Rationalisation move
PA Wellington In a major rationalisation of the Wellington and Lower Hutt motor industry, Manthel Holdings has bought the local branches of Wrightcars. which will be closed. No purchase price has been announced for the deal, which brings all the General Motors car sales in the district under one control. However, in a game of musical chairs, Wrightcars will continue to operate the General Motors agency in Upper Hutt — after Manthels retreated from the area some time ago.
The announcement was seen by the sharemarket as a plus for Manthels, an increasingly profitable concern; the shares rose 5c to 180 c on the stock exchange after the news broke.
The general manager of Wrightcars (Mr F. G. Boddy) said that the decision to sell the Wellington and Lower
Hutt, branches was taken because there were “too many” G.M. dealerships in the area.
“The towns are just not big enough for both in the face of the present downturn in the vehicle market. If we. could get the agency for another car we'd grab it and reopen here,” he said.
A note of envy was apparent when C.P.D.'s holding of the Toyota dealership in the area was mentioned. “It seems unlikely that we’d get that, one.”
Mr Boddy pointed out that his company was still represented in Wellington through the truck and light commercial operation in the Ngauranga Gorge, as well as the G.M. dealership in Upper Hutt. Elsewhere the company was continuing to rationalise its dealerships.
Manthel Motors was established in 1933 as Chevrolet dealers, and was
the original distributor of Holden when this was introduced to New Zealand in 1954 by General Motors (N.Z.) Ltd. It had recently sold its G.M. franchise in Dunedin to Cooke Howlison, the other local franchise-holder, with whom it used to compete. “But we took Toyota into Dunedin,” he said. “Wrightcars is not getting out of G.M.,” Mr Boddy said. However, today the companyonly operates G.M. dealerships in Oamaru and Nel-? son, where it holds the onlyagencies, and in Levin. To-j yota is the main backstay of the company’s vehicle* agencies. Mr Boddy added that inAuckland, Tappenden Motors? had also recently been re-r ducing the number of its' General Motors dealerships in another rationalisation move.
Rationalisation move
Press, 16 January 1980, Page 10
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