The Perth-based dealer group started in 1952 and expanded to become a public company on October 31, 2005, after raising $45.7 million as the basis for its expansion trail.

In 2006, AHG cemented its position as Australia’s biggest vehicle retailer by buying McGrath Lander Group in Sydney that had 15 dealerships. In the same year, it bought into New Zealand by acquiring John Andrew Ford and Mazda and North Harbour Ford and Mazda.

One year later, the company acquired Queensland’s biggest privately owned automotive retailing business, Zupps Group, that had 32 franchises operating from 18 locations.

Also in 2007, AHG built four new dealerships on greenfield sites – two in WA at Rockingham and Wangara and two in Queensland at Capalaba and Browns Plains.

It subsequently bought Lansvale Holden in the Sydney suburb of Liverpool and then three Ford dealerships in Perth. It also built Australia’s largest Hino truck dealership on a 20,000-square-metre greenfield site in Dandenong in Melbourne’s east.

One year later, AHG built a new Hyundai dealership in Perth southern suburb Rockingham, near its Ford, Mitsubishi and Kia showrooms. It also bought Allpike Citroen and Peugeot in Perth, bringing its franchise outlets to 104 in Australia and New Zealand.

In 2009, AHG expanded its Rand cold storage and distribution network, and in 2010 opened with the purchase of a huge 43,000-square-metre site in a prominent location in Sydney’s Castle Hill that was planned to become an automotive hub.

That year also saw AHG buy Graham Werner Toyota in Melbourne’s Ferntree Gully, marking the group’s first entry into Melbourne.

In 2011, AHG bought Diesel Motors Trucks in Kewdale, Perth, to add Mercedes-Benz and Freightliner to its truck brands. It also bought Coventry’s automotive parts distribution business in WA, rebranding it Covs, and then added Harris Refrigerated Transport to its list of acquisitions.

More acquisitions followed quickly, with 2012 seeing AHG buy Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles franchises in Newcastle (NSW), Rocklea and Caboolture (Qld), then Newcastle Hino (from Bradstreet Automotive Group) and Newcastle Iveco that also has branches in Gosford, Tamworth, Scone and Coffs Harbour.

Also in 2012, AHG bought Toll Refrigerated.

The same year it announced a greenfield development for a state-of-the-art Holden and HSV dealership in South Melbourne. It also bought nine franchises from the Jeff Wignall Group and Colley Ford (Dandenong) that together gave AHG 15 dealer and service points from the Melbourne CBD through the south-east corridor to the Mornington Peninsula.

In 2013, the company bought the Bayside Automotive Group dealership in Frankston (Nissan, Suzuki and Chrysler Jeep Dodge) and the Peninsula Group on the Mornington Peninsula (Nissan and Chrysler Jeep Dodge).

It also acquired Jason Mazda (Osborne Park, WA), Davie Motors Holden (Auckland, NZ), Gary McMillan Toyota (Preston, Vic), South Morang Toyota (north of Melbourne), and opened Australia’s biggest Hyundai dealership at Castle Hill (NSW) and a Fiat Commercial dealership in the Perth suburb of Welshpool.

Also in 2013, AHG signed up as a sponsor for three years of the Melbourne Football Club and became the Australian and New Zealand distributor for Husqvarna motorcycles. This operated separately to AHG’s KTM distribution business.

In 2014, the company bought the Bradstreet Motor Group’s 13 dealerships with seven franchises in Newcastle and surrounds. It opened the $24 million Sutherland Mazda dealership in Sydney.

It also bought Scott’s Refrigerated Freightways that, like AHG, was founded in 1952. Scott’s bought the remaining share in JAT Refrigerated Road Services that it did not already own, so AHG owned Scott’s and JAT.

In 2015, AHG bought three Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Perth (Diesel Motors, Westpoint Star and Southpoint Star) and the related Bassendean body repair shop, as well as West Auckland Nissan in NZ, Leo Muller CJD (Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Alfa Romeo and Fiat) in Aspley, Brisbane, and Paceway Mitsubishi in Osborne Park, Perth.

It opened a new Nissan dealership in Aspley and a new Mazda franchise in Browns Plains, south of the Brisbane CBD. A ne Hino outlet in Coffs Harbour came along, too, and AHG’s Rand subsidiary opened a $38 million transport and warehouse facility in Erskine Park, Sydney.

In 2016, AHG bought the Lance Dixon Group (Jaguar, Land Rover, Fiat, Abarth and Alfa Romeo) in Doncaster, in Melbourne’s east, the high-profile City Mazda in South Melbourne, Audi Centre Newcastle, Newcastle Skoda, Knox Mitsubishi in Wantirna South, Melbourne, and Penrith Hyundai in Sydney.

It also purchased the Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicle dealership at Laverton, Victoria, from Mercedes-Benz Australia/Pacific.

In the same year, AHG launched its used-car, fixed-price warehouse model, Easyauto123, as well as a new Infiniti dealership at Castle Hill, Sydney. It also opened its east coast corporate office at Prestons in Sydney and sold 21 of 25 Covs parts outlets to GPC Asia Pacific.

In 2017, the company bought the Hunter Motor Group that operates in the Newcastle area at Maitland (Subaru, Honda and Volkswagen) and Rutherford (Isuzu Ute and Volkswagen Commercial), and also purchased Ford and Mitsubishi dealerships in Essendon Fields in Melbourne’s north-west, and Carlins Auction Group.

It opened three Easyauto123 outlets in Seven Hills, Sydney, Canning Vale, Perth, and Brooklyn, Melbourne. The company also opened an Infiniti franchise in Doncaster, in Melbourne’s east and announced plans to develop a new Jaguar Land Rover dealership on a greenfield site at Essendon Fields.

In 2018, AHG opened its fifth Easyauto123 store in Hendra, Brisbane. It bought Nissan and Kia dealerships at Essendon Fields and opened its Jaguar Land Rover dealership in the same precinct, while in New Zealand it opened the Mazda Connect permanent retail shopping centre store in Auckland and bought Hyundai and Mitsubishi dealerships in the Auckland suburb of Manukau.

In 2019, rival AP Eagers increases its stakeholding in AHG. In May, APE held 51 per cent of AHG shares and started moving to compulsory acquisition.

By Neil Dowling