President of Heiwa Auto Group passes

Masatoshi Abe, president of Heiwa Auto Group, has passed away, with members of Autohub NZ's executive travelling to Japan to pay their respects. 

Autofile and people connected to the automotive industry wish to pass on their condolences to the family, friends and business partners and acquaintances of Abe San, who was known and respected by many in New Zealand's used-imports sector. 

Abe san was in this country in January for the official opening of Autohub NZ's new offices in Hobsonville, along with senior Japanese management members and other guests from Japan. 

At the event, John Davies, former chief executive officer of Autohub NZ, said: "A special thanks to the Japanese guests we have here today, including the president of our whole corporation, Abe San. Your presence means a lot to us - to see you here on this day."

Message from the president

The following words by Masatoshi Abe, past-president of Heiwa Auto Group, appear on the company's Japanese website: "We continue to create the next standard aiming to be an infrastructure of the used-car exporting industry. 

"Heiwa Auto was established in 1966 as a motorbike shop and eventually started to handle automobiles with the development of the economy in Japan. 

"However, the most important turning point arrived in the first half of 1990. Earlier than any other company in the trade, we were convinced the used-car export market would expand in the future. 

"Thus, we withdrew from the business of selling used cars in Japan, which was already in a saturated state and reinforced the used-car exporting business by shifting our sales to foreign customers.

"Through innovative approaches in quality improvement, reformation of logistics, constructing information communication and others, we have promoted strong globalisation in markets around the globe.

"Our stance towards these approaches will not change. We will continue to expand the used-car exporting market and the potential of our business through new approached that will form the next-generation standard."