Dealership expands operations

The Gazley Motor Group is expanding its operations into the Kapiti Coast after taking over a site that has been occupied by a Honda dealership.

Oliver Gazley, group dealer principal, tells Autofile Online it has long been wanting to open a business in the area to complement its four other locations in Wellington and Lower Hutt.

It will sell marques not currently represented in Kapiti, although the main focus of the new venture will be on servicing and parts.

The company takes over the Paraparaumu site on April 1 but Gazley says it will spend about a month refurbishing the premises before opening to the public in early May.

Kapiti Coast Honda, run by Tony Rudolph, has been operating from the location but was placed into liquidation on March 9 and reportedly ceased trading a week later. Thomas Rodewald, of Rodewald Consulting in Tauranga, has been appointed as liquidator.

The developments come as Honda plans to shift its franchise holders to an agency model network from May 1.

About half of the six staff who worked at the Honda business have been hired by the Gazley Motor Group.

Gazley, pictured, says: “We’re not taking on Honda but will represent the Gazley brands on the Kapiti Coast.

“We have been looking for space up there for a wee while and the focus will be on a service centre for our clients and for the brands we represent in the city.

“We are very proud of our staff who have worked for us and we have a lot of staff who live up that way. They’ve also been putting pressure on us to find a place up there so they don’t have to commute.

“For some of our key staff, we have been able to offer them a job in that area and we have kept a few of the staff who were previously working at the site.”

Customer convenience

Marques represented by the group include Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat, Jeep, RAM, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Mitsubishi. 

Gazley notes the latter two will not be part of the Kapiti venture as they are already catered to by other dealerships in the area.

“For a lot of the brands we represent, we are the sole agent for them in Wellington and we need to make sure our clients a little further out can be serviced,” he explains.

“People can buy a car from us in Wellington or Lower Hutt and this new venture means they won’t have to drive back in for warranty and service work, which makes it more convenient for our customers.

“There’s a six-bay workshop so the main purpose is servicing but there’s also good space for selling cars. It will mainly be used cars and demonstrator models we have there.”

Gazley says the addition of the Paraparaumu venture does not indicate plans to grow the business much further from the capital.

“We’re Wellington born and bred and don’t have a vision to expand outside of the region but we are trying to find opportunities within the region and doing well in the area we have focused on.”

He adds business has been brisk across its sites in the past year despite everyone’s worst fears when the country went into lockdown because of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

“It’s been amazing. I do not know of a dealer I work with who hasn’t had an amazing year.

“We went into lockdown panicking the world was going to end but we have come out the other end with stock shortages. 

“You have to work hard to fill your yard with cars but if you can then business is good and it’s been a successful year.”