% of first-time buyers felt the same way.
Do sales staff misalign with customers?
EasyCars integration with Facebook Marketplace
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2 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
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NEWSTALK
New solutions for workshop staff
The last couple of years have been hard on service departments
and independent workshops across the country as skills-based mechanical training receives fewer and fewer entries into TAFEs every year.
It’s a problem the state-based motor trades associa-tions have been trying to re-solve, but in the meantime, dealerships and repair/ser-vice businesses are having to – sometimes desperately – find staff to pick up the tools at whatever the cost.
Australian automotive tradespersons placement agency Techs On The Move, is launching a new Candidate Pool service to the industry.
The business aims to pro-vide an efficient method to source experienced trades-people for Australian auto-motive employers, offering a new Candidate Pool digital search tool which speeds up the review and selection process for matching suitably skilled staff to the needs of dealerships and workshops country-wide.
Founder Gavin Stocks says staff calibre is virtually turn-key, so to speak.
“Our tradespersons are highly experienced, have great communication skills, and are ready to make a difference as soon as they arrive,” he says.
“We focus our search in international markets where the standard of training most closely matches Aus-tralia’s and since we started in 2010, we’ve been plac-ing experienced overseas tradespeople with Australia’s most desirable automotive employers,” he explains.
Stocks says Candidate Pool potentials are screened and prepared with the knowledge for working in Aussie service departments.
“They understand what it takes to succeed in Aus-tralia, we know our clients are looking to build service teams where results and culture are important,” he says.
“The Candidate Pool digital search tool makes it simpler and more cost-effective for our clients to staff their workshops; we’ve also opened some additional services to make the tricky task of migration easier on all fronts for our clients.
Candidate Pool of-fers potential employers a short biography and video interview with a selection of vetted and prepared candi-dates who can be searched for using various criteria, including particular brands or manufacturer experience and training, as well as their current and other selectable characteristics.
Unlike a range of talent-finding employ-ment agencies, Stocks has tailored the business to specialise in the automotive and transport industries, meaning staff understand not only the sights and smells of an engine bay, but also the emerging changes in vehicle and diagnostic technology.
Tradespeople listed in the Candidate Pool da-tabase may be already in Australia or are keen to move here from abroad. Candidates can be shortlist-ed and contacted directly, with no need for any formal introduction via the busi-ness itself. Desired candi-dates can be sent a contract directly, with personalised and competitively priced migration services available as necessary.
According to Stocks, there are no extensive re-cruitment fees or on-going guarantees with a 12-month subscription, nor are there limits to how many can-didates are contacted or hired through the pro-gramme. Clients can review a sampling of qualified and migration-ready candidates for an investment compara-ble to most Australian jobs’ boards.
Stocks says candidates can to be hired directly and
subscriptions can be spread across a dealer group oper-ating in multiple places.
The business allows multiple user access and rewards businesses that can scale their investment and amortise the cost.
According to the compa-ny, hundreds of tradespeo-ple have been successfully placed within the Australian automotive and transport industry, regularly suppling candidates to large national and multi-franchise dealers and workshops.
“Despite the introduction of the Skilling Australians Fund levy, sourcing interna-tional tradespersons through Techs On The Move can be more cost-effective than it was beforehand,” Stocks adds.
The Victorian Auto-mobile Chamber of Com-merce (VACC) says there are 30,000 jobs waiting for young apprentices.
“Automotive trades have been in a skills shortage for
Techs On The Move founder, Gavin Stock
VACC chief ex-ecutive, Geoff Gwilym
Continued on page 11
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Riddle thisH
ow and why does someone spend almost their entire life working for virtually the same
company?It’s the first thing you wonder when
hearing about Kevin Riddle, who official-ly recorded his retirement from Inchcape Australia on January 2 – having started on the same day way back in 1959, when Sir Robert Menzies was in his third term as prime minister.
Back then Inchcape Australia was known as Larke Consolidated Indus-tries before the company transformed through different names and locations. Despite change, Kevin was a constant.
Inchcape Australia Limited (IAL) prop-erty services was one of Kevin’s primary responsibilities; the “go-to man in times of difficulty and potential disaster,” Inch-cape tells AutoTalk.
“He most recently managed the company’s property services, including maintenance, and also had oversight of vehicle insurance.”
Born in August 1943, as the Allies bombed northern Nazi Germany and pushed the Japanese out of New Guinea, with an identical twin brother Peter join-ing him into the world, “it was in Kevin’s genes to be a loyal and long-serving employee”, Inchcape says.
“His dad drove a truck delivering coal around Sydney his entire working life, in the days when that fuel was the only energy source for domestic cooking and heating,” the company reminds as the modern world enjoys plumbed LPG and natural gas.
Kevin went to school at Naremburn Primary School and Crows Nest High in Sydney, and unlike the self-entitled post-
school travellers and aimless wanderers of 2019, Kevin listened to advice to get an apprenticeship from mum Doris and dad Sidney.
Not even 16 years old, the still-15 Kevin Riddle joined Larke’s in Parramatta Road, Stanmore, and chased his five-year motor mechanic qualification with Ultimo Technical College. The TAFE still offers automotive repair, paint and trim workshops to this day.
Then came Bathurst. Kevin cut his teeth at Australia’s motorsport Mecca working on hot little Fiats, he became part of the pit crew as the Italian brand went up against the muscle car monsters of Geoghegan, Moffat, Beechey and Jane when it was the Armstrong 500.
Back in the garage, Kevin was quickly promoted to checking workmanship and quality on serviced vehicles, and road testing, before again moving up the ranks as a foreman, assistant man-ager, and full manager.
Larke’s transitioned ownership three more times before becoming Inchcape, and Kevin Riddle was still working hard. Sometimes going above and beyond.
When the Wetherill Park, NSW, com-pound opened in 1979, Kevin’s attention was “increasingly grabbed by a series of quirky, yet ultra-reliable, Subarus,” the company describes.
“The Brumby and a variety of Leones took Kevin’s eye. During his entire as-sociation with Subaru, he recalls only one mechanical problem in one driven by him, a fuel pump hiccup,” Inchcape recalls.
Meanwhile Kevin’s role expanded to include management of all Wetherill Park facilities.
Continued on page 17
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NEWSTALK
Nearly 20% of customers felt their test drive was too short, where 80% of all consumers took their provisional new car for a test drive.
However, half of those trying before buying spent 20 minutes or less behind the wheel - a fifth of them didn’t get more than 10 minutes’ drive time.
The 12% of customers who were allowed a test drive longer than half an hour were more satisfied than the sub-10-minute majority.
Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce head of communications David Dowsey says some disconnect is natural given the changing customer
dynamic. “With consumers
only spending a short time on the premises how are dealers really expected to develop the relationships they may have had time to cultivate in the past?” he asks.
“This appears to be a natural exten-sion of buyers spending less time with sales staff in dealerships,” Dowsey explains.
He says dealers are not only re-sponding to the modern consumer’s tendencies, but are also shortening their processes because of a better-informed buyer demographic.
“Some dealers have streamlined the vehicle unveiling and handover ‘ceremony’, due to customer demand; dealers report to VACC that increasing-ly consumers are so excited with their new purchase that they want to get in and out quickly on the day their vehicle arrives,” he reveals.
“To have 83% of customers be-ing asked their requirements is really quite high, and with the remaining 17%, perhaps under some circumstances, the dealer was not encouraged to ask, and conceivably the consumer did not want to be asked,” Dowsey questions of the survey.
“Many automotive dealers and manufacturers have extensive and impressive websites, virtual show-rooms and digital marketing collateral that is consumed by vehicle-buyers,” he reminds.
“These days, a buyer might only visit a dealership twice and spend a com-bined two hours on the premises, but behind the scenes they may have spent many hours on the dealer’s and/or manufacturer’s website learning about different vehicles and even configuring the one they actually intend to pur-chase,” Dowsey continues.
The VACC also says today’s show-room dynamic does not always equate to shock and awe among the consum-er public as some may interpret the JD Power survey.
“Business owners and their em-ployees – whose job it is to sell vehicles – and the consumers who come into their dealerships, may see the sales process differently,” Dowsey says, watering down the idea of dealer dis-illusionment toward customers.
“What a consumer may see as pressure might be viewed by a dealer as being keen for someone’s busi-ness. This is natural,” he adds.
J.D. Power Australia director Bruce Chellingworth says dealers need to consider changing tack as consumers are respond to sales pressure.
“Simply ‘pushing metal’ won’t help the dealership gain positive referral, ensure customer loyalty or promote the brand,” he says.
“In an increasingly competitive market, it is imperative that dealers understand and build trust with their customers,” Chellingworth explains.
He advises sales staff to pay atten-tion to their customer, not the sale.
“Given the slowdown in sales, it is essential that sales consultants spend the required time with each shopper to identify the best model and variant for their requirements,” he concludes.
Continued from page 1
Sales staff misalign with customers
J.D. Power Australia director Bruce Chelling-worth
David Dowsey, VACC
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Dealers reject senate claims on EV sales
“To resist selling EVs would reduce profits and put dealers in breach of their franchising agreements with ve-hicle manufacturers, potentially risking their businesses,” Blackhall says.
“It is very disappointing that this re-port has mentioned evidence claiming that car dealers are not interested in promoting and selling electric vehicles - it is completely false,” he states.
TOCA, which represents over 400 member-owners, says manufacturers and public mis-representation of electric vehicles are also hindering uptake.
“Much public resistance to electric vehicles relates to outdated concepts regarding the range, charging times and
cost of electricity,” the club says.“Car companies can address some of
these through their advertising [if they are truly committed to electric vehicles]; there is a need for a wider education programme to address the historical views,” TOCA says.
TOCA, like the AADA, also supports the removal of Luxury Car Tax to make EV purchase less financially restrictive.
Blackhall says the franchised new car dealership network welcomes its role in putting EVs in Australian driveways.
“There are some important recom-mendations in this report and new car dealers are looking forward to playing our part in supplying EVs to the Austral-ian market,” Blackhall says.
