Family-run dealership downsizes

A dealership that had been based in Dunedin for more than 45 years has relocated to a new site in the nearby town of Mosgiel.

Midway Motors started selling used cars when it opened its Kaikorai Valley Road premises in 1979.

Chris Henderson, managing director, says his family took over the dealership the following year and he bought it off his father 20 years ago, reports the Otago Daily Times.

The company shifted to Gladstone Road, Mosgiel, in late August and Henderson describes the new site as a “smaller, boutique-style yard”.

He explains the change came after he was approached by fuel distributor NPD and agreed to lease them the old premises.

“It wasn’t a decision I took lightly, but it was too good an offer to turn down,” he told the Otago Daily Times.

Henderson says it was the right time to downsize because the used car market is currently “very difficult”. The move has cut the company’s overhead costs in half.