Mitsubishi's electric car points to a new-look car industry, writes motoring editor Alastair Sloane
The arrival of Mitsubishi's plug-in electric car coincides with the first signs of a whole new automotive landscape in New Zealand, leaner and meaner and dotted with multi-franchise dealers.
The global economic crisis has changed the rules forever. On the other side of it, stand-alone new-vehicle dealerships will be thin on the ground, confined only to big cities.
Dealerships in provincial centres now handling one or two new brands more than likely will have three or four on their lot.
BMW, for instance, says it will maintain exclusive dealerships in the main centres but will encourage its provincial outlets to seek what it calls "strategic partnerships" with other brands.
"It makes sense in a market of our size," says BMW corporate communications manager Piers Scott. "And a multi-franchise outlet offers buyers the convenience of trading up to a BMW."
Strong used dealers only will survive in the new automotive world. The used-import operator who set up shop with a briefcase and cellphone has already gone. Used Japanese imports have been reduced to a trickle compared with past numbers.
Motor Industry Association CEO Perry Kerr says the industry will be rationalised.
"Dealers who are financially secure will get stronger, while those operating at the margins will exit the industry," he said.
"Globally, the motor vehicle industry is changing and it is likely that some of the brands that are present in the New Zealand market may go.
"Again this is only history repeating itself and in the recent past brands such as Daewoo have disappeared from the New Zealand market as they have been absorbed into other car company operations.
"The industry continually evolves to meet the market and as we have seen in New Zealand over the past two to three years there has been a shift into smaller vehicles at the expense of the large car segment. There has always been change."
Small electric cars like Mitsubishi's iMiEV point to more change, this time in after-sales service, on which many a dealer's livelihood depends.
In theory, the car's motor and battery pack could work for the lifetime of the car - the only time it would need servicing would be for new tyres.
Its mainly low-speed city role would extend brake and suspension life. There's no exhaust system to be fixed, no fuel hiccups, no rear diff nasties ...
But the appearance of electric cars in numbers on NZ roads is still a long way off. The iMiEV will be built in Japan from August, initially priced at around NZ$60,000. Japan pretty much gets all of the first year's production. Buyers there will be offered government incentives.
Mitsubishi NZ hopes to sell 200 iMiEV cars in 2010, mostly to Government and utility companies.
It expects worldwide demand for the plug-in car to gradually bring down the price to where iMiEV can sooner rather than later compete in the minicar market.
The company says iMiEV takes seven hours to charge, at a cost of between $3 and $4. A fast-charge unit will do the job in under 60 minutes, but the unit itself costs many thousands of dollars and would likely be cost-effective only to iMiEV fleet buyers.
Kerr says the automotive industry will adapt to electric cars in the same way it has with other technological changes.
"Globally, the vehicle industry is investing billions in producing more fuel-efficient and safer vehicles," he said. "The current economic downturn will not affect this."
The recent withdrawal from New Zealand of big automotive finance companies has also redefined the industry.
"Dealers that were relying solely on vehicle financing and insurance for their profits have been directly affected by this," said Kerr.
Kerr believes that the lower number of new vehicle registrations so far in 2009 will mean a shortage of good quality used car stock in two to three years.
"This will be good news for vehicle owners and should result in lower depreciation on these vehicles," he said.
"Remember, the New Zealand car industry is based on the selling of used cars. There are 10 used car transactions to every new one."