“We are supportive of a public educa-tion campaign and a co-ordinated ap-proach to skills and training. We are also supportive of a CO2 standard, and Aus-tralia should work towards an achiev-able standard that does not punish local consumers and businesses,” he says.
“In our numerous representations to this committee, we consistently made the
point that new car dealers are technology agnostic and will sell whatever vehicles our customers want,” he says.
“Unfortunately, the authors of this report have quoted the Tesla Owners Club and ignored the evidence of Aus-tralia’s 1500 franchised new car dealers and the 70,000 people they employ,” Blackhall says.
The AADA says the government should also abolish the passenger vehi-cle tariffs, which along with LCT, dispro-portionately hampers EV and other low emissions vehicle sales.
“Electric vehicles are part of the future and dealers are determined to be part of a thriving industry which supplies them to the market – the primary reason that they are not yet selling well is related to supply, cost and range.”
Blackhall says talking down the efforts of the tens of thousands of deal-ership employees across Australia will do nothing to accelerate EV uptake.
Both parties agree better education programmes around electric vehicles will benefit sales and consumer interest.
Continued from page 1
8 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
NEWSTALK
In 2017 Australia achieved some-thing truly remarkable, something so enviably world-class it should have
made us prouder than anything any actor, musician or sports person has done.
Twenty-two Australian students not only beat 41 other 100% solar-powered cars represented by 20 other countries, they eclipsed rival teams with intimidat-ing pedigree from the USA, South Africa and Singapore to name a few.
The 2019 Bridgestone World Solar Challenge is officially counting down to its October 13 start, where Western Sydney University engineering students and their team will tackle the intel-lect of some of the world’s cleverest young people and battle the heat of Australia’s Stuart Highway from Darwin to Adelaide.
The aim is to build an entirely self-sustaining vehicle that only uses the electricity derived from photovoltaic solar cells absorbing the sun’s rays. Then, teams must get themselves through checkpoints to the finish line 3000km away before anyone else.
Three classes are designed to achieve three different things: Ad-venture is a non-competitive class; Cruiser is the efficient, practical class taking more than one person; and then there’s Challenger, the class for the fast.
University of Michigan was the team to beat in 2017, with nine na-tional championships and a team of 70 students – even a cheer squad by the looks of their website – our Aussie bat-tlers from Western Sydney, managed to
outgun Goliath, as it were.Team leader Saamiul Bashar is not
only incredibly knowledgeable about the world around us in ways most people simply cannot fathom, he’s also a really nice bloke.
“Air is not like a standard fluid, it changes behaviour as you increase your speed; the air around a family car behaves differently to that of a Formula One car, which is different again to a commercial airliner,” he begins.
Bashar not only speaks with convic-tion and passion for his craft, but he starts with the bare essential principles needed for designing a solar car, con-veying the detail of such a challenge to a journalist who would routinely drop the sump plug in the drip tray when servicing his own car.
“In this car it doesn’t have pressure drag, it’s mostly skin friction and that’s negligible. But what that means is because the car is so streamlined, we have to make special considerations because the tiniest amount of friction matters,” he explains.
To illustrate, an F1 car doing 40km/h from Darwin to Brisbane won’t be aerodynamically affected by the air, but it is at 200km/h in a two-hour race. Com-paratively, Bashar’s so-lar car is affected doing relatively low speeds for thousands of kms along a dead straight road for days on end. Every bump, seam, rivet and moulding affects the car’s drag.
Even sponsorship stick-
ers, which can be as thin as a tenth of a millimetre, are considered too protru-sive. Bashar’s team clear-coated over the entire car’s surface and sanded it back.
One of the advantages team Michi-gan had working against our Aussies, was the resource of a wind tunnel, courtesy of backing from none other than General Motors.
“Being a small team allows for diversity; engineers and students can go into places where it might not seem right – you can think differently about problems that don’t require resources,” assistant manager Max Mammone says.
“We just love building solar cars, lots of our work is voluntary. So bigger teams in spite of having more man power, won’t go to the level of detail we do, spending 100 hours a week each on the car,” Bashar says.
“But you don’t get to validate the real-world performance before com-petition like you do in a wind tunnel. With the budget we had to build at the level needed to win a race, compared
Rays of genius
L-R: Western Sydney engineering students, Max Mam-mone and Saamiul Bashar.
Continued on page 9
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to some other teams, they could build their car six times,” he’s pleased to compare the humble Aussie team to.
The car, called Unlimited 2.0 because it’s the team’s second-generation solar car based on the catamaran design, is exactly on the minimum permitted weight according to the 2017 regulations.
Thinking like proper F1 team bosses, the guys even skirted a technicality when it came to demonstrating the maximum/minimum required turning circle, which meant navigating a series of cones.
“Our car was high enough to perform the turn but with the nose gliding over the top of the cones; nowhere in the rules does it say we can’t go over the cones,” Mammone laughs.
“It took six hours of redesign to make the U-turn test, trimming body panels, squeezing extra steering angle,” he adds. When was the last time you dedicated six hours to per-fecting something? Tape was also a secret weapon in their emergency repairs and in-flight modifications go-bag.
Tyres were also a major contributing factor to tasting champagne at the finish line. As the only physical contact between the carbon-fibre Quasi Modo and the coarse chip Stuart Hwy, the tyres developed with Bridgestone solely for this race, were their ace in the hole.
“These tyres state on the sidewall, ‘Not to be used for accelerating, braking or turning’, which was very true – braking from 95km/h you would tear through the belt,” Bashar reveals.
“According to the data sets we have, the Bridgestones were half a per cent more efficient than our old set, which could mean 10 minutes at the end or having to fix a punc-ture – even the tyres’ aerodynamics is optimised for this car which is also designed to do exactly 85km/h,” he explains.
Weight is the other enemy of a solar car race, which Bashar says they went to painstaking lengths to reduce, even at a multi-purpose level.
“Wherever we could cut weight we did, everything has as many functions as possible,” he explains.
“There are sections of tape that are structural, we have space-grade aluminium wheel hubs which, after 15,000km, have started rocking in the mounting.”
While the guys are adamant the inter-team camaraderie and competition is both real and healthy, there is still a level of motorsport style secrecy between designs, materials, and ingenuity. A humble photo of the internals is barred, understandably, because the intellectual edge one idea offers over next year’s competition – who’ve had the same amount of time to re-think and improve for 2019 – could be the difference between victory and “nearly won”.
“Everything on this car is on it because it’s the best item available, if it wasn’t readily available, we’d make our own,” Bashar says proudly.
“The only thing we couldn’t control was the solar cells, and that’s primarily down to cost,” he explains.
In Australian sporting anecdotes, we often reference ice skater Steven Bradbury, who famously came from an unflattering fourth to win when would-be podium-getters fell flat on their faces in the Salt Lake City 1000m some 17
years ago.Australia loves to celebrate the funny irony that we won
that race, as a country with bugger all snow and ice, and even less pedigree in ice skating, beating America and the defend-ing world champion from Canada. The world was stunned, including Bradbury himself.
But Bashar, Mammone and their team didn’t just get lucky taking on the might of the world in the solar challenge, they also sweated, dehydrated, and worked for countless hours through the years, day and night, to not only design and build a world-beating car powered by the sun, they did it against a formidable opponent who was a shoe-in for gold.
Despite their momentous achievement, Australia - the sunburnt country, doesn’t recognise their solar car heroism in metaphor and CEO dinner speeches. And the Western Sydney team still had to sit their exams at the end of 2018.
World Solar Challenge 2019 runs, very efficiently, from October 13-20.
Desert versus car.
Rays of geniusContinued from page 8
10 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
NEWSTALK
Suzuki Australia says its dealership network has been screaming for the return of its off-roading “cult
icon”, the Jimny, which went on sale Australia Day.
At the Melbourne 4×4 proving ground, Suzuki Australia hosted Auto-Talk for the Jimny launch where general manager Michael Pachota says the brand’s dealers will no sooner get their hands on stock before doing handovers with rural customers.
“Our rural dealers have been screaming for Jimny in those regions which love off-roading; to be honest it’ll be a piece of cake selling to those customers because they’ve indicated they want it,” Pachota tells AutoTalk.
“The Suzuki Jimny is a cult icon and as soon as it was announced it was coming to Australia we’ve had dealers crawling over each other to get it into their showrooms, especially in our rural showrooms,” he says of the 60,000 production capacity per year. Australia’s allocation is only 1130 vehicles for 2019.
Despite the Jimny’s three-star AN-CAP safety rating, Pachota says it won’t slow demand for the plucky off-roader which was demonstrated through re-peated low-level water crossings, steep incline and decline manoeuvres in both automatic and manual transmission, and across rutted terrain as well as in a 60km/h emergency braking situation which evoked the slightest hint of rear-end skating on the loose surface.
Jimny is so compact the electric window buttons are on the centre dash cluster beside hill-descent control, and its narrow track width (45mm wider than its predecessor) barely fits in ruts created by bigger, more imposing off-road warriors. But it doesn’t seem to care.
Having thrown an Isuzu D-Max at the same off-road course in August, it’s safe to say the “brisk blue” version tested will appeal to off-road enthusiasts keen to point it directly at the hills. A 37-degree approach, 28-degree breakover and massive 49-degree departure angle will see a narrow escape compared to scuffing and buckling by fatter 4x4s.
Suzuki Australia says pre-orders have been so high there is a growing waiting list, which could push out if custom-ers don’t place orders in the coming months.
“With huge global demand and a one-year back order in Japan where it was first released, the rapidly grow-ing 350 pre-orders in Australia could probably become a one-year waiting list, which is a good problem to have in some ways,” Pachota explains.
Jimny is 15% lighter than its fa-ther, offers a rigid ladder-frame spine and rigid axle suspension, and a 4H transfer case which can be engaged at 100km/h to engage power to all four wheels in low-grip terrain like wet dirt roads. A traction-control braking limited-slip differential offers low-range rough terrain competence.
ANCAP, however, acknowledging the fitment of autonomous emergency braking as standard, also points to the system, with a monocular camera and laser sensor that recognises only pedes-trians and vehicles, not cyclists.
