Wednesday, 24 July 2024

Owner on the road to expansion

    By Tim Scott
    1. Business

    Dunedin car salesman Andrew Simms stands at a Mitsubishi dealership in Andersons Bay Rd which he...
    Dunedin car salesman Andrew Simms stands at a Mitsubishi dealership in Andersons Bay Rd which he has leased to temporarily house the brand while a series of new showrooms are built across the road. PHOTO: LINDA ROBERTSON
    A Dunedin car salesman says he is confident the motor industry is bouncing back as he plans to expand into four new showrooms in South Dunedin.

    Andrew Simms — of Andrew Simms Motors — plans to add Jeep, RAM and BYD vehicles to the existing franchises of Mitsubishi and Nissan, previously held by Stephen Duff Motors.

    After communicating his desire to retire from the motor industry, Mr Duff’s shares were acquired by Andrew Simms Motors — adding the Dunedin business to its existing retail motor business.

    Mr Simms said he had been a 50% shareholder in Stephen Duff Motors since its inception in 2001 and also owned seven dealerships in Auckland.

    It was nice to be getting involved in business back home, he said.

    "Nothing feels like home other than being in Dunedin.

    "We’ll certainly significantly grow the business over the next few years with the plans we have."

    Four new showrooms, for all of the brands, will be constructed along Andersons Bay Rd — at sites that will include the former Stephen Duff Motors locations and other adjacent properties.

    The first of these will be a new Mitsubishi showroom, which is in its final design stages.

    The showrooms would feed directly into a new service centre, in Timaru St, which had been built to accommodate the expanded business, he said.

    All staff from Stephen Duff Motors would be retained and additional staff had since been recruited, including some relocated from Auckland.

    Mr Simms said he had been in the motor industry for well over 40 years, having started at Moller Motors, formerly in Crawford St, in 1981.

    The period following the Covid-19 pandemic had been buoyant, but the economic pullback coupled with high interest rates had been very dramatic.

    "It’s gone from being the most buoyant period I’ve known in 40 years to being the quietest I’ve known it in 40 years.

    "That transition has happened within the space of 12 months and that’s really difficult to deal with ..."

    "But that period passes and prosperity will return and away we go again."

    Dunedin did not have the highs and lows that Auckland had and he was "highly confident" about the future of both the city and the country.

    tim.scott@odt.co.nz