Economy, Auto
0

New Zealander Challenging Japanese Cars

New Zealander Challenging Japanese Cars
New Zealander Challenging Japanese Cars

2 Cheap Cars, which has built a New Zealand wide chain of car yards selling used imports since starting four years ago, says it plans to enter the market for new cars by parallel importing Toyota, Honda and Mazda vehicles.

Chief executive and 50% shareholder, Eugene Williams, claims his company will be able to undercut the official dealerships by as much as $10,000 on the price of a new car and he is targeting 10% of the Japanese new car market in New Zealand within three years. 2 Cheap Cars plans to open its first new car showroom in Greenlane, Auckland, in the next two months.

Williams told BusinessDesk his company will buy the cars from dealerships in Japan rather than from the manufacturers but that they will still be able to be sold as new in New Zealand because the cars have not been registered in Japan.

"In Japan, every dealership has a quota–they have to buy them whether they can sell them or not, so there is excess stock in the market," he said.

2 Cheap Cars was ranked second in Deloitte's 2014 Fast 50 survey, with sales growth of 1,294%, and won the accounting firm's award for fastest-growing retail and consumer products business. Williams says the cars will carry the manufacturer's warranty and his firm "will stand behind our cars".

The industry body for New Zealand dealerships says it is concerned about 2 Cheap Cars' latest move. Chief Executive Officer David Crawford said buying cars from dealers in Japan suggests they have been preregistered and claiming them as new in New Zealand may contravene local law.

 

Financialtribune.com