The driver’s airbag also failed to inflate sufficiently to prevent a dummy’s collision with the steering wheel.
Pachota says three stars for such a packaged little off-roader is pretty good for what it can do.
“We didn’t have much to do with the engineering side of Jimny, but I think this vehicle is so much more advanced
than it ever was. Features like AEB are an expectation from customers, and the preventative side of those off-road ben-efits will play a big role in purchase decisions,” he explains.
“None of our pre-order customers have
called back saying ‘What gives’ after seeing the safety score,” Pachota says.
A 1.5-litre four-cylinder offers 75kW at 600rpm and 130Nm at 4000rpm, combined with 1075kg kerb weight, to give rut-running, rock-climbing, stream-fording outdoor types 69kW per tonne to work with.
Pachota says he personally had con-versations with Suzuki Motor Company in Japan to guarantee stock would be available in a reasonable timeframe for the enthusiastic 4×4 market Down Under.
“Australians are obsessed with four-wheel drives, dual-cab utes, practical cars, so we had a market begging for the return of the Jimny and it means concepts like the five-door and ute body shown at the Tokyo Motor Show cannot be ruled out for us,” Pachota reveals.
“Dealers are saying ‘Give it to us’, the agricultural side of Australia wants a ute, it would be a piece of cake to sell,” he says.
Suzuki Australia also confirms: “We’re very happy with the 95 dealer partners we have on board as we head into 2019.”
“The current footprint is sufficient for the arrival of Jimny; we’ve got some ambitious sales targets and we’re poised for a strong year,” Pachota adds.
Jimny jump-starts dealers
Michael Pachota, Suzuki Australia automotive gen-eral manager
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 11
PEOPLETALK
It’s been said that every business needs to employ a one-handed economist to prevent the well-
known tendency to offer ambivalent advice along the lines of “on the one hand … and on the other hand”.
In a recent article published by Bloomberg, eminent economist Noah Smith makes some strong points about the unreliability of economic models. If you’re having trouble sleeping, you can read the full article online.
Like political “science”, economic modelling is notoriously inexact, especially when it comes to predicting outcomes. This might explain some of the economic turmoil we’ve faced in past 10 years and will likely continue to endure in 2019.
While Treasury modelling is important, political leaders need copious helpings of common sense to manage economic policy settings that actually deliver.
Mishandled, we get a boom in wide screen TV sales while wages growth flat-lines … or, a policy objective to “normalise” the operation of franking credits. To make the system fairer actu-ally has the opposite impact for some modest fixed income retirees.
You don’t need to spend too much time pondering the patch-work maze of policy that constitutes our tax act to realise that, more often than not, the outcomes are far removed from the objectives.
We’re heading into a period of intense electioneering – where eco-nomic initiatives will be sprinkled over the electorate by both parties like Tinker Bell’s magic pixie dust over the Lost Boys and where numbers quoted will grow ever bigger, where promises made will become ever more ambi-
tious as the campaigning reaches its crescendo.
Whom do we believe? Who can we trust? Well, it might be useful to remind ourselves that each party will assert that each promise is backed up by bullet-proof economic modelling.
Remember Noah Smith? We need to bring a healthy scepti-
cism to promises based on “modelling”. As dealers, we need to apply common-sense when we assess proposed initia-tives – and even more importantly, we need to push both parties hard for economic stability, certainty and steady growth.
AADA’s mission in the run-up to one of the most important elections the country will have faced in the last decade is to join with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) and other bodies to advocate for these principles.
And we need to remember that even Noah Smith has two hands.
Noah’s economic ark By David Blackhall, Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA)
at least a decade, possibly two,” VACC chief executive Geoff Gwilym says.
“The Australian govern-ment and community told our young people universi-ties were the place to go; I would argue that wasn’t the right idea, we should’ve said, ‘based on where you
want your career to go, make a choice about your higher-education vocational options’,” he explains.
“We have to find those 30,000 people who want to come into the industry as ap-prentice mechanics, manag-ers, sales people, panelbeat-ers – we have to find them, but we have to send a very
strong message to parents and schools to get them to re-engage with the automo-tive industry,” Gwilym advises.
“Automotive apprentices are generally employed for their entire life and are employed quicker than university students, they also learn and grow on the job,” he continues.
Gwilym says and auto-motive apprenticeship is also a potential opportunity to run their own business.
“We have to find a way to get those messages through and we’re giving it a lot of thought and action over the next six months to find those 30,000 kids,” he adds.
New solutions for workshop staff Continued from page 3
12 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
NEWSTALKTRANSPORTTALK
PEOPLETALK
Improve efficiency, profitability with mobile appraisal
It’s often said that the best technology is simple but effective - transforming manual, inefficient and inconsistent
processes into something transparent, streamlined and measurable – with ben-efits quick to flow to the bottom line.
Australian dealers looking to further improve the efficiency and profitability of their sell process should look no further than a mobile car appraiser to optimise trade-ins and appraisals.
Leading Australian and global dealers have already advanced their appraisal process from inefficient and unmeas-urable carbon copy appraisal pads, to an intuitive, customer-friendly and measurable mobile process that runs via tablet and app.
Here are four key benefits of imple-menting a mobile car appraiser:
Increased customer trust through transparency
Sometimes a customer may enter a dealership with a preconceived dollar figure of what they think their vehicle is worth. With resources such as carsales and RedBook, customers can easily conduct their own accurate and trans-parent research.
The resources available to car owners are part of what makes a professional process critical. A mobile car appraiser empowers dealers to engage vehicle owners in a transparent and personalised process and deliver them a professional report - facilitating their understanding of how the dealer has arrived at a real-istic, market-driven trade-in price and their acceptance of this valuation.
Saved time through a faster and more accurate process
Time is valuable, and in addition to transparency and a feeling of being in control, nothing impresses customers like a fast, seamless process.
A mobile car appraiser empow-ers dealers to speed up the appraisal process and increase their efficiency. Leading appraisal systems enable staff to auto-fill key vehicle data by adding in a vehicle registration number or VIN, which ensures a more accurate result.
For the customer, this delivers a more satisfactory experience that can flow on to other areas of the dealer’s business and enhance customer reten-tion.
Increased margins and profitability
Trade-ins are often cheaper to pur-chase than stock at auctions, increas-ing the volume of trade-ins through a quicker process will help dealers realise stronger sales margins - and lift profitability. Despite the lift in apprais-als undertaken, a mobile car appraiser helps reduction to reduce potential and costly mistakes in the process – a win-win outcome.
Better accountability and conversion tracking
Trackable technology is powerful in enforcing greater staff accountability, ensuring that staff complete all aspects of the appraisal - and every customer is treated in exactly the same way.
It also enables dealers to gain better
understanding of trade-in conversion and track this metric for future perfor-mance improvement.
A mobile car appraiser also ensures that all appraisals are recorded and ac-cessible for future reference - anytime and anywhere.
More informed pricing decisions
Appraisal Solutions is a leading pro-vider of mobile car appraiser technology in Australia, meeting the needs of dealers across the country and delivering a num-ber of innovative “firsts” to the category. Mainstream and prestige dealers across the country have reported an uplift in sales, finance and aftermarket business with the use of this system.
Excitingly, Appraisal Solutions’ mobile car appraiser technology is set to become even more powerful and valuable for dealers with future integra-tion to carsales’ LiveMarket actionable marketing intelligence system.
This future integration will empower dealers to make more informed pricing decisions on trade-ins, with the latest market pricing from Australia’s #1 for cars, integrated into the system.
Look out for this integration in the coming months. In the meantime, check out more about what dealers have to say about Appraisal Solutions at https://www.appraisalsolutions.com.au/raving-fans.
By David Toscano, Carsales trade marketing
Top 10 Brands
1. Toyota 15,961
2. Mazda 9490
3. Mitsubishi 6669
4. Hyundai 6205
Top 10 Brands continued p14
STATSTALK
Mitsubishi rises in dull January
Mitsubishi Motors Australia has jumped up to second on the charts as other top 10 brands
disappear in the January heat.Only small SUVs, medium cars and
people movers managed to post improved reported sales figures in January 2019 over January 2018.
According to VFACTS provided by the Federal Chamber of Automo-tive Industries, the 10,441 small SUVs reported sold in January 2019 was only 171 vehicles ahead of the 10,270 sold at the start of last year.
Meanwhile, people movers could only muster six more sales on 954 versus 948 reported January 2019 to 2018 (up 0.6%). Medium cars were only up 1%.
Business fleets clearly have a prefer-ence for SUVs in 2019, with 13,185 SUVs reported sold this month compared with the 10,569 passenger vehicles set to get to work this year. However, private SUV buys still outnumber both passenger cars for private, business and SUVs for business use, with some 19,781 SUVs reportedly sold.
Overall, however, SUVs in total are down 5.1% in January 2019 compared with January 2018, much like every oth-er buyer segment including light (down 5.1%), small cars (down 13.4%), large cars (down 39.6%), extra/upper large cars (down 53.4%), sports cars (down 27.5%), medium SUVs (down 7.6%), large SUVs (down 8%) and extra-large SUVs which were also down, by 6.7%.
Overall, Toyota sold the most cars, predictively enough, with 15,961 report-ed sales (up 4.3%), ahead of second-placed Mazda on 9490 (down 6.2%), and third-placed Mitsubishi reporting good results from its plate clearance sales on 6669 units for January (up a massive 26.7%).
Hyundai started the year with 6205 sales (down 12.9%) on the 7124 sold in January 2018.
Fifth-placed Kia had a moderate start to 2019 notching just 120 more
January sales (up 2.6%) with 4651, and six-placed Ford, while happy to still the top 10, fell 21.7%, courtesy of just 4421 reported sold last month, dropping 1224 units.
Holden continues its slippery descent, starting seventh with only 4169 January 2019 sales (down 27.1%), Honda clings to eighth place with 4042 sales (down 11.8%). Nissan dropped 19.2% or the equivalent of 904 sales, holding onto ninth with 3803 sales.
Rounding out the top 10 brands is Volkswagen, dropping 9.9% of Janu-ary 2018 sales, to sell just 3617 cars last month compared to the 3979 of last January – that’s 362 cars short.
