Westco in as family sells up

WESTCO Motors will take over the former site of local car dealership Australian Motors Group, whose owners sold the lot on Mulgrave Road to pursue a smaller business.

The independent car dealership shut down operations last week in Cairns, Innisfail and Townsville after 27 years in business.

The now vacated 4146 square metre lot on 261 Mulgrave Road was sold for $4.5 million, about $1085 per square metre.

Australian Motors Group owner Shane Thompson said running the business had become harder because of changed government finance regulations eating into income.

“I saw the writing on the wall about a year and a half ago; so I made a call to our real estate agent and planted the seed,” he said.

“The industry has changed in a way where it all boiled down to the big guys, we were the last independent dealership of that size left.”

Mr Thompson, 58, said he didn’t initially tell his family about his plan to sell.

“It’s always been a family business; we all worked very hard to make it what it became,” he said.

“At our biggest we were holding four to five million dollars worth of stock and selling up to 250 vehicles a month.”

While the Australian Motors Group site started in 1991, the family business dates back far longer.

“I originally started as an apprentice mechanic, but I quit when I was 19 because I saw myself doing bigger things,” Mr Thompson said.

“So I got my two brothers involved, and then my parents, they pooled everything together, we sold it all to start the business.”

Mr Thompson said the family was more than happy with how the $4.5 million sale went.

“We’re all well off, but the past five years have been a struggle,” he said.

“I got sick, one of my brothers went into a boating business that didn’t work out, I spent that time working seven days a week with no holiday and barely any time in the day to see my wife.

“We were smart enough to get money in super and other properties, so we’ll be fine. We’re planning to open a scaled back business where we can have a life.”

CBRE managing director Danny Betros who helped negotiate the sale to Westco Motors said it was the first car yard he had seen sold in the area for quite some time.

“They (Australian Motors Group) have been on the site for years, they’ve done very well out of it,” he said.

editorial@cairnspost.com.au facebook.com/TheCairnsPost www.cairnspost.com.au twitter.com/TheCairnsPost