BARTONS Holden dealership at Capalaba holds no fears for the long-term future of the car sales empire despite General Motors' bombshell decision to axe the flagship Australian car brand at the end of this year.
Barton's managing director Mark Beitz - who owns and operates the Holden, Nissan, Subaru, Hyundai and Mitsubishi car dealerships at Capalaba - said he had been devastated by the decision, which had come as a shock to he and staff despite the business selling fewer Holdens than any other make of car in 2019.
He has urged employees not panic amid reports that as many as 800 manufacturing jobs could go during the move and has made assurances that other brands sold at the business would keep Bartons afloat.
"There will be a lot of dealerships that will close down nationally, that is a given," Mr Beitz said.
"There are a number of stand alone Holden dealerships in operation. Even ours at Capalaba was a stand-alone Holden dealership.
"We have transformed that into a multi-branded business in the last four years because we have experienced some tough times.
"For us, whilst this is going on and it is quite difficult to accept, my only approach to it is that we need to control the things that we can.
"I have got Hyundai on one side, I've got Mitsubishi and Nissan on the other, so we have a multi-branded operation that we need to continue to focus on which we have been."
Mr Beitz said he had expected General Motors to rename Holden to Chevrolet or sell off the brand instead of moving to axe the iconic Australian company all together.
"We just thought that it is too big of a network to retire a brand in the way they have done," he said.
Bartons will continue to service Holden cars and provide parts for the next 10 years, long after the brand has disappeared.
Mr Beitz said the business had been approached by another car manufacturer who was interested in filling the space that would be left in the showroom at the end of the year, but could not reveal who they were.
He said Holdens would continue to be sold at the dealership over the next few months.
"The cars are still being built and they were arriving on trucks yesterday and today," Mr Beitz said.
"Our next three or four months will be focused on business as usual. In fact, with the liquidation allowances, the cars are going to be extremely well priced and will sell well.
"We will actually sell more Holdens in the next three or four months than we have in the last three or four months, which is sad.
"...There will be a level of financial support to the dealers to transition into this closure, so that might mean some compensation of which we are yet to know any detail about."
Motor Trades Association of Queensland chief executive Brett Dale said he expected the 39 Holden dealerships across the state to be compensated for their investments in the brand.
"The departure of Holden comes at a time where franchised new car dealers are under immense pressure from global manufacturers," he said.
"This development re-affirms the need for government to thoroughly consider the framework of the new automotive franchising code in Australia to ensure that has adequate protection for businesses who've invested millions of dollars."
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