Brands to show monthly sales im-provements over January 2018 include Bentley (up 8.3%), Citroen (up 28%), Great Wall (up 688.9%), Haval (up 54.2%), Jaguar (up 53.5%), and Lexus which celebrates a record January sales result of “705 vehicles delivered to cus-tomers represented a gain of 15.8%.”
Lotus was up 25%, MG was up 859%, Mini 1.9%, Morgan had a stellar 300% sales boost (from one car to four, Jan-2018 to January-2019), RAM’s up 922% (nine to 92 units), Skoda’s up 23.6%, and Volvo had a 12.8% win.
Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries chief executive Tony Weber says the tardy results are testament to lacking consumer confidence.
“With an imminent federal election, a declining real estate market and tighter lending practices, the current economic environment is a challenging one,” he explains.
“However, Australia’s love affair with SUVs continues. January was a solid sales period for these vehicles,” Weber says.
“Passenger sales were strong in the small car segment, with the Mazda 3, Toyota Corolla and Hyundai i30 leading the pack,” he adds.
BMW was top prestige brand in Jan. Holden plummeted almost out of the top 10.
8. Honda 4042
9. Nissan 3803
10. Volkswagen 3617
Top 10 Brands continued
6. Ford 4421
7. Holden 4167
8. Honda 4042
9. Nissan 3803
10. Volkswagen 3617
5. Kia 4651
Top 10 Brands continued
2019 sales in JanuaryTop 10 people movers
1. Kia Carnival
532
2. Honda Odyssey 128
3. Hyundai iMax 71
5. Volkswagen Multivan 51
6. LDV G10 39
7. Volkswagen Caddy 22
8. Volkswagen Caravelle 5
9. Kia Rondo 2
10. Citroen C4 Grand Picasso 0
4. Toyota Tarago
55
1. Mitsubishi ASX 1818
2. Mazda CX-3 1308
3. Honda HR-V 1043
5. Toyota C-HR 786
6. Hyundai Kona 781
7. Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross 658
8. Subaru XV 627
9. Suzuki Vitara 306
10. Holden Trax 280
4. Nissan Qashqai 834
Top 10 small SUVs under $60K
14 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
STATSTALK
8. Honda 4042
9. Nissan 3803
10. Volkswagen 3617
Top 10 Brands continued
8. Honda 4042
9. Nissan 3803
10. Volkswagen 3617
Top 10 Brands continued
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 15
MODELTALK
One beaut’ uteI
t’s unlikely anybody outside of Mazda and Ford know the level of detail in the agreement between Hiroshima’s
hero and the Detroit giant when it came to conceiving the Ranger/BT-50 mono-zygotic twin.
It’s curious because Ranger starting at $28K going all the way to $80K and the BT sneaking in at $21K and only asking $50K for its flashiest XTR 4x4 dual-cab specification, it seems mo-ronic to consider a Ranger. Ever.
Think about the marketing, and again back to that Ford-Mazda alliance as to how they would proposition the two utes to consumers.
Is BT-50 the more affordable one, pitched at fleets, and smaller lower budgets? Does that mean the Ranger is the more affluent ute, with all the safety gear and a superior wrap sheet?
But looking at the reported sales figures, with Ranger consistently posting number twos into the VFACTS stats, it looks like the Blue Oval is the thriftier buy.
Over 170,000 reported business, government and rental light commer-cial sales in 2018 dominated the measly 63,000 or so private sales could show a correlation with how Ford Australia sold roughly 42,000 single and dual-cab vari-ants, against Mazda’s 13,000 BT-50s.
Having said all this and loaned two BT-50s courtesy of Mazda Australia for two consecutive weeks, it seems absurd to overlook Hiroshima for Detroit. Seri-ously, just try explaining it using rational arguments.
Using the first BT-50 as not quite a daily driver in the first week involved a barely-noticeable towing task bringing a dozen concrete sleepers and their cor-responding steel posts – plus many bags of concrete – home from Bunnings late on a week night confirmed that yes, utes are much comfier laden. It also piqued
the aforementioned curiosity for Ranger among non-private and private buyers.
Sitting in the backseat firing down to Phillip Island for a beach day, with rows and rows of traffic coming home the opposite direction, Rangers are every-where. Towing girthy tri-axle caravans, others with L-plates on the back, some in single-cab with a company logo on the door. Yet only one BT-50 can be seen in the same journey.
And people wonder why they can’t afford to keep the jetski, or have to re-mortgage, or are forced to shop at Aldi – not that there’s anything wrong with that – but it signals people are buying based on something other than cost. Irration-ally, perhaps.
The updated BT-50 tested here gets a new Alpine head unit with Andriod Auto and Apple Carplay, a properly-adjusted reversing camera as standard (and per-fectly placed for hitching a trailer).
It also gets a new front end designed by Mazda Australia and its canopy design partner EGR in Queensland, but that’s about where the glaring updates can be seen without going to the brochure.
Off-roaders will appreciate a battery mounted forward in the engine bay, making access to use an air compressor easy.
Frustrating for the sub-180cm tall buyer is a lack of reach adjustment in the steering, but that’s not to say you won’t find a suitable driving position. On a two-hour dash up to Bendigo, the BT-50 is reasonably comfortable for a workhorse, whether for fleet use or private.
Isn’t it also curi-ous why people would swear by their Ranger, yet the XTR 4x4 BT-50 at 1082kg has a greater payload than an auto XLT 4x4
Ranger on 970kg or the XLS with 991kg. And whoop-di-doo, the Mazda also has 3.5t towing and 3.2t GVM.
Under the bonnet is the 3.2-litre five-pot diesel we know from Ranger, plus lots of miscellaneous parts around the engine bay, which still bear the FoMoCo insignia.
Rarely needing to draw on all 147kW before 3000rpm, the BT-50 pulls pretty effortlessly and offers the same 470Nm which is all the torque most ute buyers could ever need or use. It’s enough to make the family camper feel inflatable.
Two weeks with a BT-50 isn’t testa-ment enough to the longevity it offers the savvy consumer, but the fact my cousin has had one of the current gen-eration for years is.
He’s taken the BT through the inland east coast, as far north as Cairns, usually with two dogs and a caravan in tow, and for a CFA firefighter who relies on his truck – sorry, ute – to get him there and back without fail, it’s puzzling why more people go for the “prettier” Ranger. Although personally, the latter is hardly easy on the eye.
They may be cut from the same cloth, but the BT-50 and Ranger definitely have two distinctly different personalities. One is one of the most popular vehicles in the country, the other performs all the same load-lugging, rock-wrangling tough stuff you could throw at it.
Can you just imagine how capable the next BT-50 will be when the partner-ship with Isuzu Ute bears fruit?
Practical people buy utes, smart buyers get a BT-50.
16 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
MODELTALK
Trying to decide whether to take photos of the Ioniq Electric in the morning sunrise or the evening’s
sunset was difficult; time permitting.It was uncertain whether the dawn
would better symbolise that of a new era in the automotive world, or if the setting of Sol was a metaphor that spoke louder for internal combustion’s days ahead.
Hyundai chose the “Ioniq” portman-teau because it combines two ideas: It’s the first vehicle product to offer three variations on the weaning-from-oil theme – unique – and doing it by using molecules with a net electric charge due to the loss or gain of one or more electrons – ion.
Loaned the Ioniq Electric for three weeks over the Christmas break, we racked up well over 1000km courtesy of Hyundai Australia. We discovered this is the first vehicle, probably in all
human history making cars, which is actually nicer to drive in “Eco” mode than its more sportified configurations.
What else makes Ioniq unique is its paradoxically unremarkable qualities. See, until Ioniq, electric cars have al-ways come with idiosyncrasies inher-ited since man’s earliest attempts to quantify all-electric mobility.
Driving the first-gen Leaf was like playing Xbox in a bronze-age lounge room compared to regular cars, while the original Prius was so politically “green” just looking at it was like enact-ing Lady Macbeth’s “Out, damn spot!” sleepwalking scene, trying to cleanse one’s hands of an imagined stain.
Then Tesla came along, like the USS Enterprise during the industrial revolution.
Not once did we experience a hyperventilating, dying need to find a charging station with Ioniq, although
three are within a few kilometres. A day trip to Geelong from Melbourne’s east was easy, with invaluable tech help from Jet Charge.
They lent a Type 1 (“J772”)/Type 2 (“Mennekes”) adapter cable which would normally be a $495 extra acces-sory bought at the Hyundai dealer (or $329 from EVolution).
There was nothing to worry about even if we hadn’t topped up on the foreshore. That’s right, vacant parking spaces were available over the busy holidays while juicing up for free.
Both cables can become quite bulky in the 455-litre (to the roof) boot space. The electric Kona’s boot with 334 litres will be robbed even more with both cables when it arrives.
There was the faintest whiff of range anxiety below 70km, but that irratio-nality is quickly gone when you realise you’re only making a 10, 20 or 30km round trip with plenty to spare. In some ways it feels like you’re always running on a third of a tank of petrol – the dif-ference being that you’re not burning fuel to carry the additional fuel in Ioniq.
It also becomes fun trying to mooch off the regenerative braking – we managed an entire trip to visit friends up in the Dandenongs for free and used net zero range. Damn right.
Even in Eco mode, a 2018 Ioniq strides effortlessly away from a decade-old G6E Turbo Falcon, much to their bewilderment, which makes you realise how far not only Hyundai has come in 10 years, but technology; making a mockery of the J-curve of change.
Power play
Continued on page 25Liftback glass wants a wiper
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 17
NEWSTALK
Kevin was involved in the pre-hail net era that would see the sheer heat of the Western suburbs become an early issue. The hot summers were strong enough to warp vehicle trim; cause enough for the introduction of protective white windscreen coating for vehicles.
Kevin has plenty of stories to tell about the start of the Team Subaru rally operation, later called Subaru Rally Team Australia, all run out of the back of the warehouse.
More personal challenges include a break-in at a Surry Hills warehouse, when a nervous policeman insisted on walking over Kevin’s shoulder as he walked out in front of the officer, as they had to reach light switches half way along the building interior.
