Sparked by the Queensland Holden Dealer Council in a letter to all national dealers, the offer started as a discussion subject.
The secretary of the Australian Holden Dealer Council, David Nicholson, said the offer has been sent to all state governments and that it had received “very positive” responses.
He told GoAutoNews Premium that most dealers are operating at 50 per cent capacity which meant the availability of employees to assist where necessary and the vacant space in parts of most dealerships can be used to help the cause.
The letter to state governments said Holden dealers have 185 facilities across the nation “that are versatile, accessible and share ideal geographic positioning as either a destination or a distribution point”.
“As such, we wish to begin a dialogue with you about what and how our facilities may be able to help in this very challenging time,” the letter said.
The council said that initial ideas about how the dealerships could help included:
- Providing space for relief package processing and distribution.
- Establishing a small business ‘hub’ with office space and desks for essential service businesses whose existing premises for whatever reason may no longer be suitable.
- Offer dealership meeting rooms and spaces for the provision of flu vaccines to reduce the strain on medical facilities.
- A cafe for emergency services personnel.
- Utilising our service and parts facilities for emergency vehicle maintenance.
- Meeting space for government employees.
“We remain open to other suggestions, but we were very keen to convey our most sincere desire to assist where we can,” Mr Nicholson said in the letter.
“This is our community and Australian Holden dealers want to do our bit and encourage other businesses to do the same.”
The council will continue to take suggestions on the concept through council chairman Jack Horwitz on email jack.horwitz@ccauto.com.au.
By Neil Dowling
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