The Melbourne business has leased a site in Oakleigh, only a few minutes from its existing Hyundai and Ford new-car dealership.

The group’s dealer principal, Jeff Halsall, told GoAutoNews Premium that the aim of the used-car site – to be called CarBuy – was “to complement our existing site in becoming a more balanced business.

“That was probably the initial stage. But the other aspect is that the used-car business is something we all have a great passion for,” he said.

“We have done a lot of work in the past three or four years in researching what’s happening around the world in the used-car space and we have been able to visit businesses such as Carvana and EchoPark to see what a best-practice used-car operation can be.”

Mr Halsall said another aspect of having a stand-alone used-car operation was to complement the new-car franchises and give management some control of the wider retail auto business.

“All OEMs are having problems with supply at the moment and that also impacts on dealers,” he said.

“We feel that by having a large used-car presence, we can control the supply of used cars and that will help us protect our long-term sustainability.”

Mr Halsall said stock would come mainly from private sellers with additional vehicles sourced through other business opportunities.

Josh, Tamara and Jeff Halsall at the premises of their soon-to-open CarBuy used-car outlet in Oakleigh

“There’s now so many different avenues to purchase with a large part from online sources,” he said.

CarBuy will start with 17 employees from administration through to sales and reconditioning and buying teams. Mr Halsall said he could see the staff numbers climbing to 30.

“The vehicles at CarBuy will typically be three to 10 years old, compared with what we will have available at the dealerships which will be more like one to three-year-old Hyundai and Ford models that complements the new-car operation,” he said.

Mr Halsall, with son Josh, daughter Tamara and other business partner George McDonald, bought Chadstone’s Ford and Hyundai dealership in Oakleigh last year, opening the doors on April 1.

“From the very start, we knew that to complete our business structure, used cars would play a big part,” he said.

“We initially set out trying to find some sort of warehouse setup, where we could tackle quite a lot of things in one space. But getting into commercial real estate is so difficult at the moment.

“We just couldn’t find the site that was going to suit what we were trying to do. So in the end, we had another look at our planning and came across this site.

“It allows us to have a hub where we can see every aspect of the operation from the time we purchase the car to the time we publish the car then sell it and deliver it.

“On top of that, the vehicles we bring into this site will not only supply this location but go into our existing sites as well.”

The site was previously Bayford used cars and before that, South Yarra BMW and Tony White Nissan. Mr Halsall said it is in a “great” position on the corner of Atherton Road and Princes Highway.

By Neil Dowling