Kevin relocated from and then back
to Larke’s head office in Ryde in 1981, promoted to administrative services manager, then warranty manager, before becoming property services manager when the business moved to Wetherill Park.
“I never envisioned spending so much time with the same company,” Kevin says.
“But I’ve had different roles and the company ownership changed a few times, so there’s always been variety and plenty of challenges.”
Kevin says the biggest changes he’s seen have been in the vehicles’ technical and engineering design.
“When you look at Subarus now, everything from the paint to the trim, computer technology and reliability, it’s all vastly superior,” he explains.
“When I started, radios were one of the major car accessories. Now, fantastic systems like EyeSight are becoming the norm,” Kevin adds.
Handing back the keys, Kevin also passionately enjoyed playing football, golfing and cricket over the last 60 years. But he’ll be taking life much easier, enjoying five grandchildren and his two daughters’ families.
“He is a legend,” Inchcape Australia chief executive Nick Senior says.
“Kevin’s no-nonsense exterior hides a heart of gold and he’s been a great example to the younger generations about commitment, attention to detail and nurturing colleagues around you.”
Perhaps that’s the answer - signs of a business and people worth working for your entire life.
Riddle thisContinued from page 4
Airbag action reaches peakA
ustralian-based original equipment manufacturers and their respec-tive dealer networks have less than
two years to complete the mandatory Takata airbag recall.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has praised the automotive industry for its two-thirds completion of Australia’s largest ever product recall, to the tune of over 2.8 mil-lion airbags removed from circulation.
Less than one million potentially deadly “alpha” and “beta” Takata airbag modules remain among the general population, but the ACCC says over “70% of all affected airbag inflators have been replaced since the federal government put manufacturers on notice in February last year”, the ACCC reports.
Roughly 7800 of the mortally danger-ous “Alpha” airbags remain at large, in spite of brands and their franchised deal-er service departments replacing around 100,000 airbag inflators every month.
Further to servicing registered vehicles rolling into dealerships, automakers and service technicians have also removed 262,000 inflators found in 225,000 un-repairable vehicles, located in cars which were written off, scrapped, exported, stolen, unregistered for over two con-secutive years, or modified beyond the capacity to replace the affected inflator.
With the December 31, 2020 dead-line just 694 days away, the ACCC says approximately one million faulty inflators remain in some 912,000, which ACCC deputy chair Delia Rickard says is “good progress”.
“Both motorists and car manufactur-ers shouldn’t become complacent,” she warns the industry.
“The ACCC’s recall efforts are being helpfully complemented by state and territory authorities who are progressing registration sanctions for any consum-ers who are not replacing the dangerous alpha airbags,” Rickard explains.
“They are also helping us with our surveillance and enforcement initiatives to ensure suppliers are complying with the terms of the recall,” she reveals.
Federal Chamber of Automotive In-dustries chief executive Tony Weber says the industry is not easing off.
“Our members will not rest until they
have completed the whole job,” he says. “They are doing everything they
can to reach out to owners of affected vehicles – every working day, they are writing, telephoning, emailing and door-knocking.”
The IsMyAirbagSafe website reached a milestone six million enquiries this past weekend, which Weber says is a good sign that the “Don’t Die Wondering” campaign is still getting through.
“There has been an average of more than 32,000 vehicle checks made every day since the website was launched six months ago,” he adds.
Toyota recently added a further 1.7 million vehicles to be recalled globally, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles added another 1.6 million, while locally, Tesla has also added 1263 Model S electric sedans built/sold from 2014-2016 – a drop in the ocean compared to the roughly 14,000 Tesla Model S in China recalled for the same reason.
Delia Rickard, ACCC
Tony Weber, FCAI
18 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
DIARYTALK
Continued on page 19
AUSSIE TALK DIARY AutoTalk Australia’s editor Scott Murray looks at the month gone by on autotalk.com.au
January 2Franchised dealers have their say
Mazda and Toyota are Austral-ian dealers’ favourite manu-facturer partner in 2018.
With 108 franchises, Maz-da Australia has been voted by the nation’s dealer princi-pals as the most satisfactory brand in overall performance, averaging 8.7 out of 10.
January 4NSW speed ruling cops feedback
New South Wales police chief inspector Phillip Brooks has received feedback regarding the state’s 40km/h speed limit around police vehicles.
Posting on LinkedIn about the “changing culture” in the community and the force’s partnerships with other au-thorities and agencies assist-ing “to drive down the road toll on NSW roads”, the new speed law has been discussed in the comments section of his 2018 reflection.
Dealer association looks forward
Australian Automotive Dealer Association chief executive David Blackhall has been pondering what’s to come in the industry in 2019.
Looking at economic prediction, wondering what the year ahead will mean for “automotive disruptor” Tesla, and referencing the franchisee power imbalance the AADA has described as being present in Australia, Blackhall says 2019 should prove interesting.
Reuss to replace Kiwi as GM president
The leader of General Motors products, Mark Reuss, has
been confirmed as new presi-dent of the company.
Reuss, 55, will take over from Kiwi Dan Ammann, who will now lead Cruise – its au-tonomous vehicle division.
January 7Consumers pump the brakes on new car sales
Australia new car buyers were saving their pennies heading into Christmas 2018, with the market down nearly 15% in December.
The Australian consumer only bought a reported 1,153,111 cars in 2018, com-pared to the record 1,189,116 reported sold in 2017 – a 3% decline of 36,005 units.
January 8ANCAP wants drivers to take ownership
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program says the onus of reducing road fatali-ties and trauma starts with the person behind the wheel.
As Australia records a reduction in the number of people killed in road crashes in 2018, including Victoria Po-lice which has acknowledged only 12 lives lost “Operation Roadwise” (Dec 14-Jan 16) and NSW which recorded a 10% road toll reduction from 2017 to 2018, ANCAP says more needs to be done.
January 10Fiat Chrysler to settle on diesel emissions cheating
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles is close to settling a lawsuit with the US Justice Department for using illegal software to cheat
on permitted levels of diesel exhaust.
According to Reuters, 104,000 US-market die-sel vehicles made by Fiat Chrysler were allegedly fitted with emissions cheating soft-ware to pollute above legal limits, which the company denies.
January 11Dealers, industry should prepare for change of government
The Australian Automo-tive Dealer Association says franchised new car retail businesses should not be sur-prised if Labor wins the 2019 election.
AADA chief executive David Blackhall says busi-nesses should realise there’s a chance Labor will return to office for the first time since 2014.
Lamborghini hits record sales
Automobili Lamborghini s.p.a has declared 2018 is the Italian supercar company’s highest ever sales year in its history.
2018 also marks Lam-borghini’s eighth straight year of global sales growth, buoyed by the 1761 deliveries of the Urus SUV and record sales of V10 and V12-engined variants.
Aussie drivers are yapping, napping and snacking
Australian drivers are talking on the phone, falling asleep at the wheel and eating them-selves to distraction.
Finder.com.au has sur-veyed 1800 Australian drivers and found their riskiest hab-its, as well as data suggesting there’s a good chance they’re also smoking, dealing with unruly children or even ap-plying makeup.
January 14Kittle takes over Mildura dealerships
Peter Kittle Motor Company has taken over the BMW, Mazda and Toyota dealerships in Mildura, Victoria.
The dealer group adds the Mildura dealership chain to its footprint which includes sites in South Australia and Alice Springs.
January 15Ford Europe’s posterior focus
Ford has used an artificial backside to simulate 10 years worth of wear and tear on the new Fiesta seats.
“Robutt” can replicate a human’s rump entering and exiting the new Fiesta’s seats 25,000 times in three weeks.
Hyundai extends help to US government workers
Hyundai of North America is extending its capital auto loans and lease payments to help US government workers.
The payment shutdown caused by president Donald Trump’s request for billions of dollars in border wall funding, which has resulted in over 800,000 workers left without pay, has seen Hyundai take the pressure off its affected customers by extending pay-ment deadlines by 30 days.
US crash testing suspended by shutdown
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has suspended all crash testing assessments in the midst of the US government’s forced shutdown by Donald Trump.
A spokesperson who Auto-Talk understands is working voluntarily at the Department of Transport, says NHTSA has ceased all crash testing and
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 19
DIARYTALK
Continued from page 18
THE DIARY AutoTalk New Zealand’s group editor Scott Morgan looks at the month gone by on autotalk.co.nz
January 4Four crew missing on US-bound car carrierThe search for four missing crew on a car carrier drifting in the middle of the Pacific has been suspended.
The Sincerity Ace, owned by Shoei Kisen Kaisha and chartered by Mitsui OSK Lines, reported a fire on board Monday. Sixteen crew were rescued by ships in the area, but the four remain missing and are not responding.
January 8Another record year for new NZ vehicle registrations
There were 161,519 new ve-hicles registered during 2018
– a record setting effort, with the market 1% up on the previous year.
The latest Motor Industry Association (MIA) figures show that’s 1648 registra-tions above 2017’s overall result and the fifth year in a row of increases.
January 14Most stolen cars revealed
Canterbury is New Zealand’s stolen car hot spot, accord-ing to financial comparison website MoneyHub.
The site’s analysis of police data over the last six months of 2018 shows 831 vehicles were reported sto-len in Canterbury, compared with 575 in south Auckland’s Counties Manukau and 391 in Auckland City.
January 16Toyota premieres new Supra
The North American Interna-tional Auto Show in Detroit played host to the new Toyota Supra.
The new Supra is the first global model of Toyota Gazoo Racing’s GR sports car series, revitalising a model which was last produced in 2002.
January 22Government drive needed on EV incentives
Electric vehicle advocacy group Drive Electric wants the Government to more clearly signal its EV intentions.
There’s little hope of reaching the goal of 64,000 EVs by 2021 set by the previ-ous government without some additional political will, Drive Electric chairman Mark Gilbert says.
January 25Thompson ordered to pay legal billsChristchurch dealer Nigel Thompson is staring down a $15,900 legal bill from law firm Weston Ward and Lascelles.
