Brakes on new car yard

A North Island car company has pulled the plug on plans to open a dealership in Nelson. The Ebbett group, which owns 18 dealerships in the North Island, had planned to open a new car yard on the corner of Rutherford and Nile streets. But a spokesman confirmed that it had scrapped the plan, citing the economic climate as the driving force. The company announced the

Nelson plan, which would have been its first foray into the South Island, in

April, with plans to open in the third quarter of this year. It had planned to sell

Skoda, GWM and Haval vehicles while also selling used cars, and offering vehicle servicing. A company spokesman said the economic climate had changed since planning for the Nelson outlet began well over a year ago. ‘‘Unfortunately, in that time the New Zealand economy has changed significantly, meaning the business case no longer makes sense,’’ he said. ‘‘We felt the responsible decision was to make the call before we open, to minimise staff and customer impact.’’ The downtown Nelson site was formerly home to an Office Max and a used car dealership.