DISTRIBUTION of Lotus Cars in Australia and New Zealand will shift from Ateco Automotive’s European Automotive Imports (EAI) to the company behind Sydney’s sole Lotus dealer, Simply Sports Cars (SSC), on July 1.

All existing stock and parts will be managed by the new distributor from that date.

SSC has been Sydney’s official Lotus Cars dealer, based out of its premises in the North Shore suburb of Artarmon, since 2013, and is one of five dealerships in Australia alongside others in Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane.

As well as being a Lotus dealer, SSC has a team of engineers and mechanics that prepares Lotus cars for various track and race meetings and is responsible for a number of Lotus-focused events across the country.

Simply Sports Cars director of sales and strategy Richard Gibbs said the company wanted to ensure the changeover in distributorship from Ateco had little, if any, impact on customers, and highlighted areas of focus for the new entity, including customer and aftersales service, as well as more customer events.

In an exclusive interview with GoAuto, Mr Gibbs said discussions with Ateco formally started at the beginning of the year, but that SSC originally had no plans to take over distribution of the iconic Malaysian-owned British brand.

“We have been the largest Lotus dealer for the last three years,” he said. “We felt that the market was in a little bit of a state of decline.

“We had ideas as to what we wanted to do to turn that around and we started to discuss those with Ateco in December. I would say by January those discussions turned more towards what would we think if we were provided an opportunity to take over distribution.”

Mr Gibbs said that far from being a drawn-out, bitter negotiation process, both parties were keen for SSC to take over, and he praised the outgoing distributor, saying the company “always had a great relationship with Ateco”.

“They appointed us in 2013, they obviously saw something in us that attracted them to us and we feel that we have done a good job of representing the brand, and we have always found Ateco good to work with,” he said.

“And we still enjoy a healthy relationship with Ateco even now. If I am not sure on something, I can pick up the phone to Glen (outgoing Lotus Australia and NZ general manager Glen Sealey) and say, ‘Hey, can I get your advice on something?’

“I know it’s an over-used term, but the transfer of the distribution to us was really, really amicable and mutually beneficial.”

Mr Gibbs said he believed the new arrangement would allow Ateco to focus on its other brands, including Chinese car-makers Foton, LDV and Chery, as well as SsangYong, Ram trucks and, under its EAI umbrella, Maserati.

“It allowed Ateco to focus on the stuff they want to focus on,” he said. “It gave us a little bit more control over our destiny,” he said.

“It (Lotus) is a somewhat of a niche and enthusiast brand and if you look at the brands that they (Ateco) currently manage, it does stand out as a little bit of an anomaly, for a whole host of reasons, volume being one of them.

“A big year for us will be a tiny, dismal year for some of the other brands they do. So it probably was just about focus for them and similarly for us it was about focus.”

A spokesperson for EAI said the importer was “very sad to see Lotus leave the company”, and added that a shift in focus from the Lotus parent company had an impact on EAI’s decision to relinquish distribution.

“It is fantastic company and one with which EAI was very happy and proud to be associated,” the spokesperson said. “However, Lotus has changed direction substantially since the original distributorship was granted and this meant that the scale of the business did not fit with EAI’s business strategy.”

The spokesperson said the departure of Lotus has “no effect” on EAI’s business or strategy, and given the continued success of Maserati as well as a recent deal to distribute the prestige Italian brand in South Africa, did not represent a “shift away from representing European brands”.

While EAI could not comment on the negotiation process, the spokesperson added: “EAI has worked hard to ensure that it is as smooth and seamless as possible for all involved, as looking after the interests of our customers and our partners is a core part of the professionalism of the Ateco.”

Ateco took over distribution of Lotus from Lotus Cars Australia – then an offshoot of Proton Cars Australia – in mid-2011.

According to Mr Gibbs, existing vehicle stock and parts have already been transferred, a process he described as “amicable”, adding that both parties were keen to ensure the needs of the customer were put first and that they would see little impact from the change.

“From the day that we agreed with Ateco that we would be willing to do this, up until the day we formalised signatures with Lotus, the biggest thing in the front of our mind was, don’t disrupt the customer. Make sure the customer experience is not marginalised in any way.”

Mr Gibbs said he did not see a reason to stray from the existing dealer network structure of one outlet per state (except Tasmania), and added that if some dealers decided not to continue with the brand, replacements would be sought.

“Some dealers may not elect to go forward. We don’t expect there to be a hole in the dealer network. We will fill whatever gaps if any emerge in the dealer network.”

While Mr Gibbs said the company was satisfied with dealer network performance, it is conducting a “top to bottom” review of the network to shine a light on areas that require improvement.

“We have been the most successful dealer for the past three years by a fairly significant shot,” he said.

“And we think we, therefore, have got the formula right to have what it takes not only to sell but also provide that aftersales service to the Lotus community and we want to make sure our dealer representation around the country lives and breathes that same ethos that we do.”

Mr Gibbs said it was SSC’s goal to ensure all Lotus customers go to their respective state dealer, rather than other retail and service outlets, to purchase a new car, for aftersales service and to engage in events.

He added that there would be a renewed focus for the dealer network to put on Lotus events such as track and road trip days for customers as it was “fundamental to the brand” and said the SSC Sydney dealership had led the way with events in Australia compared with other dealers.

“We have done a heck of a lot of it. That’s why we think it’s important to your success to do that. I think some of the other dealers may have struggled in the past.

“Look at the volume of Lotus to some of these dealers compared to their other brands and it might not make sense to have that focus.

“We want to sit down with them and explain what we do what we have done. See whether it makes sense for them to do that because that is really what we need to happen.”

Mr Gibbs acknowledged that Lotus events, such as the Targa High Country event on Mt Buller, cost dealers money, but said it was critical to foster a Lotus community.

“It is certainly an investment of time and passion. But from our experience that comes back to you in terms of loyalty and ultimately it comes back to you in the form of work and service.

“Every one of our customers that is heading off to Targa will get their car prepared here. Sometimes you can’t bring it back to dollars and sense and as a dealer you have to take that community view.”

 

By Tim Nicholson