The five dealer candidates in the upcoming election for the executive board of the Victorian Automotive Chamber of Commerce (VACC) are calling on dealer members of the chamber to make sure they vote in this year’s VACC executive board election.

The message from the candidates is that dealers should alert their business administration departments to look out for the voting papers as they arrive in the mail this week and vote for their dealer candidates as soon as the papers arrive.

The chairman of the Victorian Automobile Dealers Association (VADA), Sid Cetindag, told GoAutoNews Premium that members need to know that VADA is not guaranteed a position on the VACC executive board. There are 10 nominations for nine positions in this year’s ballot.“The last VACC EB election in 2022 saw a poor VADA member voter turnout. It was touch and go; we almost lost our dealer position to an aftermarket repairer. That can never happen again. On the VACC board, we are here for all VACC members, but the voice of the dealer is foremost in my representations.” Mr Cetindag said.  

“The current VACC executive board has done some amazing work on behalf of all VACC members (see below). The VACC capital fund is healthy and working for all members under the current board. We need that momentum to continue, but we need all dealer members to vote.

He said that apart from himself, the “dealer ticket” is used car trader nominee and fellow dealer Paul Hopper, motorcycle dealer Matt Jones, farm machinery dealer Paul Bertoli and tyre dealer Chris Hummer. 

“We need to make sure these guys get in again,” Mr Cetindag said.

He said that the dealers are not the biggest division in the VACC, “but we contribute the greatest in membership fees and we need to make sure that when there is something that comes up in our part of the industry, that someone is able to put the case to the executive board because they may not always quite understand the dealer landscape. 

“The impact of NVES, the way warranty works and the dealer relationship with the manufacturers and the fleet companies and our customers for example, we are needed to be there to explain to the board why these issues are important to dealers and why the VACC needs to put its weight and resources behind them.”

Sid Cetindag

He said all the divisions compete for resources. “What happens if we don’t have that dealer representation at the board level?” 

“So we also bring a bit of sophistication, governance, professional expertise  and solid  structure to the VACC itself because of our input from our expertise, into the executive board and into the way the VACC is run. 

“I think it’s very beneficial for dealers to be on the board, not only for our sector, but also for the actual VACC itself, to have some guys from dealerships because of the enormity of our businesses and how complex they are; this is helping in aiding and guiding the board with its decisions and which way to go.

“But also our businesses are a bit bigger, and I’ll say this with the utmost respect, than the panel beaters and some of the independents. So, we also bring a bit of governance and a bit of actual structure to the VACC itself, because of our understanding of our complex landscape.

Mr Cetindag said: “Our dealers need to keep an eye out in the mail this week for the voting ballot. It has been sent in the mail this week. Dealers need to track it down and must jump straight onto it. Action it straight away. 

“To really make sure your vote counts, make sure it is the correct membership nominated chamber representative who is voting. If you have more than one VACC membership, you get a vote for each one of those memberships. Check your incoming land mail.”

“Get that vote in. Make your vote count. If you don’t know how to vote, call me or call Paul Hopper.” 

He said the VADA dealer ticket is: Vote 1 for Sid Cetindag, 2 for Paul Hopper, 3 for Matt Jones, 4 for Paul Bertolli and 5 for Chris Hummer.

Mr Hopper told GoAutoNews Premium that he is a third generation dealer who has been in auto retailing for 30 years with much of that time spent serving the industry on dealer councils and various roles on the VACC and AADA.

“I have always had the desire to serve the industry to give back. It’s just hardwired into my DNA.

“I think the VACC is obviously the peak body in Victoria and has a significant role to play nationally, as well.  I’ve been on the board now for two years and my contribution to a board like that is always going to be one of approaching stewardship and management as a board member with fairness consideration for all the divisions of the VACC. Not just dealers, obviously.” 

Mr Hopper said he owned a significant number of franchises that are all very sophisticated and very complex businesses.

Paul Hopper

“Our group has 330 fiercely loyal staff with many different brands and big used car departments and lots of service bays. There are a lot of moving parts going on at any one time. So I bring to the table an enormous amount of knowledge that may be, with respect, some of the other people who are seeking election probably don’t have and that gives the VACC a significant knowledge base to work from.”

Mr Hopper reiterated how important it was for dealer members of the VACC to track down the ballot papers in the mail and act on their votes immediately before they get distracted into the normal working day.  

Asked why dealers should vote for the dealer ticket Mr Cetindag said: “The agenda and positive work outcomes dealers have generated through VADA on behalf of LMCTs and dealers, in collaboration with the other dealer divisions on behalf of LMCTs and dealers, is immense. 

“VADA is the only serious state dealer representative body in Australia. All VADA members know the work of VACC on their behalf. We work in unison with MTAA and AADA, and the outcomes are massive.

“Key outcomes over the two years have seen VADA lead the way for an increase in the government payroll tax thresholds, access to exclusive data from VicRoads, franchise code reforms for all franchise dealers, critical changes to the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard that came from our VADA and Tasmanian dealer table, Fines Victoria reforms. We have, for now, held off an industry funded lemon law ombudsman and worked with the ACCC on the truth about EV sales and servicing. We are the only industry body which has held on-line classifieds providers to account and we are looking for alternatives. 

And let’s not forget  the jewel in the crown, the ever important Industrial relations outcomes and access to a first-class industrial relations team at VACC.”