Car firm hits the wall
New owner after four months
A NEW Cairns car dealership lies virtually empty just four months after its grand opening.
The Haval and Great Wall franchise on Mulgrave Rd has temporarily closed, pending the completion of its sale to “another investor”.
The dealership opened in March under the management of 1AAP Motoring and headed by motor industry stalwart John O’Brien.
Mr O’Brien told the Cairns Post he resigned from the business in June, but was “not at liberty” to explain why.
He said there had been a “couple of redundancies”.
Haval Australia spokesman Andrew Ellis said the dealership was expected to reopen under new ownership in coming weeks.
“The business running Cairns Haval (1AAP Pty Ltd) has decided to sell the business to another investor,” he said.
“The process is taking longer than anticipated due to third party delays. Stock is being ordered on a ‘per needs basis’ until the process of the buy/sell is complete.”
He said 1AAP had “reduced staff” to provide a handover to the new owner.
“They are doing their necessary due diligence to ensure a continuity of operation and also appraisal of resourcing requirements,” Mr Ellis said. The Mulgrave Rd business was the first official Cairns dealer of Haval, a subsidiary of Chinese motoring giant Great Wall Motors.
This week the Earlville site was abandoned save for a handful of cars locked inside the showroom.
Mr O’Brien, a former owner of Pacific Toyota and Lexus of Cairns, was circumspect about his future.
He said he had “a couple of things around the place”.