End of road for dealer

A family-run car dealership is closing after almost 35 years with the site set to become a depot for New Zealand Post.

Tony Shorland, ShorlandAutoCo’s dealer principal, describes the news as “a little bit sad”, but he views it as an opportunity to do something else after spending a big part of his life at the business, including 23 years in the top job.

His 14 or so employees have been a priority for him and he’s over the moon they have found jobs “especially in these times”. Some have retired.

The business most recently held franchises for Peugeot, Mahindra and Isuzu trucks. In the past, it represented Holden, Subaru and Daihatsu.

Shorland, pictured, adds he had a “bad health year” in 2024. “I got through it, but it changed my thinking. We had a business in Tauranga, which we sold just not long after that.”

An opportunity arose after the family was asked if it was interested in selling the Rotorua business and decided it was “the right thing” to do.

He investigated relocating, but couldn’t find anywhere quick enough, He told the Rotorua Daily Post: “To find somewhere and set it up would have been a big gap and we thought we might as well do something else.”

Shorland has yet to decide what his next step will be after the closure of the business on October 9. The family-run dealership started operating at the site in February 1992 and he adds the industry has “dramatically changed” in the past five to six years. 

“It’ll never be what it was. I think the loyalty’s gone out of the industry, from customers and distributors.” He believes this is being driven by Chinese marques entering the market – a development he thinks is unsustainable.

A developer has acquired ShorlandAutoCo’s 5,900sqm prime site on the corner of Old Taupo Road and Riri Street. It will become a logistics centre for NZ Post as part of a long-term leaseback arrangement.