29 Mar 2018

Toyota NZ announces massive shake-up

From Nine To Noon, 9:20 am on 29 March 2018

Toyota is moving all new cars out of dealerships and into approved stores in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Its New Zealand chief executive Alistair Davis told Nine to Noon that from April, it would be doing away with traditional commission-based car sellers in order to guarantee customers transparent prices.

Customers don't enjoy haggling when it comes to buying a car from dealerships and can often go away wondering whether they could have done better somewhere else, he said.

"We're moving from having traditional car dealers who will haggle for prices to Toyota stores where the price will be fixed and it will include all the on-road costs, all the pre-delivery costs, the floor mats, the tank of gas, everything will be built in," Mr Davis said.

The cost-saving measure would also be reflected in cheaper prices, he said.

Customers were also being encouraged to start the process of buying a car online, Mr Davis said.

The company is also investing in a car-sharing app called Mindkin which Mr Davis said is its way of looking at innovative ways to stay relevant.

He said sales models which point to fewer cars on the road which are used more often is the future.