Napier EuroCity dealership goes into voluntary liquidation, sale negotiations in progress

EuroCity owner Terry Elmsly, pictured in 2017 when the Prebensen Dr site had newly opened.

A long-standing Napier car dealer has gone into voluntary liquidation, but the owner says everyone involved will be taken care of as part of sale negotiations currently in progress.

EuroCity, a dealership for new and used Audi, Volkswagen, Skoda and MG cars, and even boats as EuroCity Marine, has been operating since 2005 and was previously recognised as the top Audi dealer in the country.

But parent company Euro City Limited has now gone into voluntary liquidation. The joint appointment of licenced insolvency practitioners Tony Leonard Maginness and Jared Waiata Booth was carried out near the end of last week, according to a New Zealand Gazette notice published this week.

EuroCity owner Terry Elmsly confirmed he decided to put the company, which employs 38 people, into liquidation.

“I have taken the honourable steps and the correct steps that I am required to by law,” Elmsly said.

“I still retain all of the properties on the site and we will continue to conduct ourselves with integrity in this town, as I have done ever since I’ve been here.”

He said he was in the process of negotiating to sell the business.

“There is a sale and purchase agreement arriving from solicitors this afternoon [Wednesday], and that will see most staff re-employed and everybody that is involved taken care of.”

“We are doing our level best to ensure that everybody associated with us is looked after.”

He declined to comment further until the sale process was complete.

Hawke’s Bay Today has approached the case manager for the liquidation at Baker Tilly Staples Rodway for comment.

Creditors must prove their debts or claims and establish any priority by June 10, according to the gazetted liquidation notice.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. You can contact him via james.pocock@nzme.co.nz.