Thompson is also on bail while defending himself against 67 dishonesty charges.
January 29ComCom levels charges at 2 Cheap Cars
Vehicle retailer 2 Cheap Cars is facing 10 charges brought by the Commerce Commission under the Fair Trading Act.
The commission has taken issue with two 2017 advertis-ing campaigns, which involved the phrases “must liquidate” and “84% off”, along with 2Cheap’s use of “warranty waiver” documents.
vehicle assessment since the December 22 shutdown.
January 17A fairer year ahead for consumers - AADA
The Australian Automo-tive Dealer Association says 2019 will bring buyers better finance deals in the post-flex commission era.
The November ban on flex commissions, which saw Carsales’ take a $48 million impairment thanks to its half-share in Stratton Finance, could see a reversal of misfortunes.
AADA chief executive David Blackhall told AutoTalk dealers are adapting if they haven’t already.
Finance borrowing doubled in a decade
Australians’ use of car loans to finance new vehicles has doubled since 2009 and is now the method of choice for a fifth of consumers.
According to data from Finder.com.au, 19% of new car sales are financed through a car loan.
January 18Lower road toll not for celebration
The Australian Automobile Association has slammed the federal government’s stalled action on bringing down the nation’s road toll.
The AAA says the evi-dence shows Australia will not reduce its annual road toll to the 998 target before December next year, and condemns the Morrison government’s minimal effort responding to the National Road Safety Strategy Inquiry.
January 22Suzuki dealers ‘screaming’ for Jimny
Suzuki Australia says its dealership network has been vocal about getting the new Jimny off-roader into show-rooms as soon as possible.
Hosting AutoTalk at the launch of the all-new Jimny at the Melbourne 4×4 prov-ing ground, Suzuki Australia general manager Michael Pachota says the brand’s dealer principals have been “screaming” to get their hands on stock.
January 23Australian drivers cause their own crashes
Budget Direct says the vast majority of Australian drivers
are involved in single vehicle crashes resulting in death.
Official crash data from as late as March 2018 shows that one in 10 crashes resulted in multiple deaths and that 30% of all crashes were the result of running off the road.
January 24Jimny gets poor safety pass
The new Suzuki Jimny gets a lowly three-star safety rating for Australia and New Zealand.
The Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) has rated the Jimny three stars on both GL and GLX variants sold here and across the Tasman, citing below-par crash structures, vulnerable road user protec-tion and inadequate collision avoidance.
AUSTRALIA’S NEWS SOURCE FOR ROAD TRANSPORT, LOGISTICS & HEAVY EQUIPMENT INDUSTRIES
20 | TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
A shiny new Coronado 122 has helped
move thousands of tonnes of hay into drought-af-fected south-west Queensland on the 14th hay run.
Burrumbuttock Hay Runner director
and owner-driver Brendan Farrell has been and gone for another year, but it was helped using a new Cummins-powered Freightliner Coronado to haul precious feed to farmers in Quilpie, a regional community some 11 hours west of Brisbane.
The Burrumbuttock Hay Run 2019 started on January 23 and finished on Australia day, January 26, but organiser Brendan “Bumpa” Farrell started load-ing the Freightliner 10 days in advance.
“I can’t thank Freightliner enough for their support, three of my trucks are off the road and they came forward to help – I’m glad they did,” Farrell tells TransportTalk.
“It depends where truckies are com-ing from, but the trip this year is from Darlington Point in New South Wales to Quilpie, about 12-13 hours and it’s a much more comfortable trip in the new Freightliner compared to my old trucks,” he explains.
Farrell says he and the hay run’s organisers try not spread the charity’s relief efforts across the country to a variety of communities.
“We call it the week of giving and we try not to go to the same place twice,” he says proudly.
“My hand was up from the first mo-ment. Truckies don’t just treat it as drop-ping off hay on a normal long haul. Hay is only 50% of the run – the other half is about mental health,” Ferrall reveals.
“We finish up the paid work and dur-ing that week it’s all about giving our time and making the effort to tell our farmers we’re thinking about them. So drivers will stop and have a beer or a cuppa, butter some scones or what-ever, just to show them that respect and give them that burst of resilience to help them get through,” he says.
“We get to jump back in our trucks and head home when it’s all done, but they have to keep going. There’s not rest stop or return trip away from the
dry paddocks and thirsty livestock.”This year’s run to Quilpie involved
over 120 trucks, including Kenworth driver Brett Lieschke who lives some 1400km away in Walbundrie, NSW, and Alma Park’s Howie Muller who told the Blue Mountains Gazette he’ll never forget helping Liescke and Farrell get the first hay run going.
“I think we organised 19 trucks that first run,” he says.
“To see kangaroos who couldn’t make it across the road because they were so hungry … the cattle were skin and bone – it was pretty ordinary,” Howie recalls.
Ferrell describes the hay run is no dream run up the coast on smooth freeways with resources only a few minutes away.
“This year it was a 4000km round trip for some, plus or minus a few hun-dred ‘ks’,” Farrell says.
“I took the Coronado on a test run on the road from Burke to Milparinka with washouts, corrugations, the big-gest potholes you’ve ever seen, and it handled it very well, much better than I thought it would,” he says.
“It’s the kind of road I only take old trucks on because the road is so bad, you wouldn’t want to take any truck you love,” Farrell laughs.
In fact, Farrell says the brutal test
Heroic hay runners
Brendan ‘Bumpa’ Farrell is “very impressed” with Freightliner’s toughness.
Quilpie gets a dose of relief from drought hardships. Continued on page 23
TRANSPORTTALK
TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 21
The Transport Workers’ Union is calling for tangible action in response to the Australian Truck-
ing Association’s claims it wants to raise safety standards within the industry.
An article in recent weeks by owner/driver Michael Kaine, also a member of the TWU, claims the Liberal govern-ment and “its allies among the likes of NatRoad and the ATA” opened fire on the union’s Safe Rates proposal many years ago, but has failed to offer a better alternative.
Safe Rates aimed to forcibly tax the biggest, wealthiest transport operators as a way to remunerate safe driver work hours, scheduling, more compliant logbook practices and improve driver/employee welfare in the transport and logistics industry.
However, the ATA responded last month saying the claims it didn’t put truckie safety at the top of its agenda surmounted to “silly games”, and that “the TWU clearly doesn’t care about good process or the details of policy development,” chief executive Ben Maguire says in a statement.
Acting TWU national secretary Nick McIntosh says the ATA has consistently opposed the union’s “workable solu-tions” to problems drivers face.
“The association campaigned against a road safety watchdog which had made federally binding, enforceable orders guaranteeing 30-day payments for owner drivers and safe, fair rates of pay,” he tells TransportTalk.
“The watchdog was also investigating risks to safety in trucking and holding wealthy retailers and manufacturers
at the top of transport supply chain,” McIntosh explains.
“Evidence shows that trucking is un-der too much pressure and these were real tangible solutions to the problems in trucking which stem from the low margins dictated by wealthy clients,” he adds.
The TWU points to a Macquarie Uni-versity survey from 2017 which indicates 10% of drivers work over 80 hours per week, while one in six owner-drivers feel compelled to take an unsafe load. According to one Safe Work Australia report, one in five transport industry employers says they break safety rules to meet deadlines.
“The association has backed volun-tary codes in the industry which will do nothing to ensure sustainability for transport businesses, fairness for drivers or safety for road users,” McIntosh says frankly.
One in four people killed at work is a transport worker, according to Safe Work Australia, and the TWU highlights the 482 people killed in truck crashes since the watchdog was involved.
“There is also a problem with high numbers of insolvencies, with 469 companies entering into external
administration in the transport, postal and warehousing industries,” McIntosh continues.
McIntosh also refutes the legiti-macy of ATA general council elections, saying that drivers who are only just returning to shifts, many of whom have been on holiday or leave having worked over the Christmas period, have missed their chance to vote be-fore Friday, February 1.
“With just a few weeks to go before voter registration closes and with most drivers on annual leave, there is a po-tential for even less drivers to participate in this election,” he says in a statement in mid-January.
“It has conducted its elections in a vacuum of information, failing to tell drivers they could have registered at any time to vote over the past year and a half,” McIntoch reveals.
“We believe the ATA is deliberately conducting its council elections in a bubble in order to stop genuine inde-pendent voices from getting elected. It does not want dissenting voices that will hold it to account for opposing a [Safe Rates] system,” he declares.
The ATA, which represents 50,000 businesses and 211,500 people in the Australian trucking industry, says the elections were “an opportunity for owner/drivers with one truck and small fleet operators with 2-5 trucks to have their say on the issues we are facing as an industry,” Maguire says.
According to the TWU, just 76 truck drivers registered to vote in 2017, with only 56 drivers voting.
Transport union wants action
ATA chief executive Ben Maguire
TWU Acting National Secretary, Nick McIntosh
TRANSPORTTALK
22 | TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
Two International ProStar prime movers are the pride of the Booyal Quarries truck fleet.
The quarry, which operates an hour south-west of Bundaberg in Queensland, is already leaning on the shiny new ProStars’ shoulders with just 45,000km and 70,000km on their clocks.
With B-double stag trailers in tow and the X15 Cummins engines offering 550 horsepower (410kW) and a stonk-ing 2508Nm of pulling power, owner Bruce Evans says the family’s affinity with International is unwavering.
“With the company coming back to Australia, there wasn’t much chance of us getting anything else,” he says.
“I’ve had International in my blood since I was a young lad and all their trucks I’ve owned over the years have done a great job.”
Booyal even remains passionately loyal to the brand’s 45-tonne bull-dozer.
Evans cut his teeth learning to drive the old-school Australia Anniversary (AA) 164 Series International, built in Australia from 1958 until 1962 in both rigid flatbed and tubbed tray body styles and powered by the even more old-worldly AGD-264 tilt-valve engine.
He says the modern powertrain with 18-speed Eaton Roadranger manual gearboxes return far better numbers.
“The trucks are giving us the pay-load we need, the power we want and the right fuel efficiency.
