Out of Africa

Caption1: LAND ROVER EXPERIENCE: The new Range Rover (left) goes on sale in June, some months before used Discovery (below) and Defender (below left) models start coming in from Japan, Australia and South Africa.


Sales of Land Rovers are expected to be boosted as more vehicles come in from overseas, writes motoring editor ALASTAIR SLOANE.

Land Rovers from the South African bush will go on sale in New Zealand as part of a second-hand programme by the off-road specialist to boost its carpark here. Used Land Rovers from Japan and Australia will also be included in the mix when Land Rover New Zealand gets its imports scheme rolling later this year.

Most of the used models will be ex-lease vehicles bought through the head offices of Land Rover in those countries, says Land Rover New Zealand managing director Peter Lockie.

"As Freelander, Discovery, Range Rover and Defender stocks become more plentiful overseas, this is the pipeline that we will be tapping into to feed our programme here," he says.

"We will work closely with the sales and finance divisions of Land Rover in those countries, looking at their lease plans.

"The only reason we haven't started it sooner is that the vehicles we are targeting are still on the books of those companies. We are waiting until they start coming off the 36-month leases."

The Land Rover programme is similar to that of Toyota New Zealand's Signature system, for example, under which used imports have to be passed fit for sale by Toyota itself.

The move comes as Land Rover celebrates its best sales year since it set up shop in New Zealand 50-odd years ago.

It sold 603 vehicles last year, up 25 per cent on the 482 it sold in 2000. It has just had its best first quarter and is forecasting sales of 690 vehicles this year.

"If anything there is probably an upside to those numbers," says Lockie. "We are already tracking at 60 units a month, which would give us 720-odd sales. We are bang on target and that is before we launch the new Range Rover [in June]."

Lockie expects the used programme to boost sales to about 1000 vehicles next year - "700 new, 300 used". He is looking at diesel and petrol vehicles between 3 and 4 years old and with between 50,000 and 80,000km on the clock. Some vehicles will be younger.

"Land Rover doesn't have a big enough car park in New Zealand," he said. "What we want to do is target the customer groups who are today buying used.

"About 350 used Land Rovers came into the country in each of the past two years as independent imports. Most of them came from Japan.

"We see the opportunity to increase that volume, while offering things that independent used dealers can't, like a manufacturer's extended guarantee.

"We haven't finalised the warranty programme yet but customers will be covered by our used and approved programme and we would offer a service and recovery plan if the customer was interested."

Lockie expects 70 to 75 per cent of his used stock to come from Japan, 20 per cent from Australia, and the balance from South Africa. Japan and Australia will supply Freelander, Discovery and Range Rovers.

"The South African market will supply the Defender," he said. "There is a huge car park of Defenders in South Africa. A lot of them are more recent models, which we will be targeting.

"We are selling about five to eight new Defenders a month in New Zealand at the moment and the reason for that is there is a customer group that is buying it as a weekend recreational vehicle and dressing it up with winches and so on.

"There is also a group who would like the used Defender, which would be significantly cheaper and which could have both commercial and recreational applications.

"That's the customer we are after. Today's Defender customer is paying upwards of $55,000 for a new vehicle.

"We are looking at the customer group between $25,000 and $45,000, who want the heritage and brand but don't want to spend all their money on a new vehicle.

"We don't have a used Defender pipeline in New Zealand, so we need to introduce one. People who buy Defenders tend to keep them."

Likewise, used Discovery and Range Rover models would attract a new segment of the market, he said.

"We are looking at a used Discovery range under $50,000 and later-model Range Rover Vogues at between $75,000 and $100,000.

"Range Rover Vogue is interesting. The new one is certainly premium priced [expected to cost around $180,000] for the design and equipment that is in the vehicle, so we anticipate demand for the used Vogue."

Land Rover's head office in Britain is promising two new models as part of its five-year plan for expansion. One is expected to be a two-door competitor for the likes of the Nissan X-Trail and and Honda CR-V.

The other is said to be a more traditional off-roader, positioned between the Discovery and Range Rover.