The sale of 14 rooftops includes Toyota stores at Moorooka and Hillcrest, Ford at Moorooka, Kia at Moorooka and Browns Plains, Mitsubishi at Browns Plains, Moorooka and Springwood, MG at Moorooka, Jeep at Moorooka and Springwood, Nissan and Mazda at Browns Plains, Chery at Springwood and Holden service and parts at Moorooka and Springwood. 

Motorama also pioneered large-scale used car retailing in Australia and sells used cars through its store, Big Box Cars.

Under the deal the family will retain ownership of the real estate. 

Third generation owner, Mark Woelders described the decision to sell as “one of the hardest decisions the family has had to make”.

Mr Woelders said: “The decision to sell was right for the family and we feel extremely comfortable that the company is in great hands with Servco. Servco has a similar ethos to business which is to look after its employees and its customers; key ingredients of our success.”

Motorama employs more than 700 people and has revenues of more than $800 million. 

The company pioneered large scale used car retailing in Australia with its Big Box Cars operations.

Mark Woelders does not plan to retire. He will be heading up the property division of the family with his son Sebastian who has been working in the business. Mark’s younger brother Damian is staying in the Motorama business as the training manager.

The brothers are the fourth generation to work in the company.

Sebastian, Mark, John and Damian Woelders

The family is retaining the Madill Motor Group on the Sunshine Coast, which is made up of John Madill Toyota in Noosa and Gympie, Noosa Suzuki, Gympie Mazda, Gympie Suzuki and Gympie MG.

In 2020, the Motorama Group celebrated 60 years of trading in the Brisbane area. The firm was founded by Jan and Anita Woelders in 1960 as a BP service station on the Gold Coast. Jan’s son John took over where his father left off and ran the company for 30 years. John’s son Mark worked his way up the ranks to become managing director in 2007. 

Its first auto retail business was a Holden dealership in Beenleigh with five employees. 

The group expanded to become one of Queensland’s largest family-owned automotive retailers.

Servco, founded in Hawaii more than a century ago and now with operations in California and Australia, has a turnover of more than $1.5 billion.

Servco is hugely Toyota-heavy in this country. It has 17 Toyota rooftops (the Motorama purchase will take that to 19 Toyota rooftops). This is the most Toyota branches operated by one company in Australia.  It also has three Lexus dealerships and a Hino dealership in Cairns.

The only non-Toyota brands in the portfolio are Mitsubushi, Subaru, Isuzu Ute and Harley-Davidson although that changes significantly with the Motorama purchase. 

Nick Pappas, Servco’s Brisbane-based president of global mobility told GoAutoNews Premium:  “We’re thrilled to add the Motorama Group to our family of companies. Our histories, values and goals are well-aligned, and we look forward to driving business forward with the same record of excellence that customers have come to know.”

Mr Pappas said in a statement that the company was attracted to Motorama because it had “the right brands and the right people in place to capitalise on the south east Queensland growth story leading into the Olympics in 2032

Servco Australia had the following locations prior to the Motorama acquisition:

• New South Wales
• Chatswood Toyota
• Ryde Toyota – Branch of Chatswood Toyota
• Dubbo City Toyota
• Gilgandra Toyota – Branch of Dubbo City Toyota
• Lexus of Central West
• Tamworth City Toyota
• New England Toyota: Armidale – Branch of Tamworth City Toyota
• New England Toyota: Inverell – Branch of Tamworth City Toyota
• New England Mitsubishi Inverell

• Victoria
• Echuca Subaru/Isuzu Ute
• Echuca Toyota
• Melbourne City Lexus
• Melbourne City Toyota – CBD
• Melbourne City Toyota – Camberwell
• Melbourne City Toyota – Heidelberg
• Melbourne City Toyota – South Melbourne
• Blinkr – Essendon Fields

• Queensland
• Downtown Toyota 
• Pacific Toyota
• Lexus of Cairns
• Sunshine Toyota
• Pacific Hino
• Servco Australia – Corporate Office

• Western Australia
• Melville Toyota
• Rockingham Toyota
• Rockingham Harley-Davidson
• Perth Harley-Davidson

About Servco

Founded in 1919, Servco Pacific Inc. is Hawaiʻi’s largest private company. Servco’s main businesses are in automotive distribution and retailing, and in musical instruments and e-learning. In the automotive area, the company owns a diverse group of automotive businesses including exclusive distributorships of Toyota, Lexus, and Subaru in Hawaii; a network of more than 30 retail dealerships in Australia and Hawaii; and Hui Car Share and other mobility initiatives. 

Servco is one of the Top 15 largest automotive dealer groups based in the US and the largest Toyota dealer group in Australia.

In musical instruments, the company owns Fender Musical Instruments Corporation, the iconic global maker of Fender, Gretsch, Jackson, Squier and EVH guitars, basses and amplifiers and provider of music e-learning through its Fender Play app. 

In 2021, the company acquired Presonus, a leader in music technology solutions for creators and players. Servco is also a major shareholder in Roland Corporation, the innovative manufacturer of electric keyboards, synthesisers, percussion and guitar amplifiers and sound effects. 

In addition to Servco’s operating businesses, the company is an active investor in venture capital, particularly around mobility and music creation. The company has been recognized as a 2023 US Best Managed Company and one of the “Best Places to Work in Hawaii for 19 consecutive years.

By John Mellor