Dave Buttner

HOLDEN has put dealers first in sweeping changes to its relationship with its retail partners as new managing director spells out a co-operative deal that aims to boost the company’s market share.

Recently appointed managing director Dave Buttner told GoAutoNews Premium that Holden is now “taking a realistic approach to the development of the dealerships”.

His comments follow a series of meetings with retailers around the country in which, GoAuto has been told by dealers, Mr Buttner was left in no doubt that Holden had trashed what used to be the best factory-dealer relationship in Australia.

Mr Buttner would have found a dealer group that once, in the words of retailers, “would have walked over hot coals for the brand”. But they have become disillusioned by authoritarian and arbitrary terminations of long-standing dealers – even the sacking of those still winning Holden’s own sales and dealer management awards.

The rot set in on the day a Holden director stunned a national dealer conference with an opening slide: “If you want a friend, get a dog”. Other senior managers have bagged dealers to GoAutoNews Premium saying “they have houses as big as postcodes” and “they have made all the money, now it’s our turn”.

The good news for dealers is that Mr Buttner recognises that Holden’s new expectations of its retailers will be more aligned with the place Holden now finds itself with a five per cent share and in making its decisions, take into account the lower revenue that its share generates across the network.

“My attitude is that we will look at the current state of the market and then relate decisions to this market,” he said.

“For example, we have a new signage program. For a large dealer to put that in place it will cost them $300,000.

“But if you’re a smaller dealership and you’re breaking even or even losing a little bit of money, it is not an appropriate time to insist that a dealer has to commit to that expense.

“Would I love to see every dealer in Australia have this new signage put in place? Yes, of course. But in our current state (of market share) and to respect our dealers, then pushing them to do something which will cost them money is, to me, inappropriate and we won’t do it.”

Mr Buttner said that Holden was capable of an eight per cent market share within “a few years” based on its dealer support and product range.

“That’s the wish list. But I think we can get there. We have a future plan locked in to 2022,” he said.

“When I met with the dealers in Melbourne last Thursday – with their partners which was the first time that had happened in a long time – there was a wonderful feeling of camaraderie.”

Mr Buttner, who has 41 years in the Australian car industry, said some of the results of his conversations with dealers were “very, very positive” while others “frankly, some were very negative”.

He said the negativity came from those dealer who were not able to sell sufficient volume.

Mr Buttner added that the cuts to the franchise made under previous management would stay and there would be neither an increase in dealer numbers nor a reduction in the network.

“Holden has 190 dealers in Australia with 211 outlets,” he said.

“I have met with almost every dealer in metropolitan and many regional dealers; not all, but I did the best I could in the time.

“I also spent time with the (Holden) dealer council and respect the work they do in representing their constituents and the brand.

“I have also attended dealer meetings in all states. I said to them that I wanted to know – honestly – what the issues were with them.

“What are the issues on your mind, what do you think affects the brand and what do you think impacts on the brand. What are your staff thinking and what are your customers thinking about Holden?

Holden Acadia

“That way I was able to absorb and understand the many issues on their mind and it enforced the fact that as a brand, we have a duty of care for dealers because they are our partners.

“We are wholesalers – we wholesale cars and we wholesale parts and that is the source of our revenue.

“But the people that face our customers every day are the dealers. So the more respect we have for them as dealers then the greater opportunity we have of moving forward and having greater respect in the marketplace.”

Mr Buttner said that he heard that one dealer said, after being invited to (Holden’s proving ground) Lang Lang, that “it’s taken me 30 years to get through these gates”.

“I wasn’t aware that was the case with any dealer,” he said.

“This is a partnership (with the dealers) and when we work together we may not agree on everything but we will have a common goal.

“It is about finding the sweet spot and finding this relationship can make us unbeatable as a team.”

Mr Buttner said that his Australian dealership tour introduced plans for the upcoming Acadia seven-seat large SUV.

He said dealers who were introduced to the model “loved the ads, the pricing and the positioning in the market”.

“I had had a huge feedback of how the dealers felt positively about the Acadia – and the company and the positioning in the market,” he said.

By Neil Dowling and John Mellor