Queensland dealers mop up

FLOOD-ravaged car dealers and other motor industry businesses in Queensland are mostly back in business, despite being left with a huge clean-up job and automotive damage bill that is expected to top $100 million.

Ipswich and Rocklea, upstream from Brisbane, and Chinchilla, 290km north-west of the Queensland capital, appear to be among the worst hit areas, with two of Ipswich’s biggest multi-franchised dealers covering nine brands going under water.

The Insurance Council of Australia last Friday put the Queensland flood damage bill for motor vehicles alone at $81 million – 24 per cent of the overall claims bill of $365 million – but that does not include extensive damage to buildings such as car dealerships.

Most affected dealers that GoAuto called today were still awaiting insurance assessments, indicating the damage bill was far from complete.

If the floods were not enough, anecdotal reports from the region suggest new-vehicle sales so far this month are down as much as 50 per cent as Queenslanders take stock.

Although most dealers managed to move most of their stock to higher ground before the waters hit, a used light commercial vehicle and SUV reseller, Cousins Motor Company, saw about 200 4x2 utes inundated at Rocklea. However, staff managed to move a similar number of 4x4 vehicles to safety.

Mercedes-Benz Australia is searching for temporary premises for its Queensland regional office after its Rocklea building was severely damaged in the flood that also swamped five new Mercedes trucks – vehicles that had to be left behind in the company holding yard as staff moved another 40 or 50 cars and trucks to dry ground.

Left: Llewellyn Motors dealer principal Wade Llewellyn. Below: A flooded road in Queensland.

Published images show at least nine Hino trucks under water in a nearby yard at Rocklea.

Miraculously, Toowoomba’s major motor dealerships avoided major damage, as none of them were in the path of the raging torrent that slammed though the regional city on January 10.

Also, most of Brisbane’s inner city riverside dealership showrooms were largely unaffected, although Austral Volkswagen’s service department was immersed in water up to a metre deep.

In Ipswich, the John Grant’s Kia and Great Wall dealership was one of the worst hit, with water roof-high through the downtown Brisbane St showroom at the height of the flood.

Mr Grant told GoAuto that the recently renovated showroom now looked like a bomb had gone off, with the ceiling collapsed and plasterboard falling from the walls.

He said a plate-glass window had been shattered – probably by floating debris – and the water had somehow even managed to shift a V8 engine block.

Mr Grant said he had now reopened for business on an adjacent site where he previously sold caravans, but it would take at least a couple of months to restore the main showroom.

Like most dealers, Mr Grant and his staff moved the stock of 60 vehicles to safe territory, and those vehicles had now been moved back to resume business while the clean-up continued. However, two of the staff members had become sick, probably as a result of the filthy conditions that included dead animals and effluent from flooded sewers.

Up the road at Booval, Ipswich’s two biggest dealerships, Ross Llewellyn Motors and Ian Boettcher Motors, also bore the brunt of the floods, inundated by muddy water that backed up the Bremer River from the Brisbane River as the flood front swept down from the ranges.

Ian Boettcher Motors, which handles Mazda, Nissan, VW and Proton, this week was progressively reopening its showrooms in Brisbane Rd as staff cleaned up the mess.

Marketing manager Mark Quinn told GoAuto that the water had first flooded the Mazda showroom before moving up the road, inundating the Nissan, VW and the used car facilities.

He said water had been up to 1.5 metres deep, ruining furniture, computers and fittings. However, computer records were safe, having been backed up.

The stock of 350 vehicles had been moved by the staff of 120 to the nearby Bremer TAFE college for safe-keeping after a local councilor called in to warn of the approaching flood.

Rival dealership Ross Llewellyn Motors, with Holden, Toyota, Suzuki, Subaru and Hyundai franchises all on one Brisbane Rd site, also suffered extensive damage to many of its facilities, including the big Holden and Hyundai showrooms.

The most severe concern for the dealership as it re-opens for business is the service workshop, which suffered major damage.

Llewellyn Motors dealership staff moved about 700 vehicles to higher ground, averting an even bigger catastrophe.

Dealer Principal Wade Llewellyn thanked his staff and volunteers for the car evacuation and "their tireless efforts with the clean-up of our Ipswich and Laidley dealerships”.

“Our priority now is to give back to the community," he said. "Several of our staff members have also lost their homes during the floods. Our thoughts are with them and all residents and businesses that have been affected by flood damage.

“We will pledge money from every new and used car sold in the next 40 days to the Ipswich Flood Appeal.” At the small town of Chinchilla, dealerships suffered their second major flooding in as many months.

The Holden and Ford dealerships were worst hit, while the Toyota dealership also suffered damage.

Chinchilla Holden outlet Ainsworth Motors had up to two metres of water through its showroom, but the staff – prepared after a similar event in December – not only moved the stock of 80 new and used cars but stripped out the desks and most other fittings before the peak hit.

However, it will be weeks before the building is sufficiently dry to repaint the walls.

Major dealerships along one of Brisbane’s main auto shopping strips, the ‘Moorooka Magic Mile’, in the city’s outer west, had a narrow escape when flood waters lapped almost up the forecourts of some showrooms.

Similarly, dealers in the Fortitude Valley area of Brisbane are also thanking their lucky stars for relatively minor impact.

Near the mouth of the Brisbane River, Prixcar’s 16-hectare holding yard – capable of holding up to 8000 cars – escaped the rising waters, and distribution of stock has resumed to dealers not immediately affected by floods.

In Victoria, Horsham Holden/Honda/Mitsubishi dealership Wilson Bolton – sited next to the flooded Wimmera River – had water in its backyard as the river peaked today.

However, Holden sales manager David Weight told GoAuto that it appeared that premises would escape serious damage.

“We had a few blokes here cleaning up today, but it looks like we are going to be okay,” he said.

St George Bank general manager of automotive finance, Peter Bell, said stock funded by the company largely escaped the flood.

He said the flood in Brisbane “was different from a lot of other floods because we have known for two or three days that is was coming”.

Mr Bell said St George had staff lined up to help dealers move stock two days before the flood level peaked but no dealers requested their help because they had the situation under control.

He said St George has consumer loans on around $70 million worth of vehicles that could be flood-affected but the bank had yet to hear how many cars received flood damage.

Hyundai Australia sales director Damien Meredith told GoAuto that only one Hyundai’s dealership in Queensland was affected by flooding – Llewellyn Hyundai in Ipswich – but the floods had diverted buyer attention with Hyundai’s order intake down 50 per cent so far this month.

Dealer systems specialist, Pentana Solutions, has been contacting dealers across Queensland, NSW and Victoria to offering assistance to bring computers systems back on stream and has opened up a dealer flood relief hotline (03) 9535 2329 for any dealers who need assistance in systems recovery.

However, the company said its dealers had removed computers to safe places well before the floodwaters arrived.

Flood appeal THREE prominent Brisbane car dealers have put up a car as a prize in a Rotary Club raffle to raise money for Queensland Flood Relief.

The Rotary Club of Cleveland is offering the winner a choice of a Holden Barina Spark, Toyota Yaris, Mazda 2 Neo or a Ford Fiesta CL.

The cars have been donated by Oldfield Holden, Oldmac Toyota/Mazda and Bryan Byrt Ford. Ticket can be bought online at http://www.floodreliefraffle.com.