“The 19-metre B-double is normally operating around the 56-tonne mark while the 25-metre trailers have us at around 65 tonnes – we’re getting around 2.2km per litre combined, which I’m happy with.”
That said, Evans admits he didn’t let tradition get in the way of progress, consulting with his drivers who would be getting acquainted and operating them in a 200km radius of the quarry in heavy, hot, dusty conditions.
“I like to keep drivers with the one truck because I think the equipment gets looked after better, so both ProS-tars have regular drivers,” Evans reveals.
“They’re both very experienced, having spent a long time driving road trains, so the two of them told me that they’d prefer the manual, so that’s the way we went.”
Ergonomics are also a factor in the decision-making process.
“Drivers comment on the comfort, the ample power and the excellent vis-ibility, particularly when they’re driving through built-up areas.”
Operating the enormous vehicles through confined spaces might seem counter-intuitive with the Eaton manu-als, but Evans says the extra legwork is accounted for.
“The attraction of an AMT for city driving where you’re starting and stop-ping all the time is understandable,” he explains.
“But for us the manual works well, once you’re rolling and on the open road there aren’t many gear changes,” Evans concedes, with that 200km radius stretching as far north as Glad-stone and as far south as the Sunshine Coast along the A1.
Booyal Quarries goes ProStar
L-R: Booyal Quarries driver, Billy Habermann and the boss, Bruce Evans.
TRANSPORTTALK
TRANSPORTTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 23
run he put the Coronado through is so slow-going, 120km takes “about seven hours at 33km/h,” he estimates.
But his love of old trucks still has its reasons.
“I stay away from cab-overs be-cause they bounce themselves apart – and me for that matter!”
“I buy old trucks to take on some
of my routes because I tend to find they hold up better on the worst of the worst roads,” he adds.
Farrell also says he’s disappointed with the mainstream media’s half-hearted efforts reporting on the sever-ity of the drought conditions.
“Three or four months ago it was on every station for a week, with a great emphasis on mental health as well as the environmental devastation,” he says.
“But it’s all stopped now – the media attention that is.
The drought doesn’t stop when the telly goes off.”
Heroic hay runnersContinued from page 20
The hay run is about more than just trucks.
The top five truck brands in Janu-ary 2019 have all topped their respective sales efforts in the
same period last year.Isuzu, Hino, Fuso, Kenworth and
Volvo have all reported stronger sales for the start of 2019 than 2018, while Iveco, Man, Mercedes-Benz, Freight-liner and Mack equaled its January 2018 efforts, while Scania smashed its sales 59 to 24, UD Trucks did the same 46 to 43, and Western Star also got up 29 sales versus 24 in January 2018.
In the medium-duty segment, Isuzu holds first and Hino second, however, third-placed Fuso despite only manag-ing 59 sales for January, was behind its efforts of January 2018 when 77 sales were reported while being relegated to fourth behind MAN on 83 at that time.
MAN could only manage 37 sales this month.
In light duty it was a show of force by Isuzu on 218 sales compared to Hino’s 152 and Fuso’s 96 sales, but Isuzu couldn’t better its January 2018 efforts when 242 were sold.
Overall, however, January 2019 truck sales were down on 2018, with only 2196 units shifting last month, compared with the 2227 of January 2018.
In the van segment, Mercedes-Benz got off to a flying start with Sprinter and Vito giving the three-pointed star a 173-strong sales boom to topple its January 2018 figures.
Renault had a similar outcome although without the margin on 87 versus 84 last year, and it was Ford’s
Transit making the van podium on 51 January sales, although not beating its 66 January 2018 sales. Fiat, Iveco and Volkswagen also trumped their Janu-ary 2018 sales - but not by much.
Van brands overall sold 389 units in January last year, and this year for a 396 unit total.
Aussie truck sales get going
Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is off to a dashing 2019
24 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU
EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU
AUSTRALIA’S NEWS SOURCE FOR ELECTRIC, INTELLIGENT AND AUTONOMOUS TRANSPORTATION
World fastest female battery powered motorcycle rider Eva Hakansson and probably her
three-wheeled racer Killajoule will be at the Electric Vehicle Expo on March 16.
Hakansson, from New Zealand, is racing prior to the expo at the Dry Lakes Racers Australia Speed Week on March 4-8 at Lake Gairdner in South Australia.
The doctor in mechanical engineer-ing may be able to better her record setting time of 434km/h set at the Utah salt flats in the US on the same machine.
She’ll be speaking about her exploits at the expo in the Melbourne Interna-tional Karting Complex.
Another guest speaker is world EV traveller Wiebe Wakker from the Nether-lands, nearing the end of his journey. He has spent many months travelling around Australia in his “Blue Bandit” Volkswagen EV on his “Plug Me In” electric road trip to “inspire, educate and accelerate the transition to a zero carbon future”.
He left his home in the Netherlands on March 15, 2016, with the aim of reaching Sydney, travelling overland wherever possible.
Test rides and drives in EVs will be available at the expo, which also features the latest in electric cars, bikes, scooters, motorbikes and even skateboards.
The show is free for anyone 17 years and under.
Booking by Febru-ary 28 will put attendees into a draw to win one of five VIP packs which include fast-track passes to the front of any test drive or ride queue, plus much more.
The expo includes a range of indi-vidually built EVs in the Show N Shine competition.
The event is run by Renew, an Aus-tralian non-profit organisation promot-ing sustainable living.
The venue is at Todd Road and Cook Street in Port Melbourne, 9am-4.30pm.
Visit www.evexpo.org.au for more information.
NSW Government investing millions in EVs
Eva Hakansson.
Melinda Pavey.
A $5 million boost to electric vehicle charging and a commitment to switching at least 10% of its fleet
to electric and hybrid vehicles from 2020 has come from the NSW Government.
That’s part of its newly announced Electric and Hybrid Vehicle Plan.
At the same time the NSW Govern-ment has also released a Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAV) Plan covering the next five years.
“Vehicles in the future will not only be electric but automated, so we need to jointly consider these technological advances that will deliver safer, more accessible and convenient transport options,” roads, maritime and freight minister Melinda Pavey says.
Transport and infrastructure min-ister Andrew Constance says a new platform will be launched mid-year to provide customer information to help EV buyers choose wisely and locate
charging points across NSW. Collaborative research projects
related to EVs are also being under-taken through the Transport for NSW Research Hub.
Electric bus trials planned include one in Sydney’s Inner West which starts in July, while the feasibility of bus depots becoming partly or fully electric will be investigated.
The EV charging plan includes a $3 million co-investment in fast charging points for electric and hybrid vehicles on major regional corridors, and $2m for new charging points in commuter carparks.
“More people are embracing electric and hybrid vehicles and we need to do our part to ensure we have the infra-structure in place so that people are confident to use these vehicles right across the state,” Constance says.
“That’s why we’re planning fast
charging points for major regional cor-ridors including the Newell, Great West-ern, New England, Pacific and Princes Highways and the Hume Motorway.”
The NSW Government will investi-gate in coming weeks the best charg-ing locations and costs.
Pavey says the NSW Government will have one of the largest fleets of electric and hybrid vehicles in Australia.
“This initiative will give confidence and certainty to electric vehicle manu-facturers as well as provide greater access to a wider choice of afford-able electric vehicles in the future for motorists.”
Electric Vehicle Council of Australia chief executive officer Behyad Jafari says the NSW Government’s moves are “some good first steps in the right direction”.
Visit www.future.transport.nsw.gov.au for more information.
EV expo in Melbourne
Andrew Constance.
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 25
Power play
A normal interior for normal people.
Continued from page 16
Progression does have its limitations, which played out courtesy of having to run the microwave, boil a full kettle and pump electrons through the outdoor 10amp point into the Ioniq on one circuit.
This kept tripping our fuse box, mostly because even after the first few times, trying to prep bottles for the four-month-old, you still forget there’s a car refuelling outside the kitchen window. Oh, yeah.
More normalities come when we look at the price. First glance says it’s steep for a car with “only” 240km range”, but compare it to the BMW i3s which leaves you little change from $70k and just 200km.
The Ioniq has a centre console that holds more than a banana, the liftback boot fits a pram and its various stupid, accessories, and Ioniq’s backseat can comfortably install a bulky child seat without robbing the front passenger of precious legroom.
Internal combustion feels so gruff and undignified after spending every possible driving moment with an EV like the Ioniq. The family’s MY18 four-pot petrol-en-gined wagon, the most refined it’s been in four generations, feels rattly, squeaky, rumbly and rowdy by comparison.
Ticking and thumping is replaced by a sound-effect similar to the Batman
bike in The Dark Knight; a series of electrical whines that sound like they’re constantly building, but never reaching.
The old three-point turn has never, ever been easier than the push of two buttons and the wax-on-wax-off mo-tion with the tiller.
Velocity-wise, with a 10-second 0-100km/h you won’t be posting vid-eos on YouTube of Ioniqs embarrassing Lamborghinis and Bugatties on old airstrips, but with 88kW and instantly available 295Nm (in a sub-1500kg package) you will enjoy pulling away down the freeway on-ramp quicker than most bikes, Beemers and bogans-in-Falcodores will ever be expecting.
That said, the 205/55R16 Michellin Energy XM tyres are far from the grippi-est boots you’ll ever brush an apex with – in fact you’ll easily hear them squeal in sport, normal and they’ll even give the tiniest hint of scutter in Eco before the traction control puts a stop to that.
A smooth right foot will offer a zippy getaway without waking the electronic constabulary and you’ll leave that V8 Mustang dazed. That said, the tyres are a very smooth, comfortable package with the well-sorted suspension that never feels overwhelmed.
It’s worth pointing out that the air-conditioning handled several days above 40 degrees quite well without robbing excessive precious km of
range, and for once a manu-facturer has correctly specced a car (that isn’t an overpriced luxury model) for Australia with cooled seats.
It’s easy to warm up without heated seats, but that breezy downdraft feels heavenly on a sweaty backside in a country (and hemisphere) that receives significantly more sunlight during
summer than to warrant heated seats.The Ioniq really impressed with
its absurdly easy daily use, including plugging it in with only half a hand’s worth of fingers free to open the filler flap, pull the 10amp cable out of the boot, remove both cable plug and filler caps, and flick the switch. It literally takes 10 seconds, even with a baby in the other arm.
