Top seller in local and national commercial vehicle markets

Press, 12 July 1984, Page 29

Top seller in local and national commercial vehicle markets

Toyota has been the topseller in the local and national commercial vehicle markets for the last four years and sales to date indicate that the Japanese manufacturer will be top again this year. This is a noteworthy achievement, because Toyota does not compete in the heavy truck and bus segment which constitutes nearly 10 per cent of the New Zealand commercial vehicle market. The Christchurch branch of Cable Price Toyota aims to keep the Toyota commercial range at the top of the best-sellers’ list here and, to this end, is opening in Moorhouse Avenue what is probably the only specialist new commercial vehicle retail outlet in the city, if not in the South Island.

Mr Doug Brownlie, the Christchurch manager of Cable Price Toyota, freely admits that the commercial vehicle side of the business has been allowed to coast along but has registered enviable sales even though there has been an absence of aggressive marketing.

The Moorhouse Avenue site was once one of Cable Price Toyota’s used car outlets, but now that the mid-city used car outlet at the corner of Lichfield and Durham Streets has been geared up, the Moorhouse Avenue site is no longer needed for used-car sales.

“We’ve gone into this new project primarily because we are getting the thick edge of 30 per cent of the local commercial vehicle

market without really doing a marketing job. We feel that to really take a bigger slice of the action it has to become a specialist deal,” said Mr Brownlie. “In too many instances, commercial vehicle sales are looked upon as those things out the back and they are sold by car salesmen who don’t really know what it’s about.” Although the Moorhouse Avenue outlet will be administered from the TuamAntigua Street headquarters, a commercial vehicle sales manager, Mr Colin Inkster, has been appointed to control the new specialist operation. Mr Inkster has a great depth of experience in the

commercial vehicle field and one of his first tasks will be to build up a specialist team. In the meantime he will have two helpers at the Moorhouse Avenue outlet which, incidentally, has a pair of offices and two servicing bays as well as sufficient space to display about 40 vehicles. Establishment of the Moorhouse Avenue outlet does not mean the TuamAntigua street headquarters will be divorced from the commercial vehicle aspect of the Toyota operation. Mr Brownlie said that during the years, valuable associations had been built up between local companies and some of his salesmen

and, naturally, the firm was anxious for such associations to continue. “The only difference in such cases will be that commercial vehicles will be displayed at Moorhouse Avenue rather than at our city headquarters in future,” he said. “We hope Moorhouse Avenue will become generally recognised as our commercial vehicle headquarters in due course, but if any of our commercial vehicle clients wish to continue to deal with our city headquarters sales people they will be assured of a warm and friendly welcome,” Mr Brownlie concluded.