With so many trips being made, delivering presents, hitting the beach, visiting family, running countless times to the shops, and living as hard and heavy with Ioniq every day, it genuinely did everything asked of it.
Putting over 1000km on a car in three weeks is little to what some people might average when they return to work, but it shows that a vast major-ity of repetitive, punitive mobility can be done at a fraction of the cost, emissions and time of the archaic oil burner.
Ioniq won’t replace oil overnight, nor will it force carmakers to about-face their boardroom ethics on electric cars like Tesla did. Hyundai haven’t tried to ram the entire future of hyper-technology down buyers’ throats. They’ve modestly-designed a simple, clean, reliable, and – most importantly – a relatable electric car for you and I.
What it does is prove, surreptitiously, that nine out of 10 times, through blister-ing heat or pouring rain, the electric car makes its petrol counterparts redundant.
The photos that time permitted had to be taken in the peak of a scorching hot Friday afternoon before returning the car, making it an even better meta-phor for what this little device is really all about – making the mundane, the everyday, and the routinely ordinary pos-sible and affordable with an electric car.
And that is truly unique. Extraordinary, even.
MODELTALK
26 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU
Cutting-edge automated vehicle technology will be tested on rural roads in Victoria this year.
The first on-road trial approved under the new Automated Driving System (ADS) permit scheme sees Bosch awarded $2.3 million from the Connected and Auto-mated Vehicle (CAV) Trial Grants Program, acting premier Jacinta Allan says.
Last year, Victoria finalised regula-tions to support the ADS permit scheme, which authorises the use of automated vehicles for testing and development on its roads.
Bosch will start testing its automated vehicle tech on high-speed rural roads later in 2019 with the aim of using it to improve safety on rural Victorian roads – where drivers are five times as likely to be killed in a crash than in metropolitan areas.
Testing will be done on roads that expose the automated vehicle to a range of different conditions including traffic, weather and infrastructure.
The $9 million CAV program is funded through the Andrews Labor Government’s $1.4 billion Towards Zero Action Plan.
In late 2017, VicRoads called for expres-sions of interest from companies, industry
bodies and other transport technology or-ganisations to apply for funding to spur the development of these emerging technolo-gies, aiming to lead to reduced deaths and serious injuries. Other successful applicants will be announced soon.
The trials will support Victoria’s readiness for CAV technologies and the knowledge gained will provide a better understanding of the infrastructure required to get these vehicles on the road.
Victoria testing on-road automated driving
Jacinta Allan.
Queensland aims to lead world in hydrogen
A $1 billion National Hydrogen Plan would make Gladstone the hydro-gen capital of Australia.
Under Labor’s plan, the city, about a 550km drive north of Brisbane, would become a National Hydrogen Innova-tion Hub.
Labor leader Bill Shorten, who has been touring Queensland in a pre-election pitch on board his “Bill Bus”, says industrial powerhouses like Japan are gearing their economy to hydrogen.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says Gladstone is set to be the renewable energy powerhouse of Australia, with hydrogen emerging as the “next LNG” (liquefied natural gas) with the city already well down the track in hydro-gen research.
“We backed and built the LNG pipeline which is now a $60 billion industry pro-viding thousands of jobs to Gladstone,” she says.
“Now the world is looking to hydrogen I want them to get it from Queensland.
“My government attracted Northern Oil to Gladstone as part of our Advance Queensland Biofutures 10-year road-map,” Palaszczuk says.
“Northern Oil is planning to produce bio-hydrogen.
“Queensland’s significant renew-able resources of solar and wind energy, combined with our existing gas pipeline infrastructure and port facilities, including Gladstone Port, provide us with a com-petitive advantage in the future produc-
tion and export of hydrogen.”The hope is that Queensland solar
farms can be used to produce and ship hydrogen to the world.
“In Queensland we are aiming to have some of the world’s first renewable hy-drogen power exports - with Queensland sunshine - helping to power the Tokyo Olympics next year,” Palaszczuk says.
“This would place Queensland on the world stage as a leader in exporting renewable energy.”
While in Korea last year Palaszczuk met Hyundai representatives who are ready to start delivering hydrogen fuel cell vehicles for the Australian market later this year.
“These cars will not only run without any emissions, they will also actively clean the air,” she says.
“Car manufacturers including Toyota and Hyundai are responding to the poli-cies in Germany, Japan, Korea and the United Kingdom to increase the uptake of zero emission vehicles.”
The Queensland Government’s hydro-gen discussion paper has received strong interest from industry, universities and the community.
It will be releasing a strategy this year.For Japan to meet its emissions
reduction targets over the next 30 years there is demand for 125 gigawatts of hydrogen energy capacity from Queensland.
Hydrogen is needed to produce prod-ucts for Queensland’s resources sector,
for metals refining, for its agriculture sector and for biofuels.
Australia’s chief scientist Alan Finkel is leading a newly established working group to develop a national hydrogen strategy for 2020-2030, set to be com-plete by the end of this year.
Labor’s broader six-point plan would see $90 million of unallocated funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) go towards hydrogen technologies.
A Shorten Labor government would also establish a $10 million ARENA fund-ing round for hydrogen refuelling infra-structure around Australia.
ARENA has directed $22 million to-wards 16 hydrogen projects, focusing on research and development.
The government has also put $50 mil-lion towards the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project, which is jointly funded with the Victorian and Japanese govern-ments and industry partners.
The project is trialling the safe and ef-ficient production and transport of clean hydrogen from Victoria’s Latrobe Valley to Japan.
Labor’s announcement has been welcomed by industry and environmental groups, the latter saying its’s only accept-able if the hydrogen comes from clean energy sources.
Annastacia Palaszczuk
AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019 | 27
EVTALKEVTALK.COM.AU
Electric vehicle sales have gener-ally choked, although hybrids have picked up.
That’s according to the latest VFACTS national new vehicle sales for January from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI), released on February 5.
Little progress is shown in almost every electric category.
Private passenger electric vehicles were up barely seven in January (22 in 2019 compared with 15 in 2018).
Yet hybrids increased in the same sector by 373 in January 2019 (589) compared with January 2018 (216).
Non-private passenger electrics dropped from 47 to 26, while hybrids soared by 672 (396 to 1068).
SUVs in both the private and non-private categories showed generally marginal gains (up 10 to 16 in the for-mer and up six (23 to 29) in the latter, with a drop of 24 in the non-private hybrid area (78 to 54).
Non-private light commercial electrics were up just two from zero in January 2018.
High upfront EV costs, incomplete charging infrastructure, lack of educa-tion of EV benefits, and poor direc-tion from the Federal Government are blamed for the stalled EV sales generally.
In fact, the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA), the Motor Trades Association of Queensland (MTA Queensland) and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) have all come out in support of the Senate Select Committee Inquiry into Electric Vehicles’ recommendations to the Australian Government.
Without “appropriate regulatory set-tings, Australia’s near term EV uptake is likely to be modest”, the committee says.
The result will be “fewer EV models being available to Australian motorists” as well as delaying “the realisation of substantial economic, environmental and health benefits”.
National targets for EV take up should be set, the committee suggests (New Zealand’s target is 64,000 EVs by the end of 2021).
The Government should plan the rollout of public charging infrastructure and develop an EV and related compo-
nent manufacturing roadmap.
Committee chair-man Tim Storer proposes phasing in a Road User Charge (RUC) for EVs from 2025-26 when price parity with petrol
and diesel vehicles is expected and fuel excise contributions to help build and maintain roads decline. That’s similar to New Zealand too, where EVs are ex-empt from RUC until at least Decem-ber 31, 2021.
Other measures include that EVs should be exempt from import tariffs and Fringe Benefits Tax out to 2025-26 and a target set for half all new Australian Government fleet leases to be EVs by 2025-26.
The Government should also help underwrite reductions to EV registra-tion costs and stamp duty, support fast charging infrastructure on high-ways and in workplaces and fund EV technology research and development along with manufacturing opportuni-ties, the report suggests.
Storer says people deserve to know before they vote in the coming elections what parties vying to form
the next government plan to do about lifting Australia’s EV game.
“My package is responsible, evi-dence-based policy making with clear benefits for the motorist, community health, the environment, the economy and the budget,” Storer says.
Meanwhile, most Australians support state and federal EV incentives, accord-ing to new research from The Australia Institute Climate & Energy Program.
It says 79% support the Government building a charging station network across the country, 76% back govern-ments procuring EV fleets and 55% support loans for EV uptake.
Nearly three out of four Austral-ians (74%) support rebates to promote charging station installation and for new apartment blocks to be required to host charging stations (73%).
Two out of three Australians (66%) want the Luxury Car Tax removed from imported EVs.
EV sales short-circuit
Tim Storer.
NEW VEHICLE SALES BY BUYER TYPE AND FUEL TYPE JANUARY 2019
Month YTD Variance +/- Vol. & %
Total Market 2019 2018 2019 2018 MTH YTD MTH YTD
ELECTRIC Passenger Private
22 15 22 15 7 7 46.7% 46.7%
Passenger Non-Private
26 47 26 47 -21 -21 -44.7% -44.7%
SUV Private 16 6 16 6 10 10 166.7% 166.7%SUV Non-Private
29 23 29 23 6 6 26.1% 26.1%
Light Com-mercial Non-Private
2 0 2 0 2 2 - -
Sub Total 95 91 95 91 4 4 4.4% 4.4%HYBRID Passenger Private
589 216 589 216 373 373 172.7% 172.7%
Passenger Non-Private
1,068 396 1,068 396 672 672 169.7% 169.7%
SUV Private 54 41 54 41 13 13 31.7% 31.7%SUV Non-Private
54 78 54 78 -24 -24 -30.8% -30.8%
Sub Total 1,765 731 1,765 731 1,034 1,034 141.5% 141.5%
TOTAL 1,860 822 1,860 822 1,038 1,038 126.3% 126.3%
28 | AUTOTALK.COM.AU | FEBRUARY 2019
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