Sime Darby Motors welcomed at superhub
Volvo showroom and a sizeable truck service centre will be coming to the Ruakura superhub with a new tenant.
Truck and car supplier Sime Darby Motors - which has been called a “key player in the transport industry” - has signed up for a long-term lease of a 2.4ha site.
Sime Darby Motors is part of the multinational Sime Darby Berhad network, and has been operating in New Zealand for 25 years.
The company will join the likes of Refrigafreighters, Big Chill and Kmart at the superhub, heading for a site with a frontage on Ruakura Rd. It’ll also have a Volvo showroom, a 2600m² truck service centre to support the company’s four truck franchises, office space, storage and a yard.
Construction is expected to start late 2024 so the site will be ready for operation from late 2025. Sime Darby Motors NZ managing director Pat McKenna said this will be its largest truck service centre in the North Island and a significant addition to its truckstops network.
The news is welcomed by chair of Tainui Group Holdings, Hinerangi Raumati-Tu’ua.
“[Sime Darby Motors NZ] are making a major, long-term investment into our country and our region, and we look forward to working alongside them as we continue to grow and build Ruakura as a regional hub of economic growth.”
TGH chief executive Chris Joblin said the new facility will add great value to the growing logistics ecosystem at
Ruakura superhub.
“The addition of another key player in the transport industry will add depth, strength and resilience to enhance Ruakura’s value proposition as a comprehensive logistics hub,” Joblin said.
McKenna saw the relationship as mutually beneficial, and said the site was strategically chosen for its direct access to the Waikato Expressway, Ruakura Inland Port, and being on the Golden Triangle of the major economic nodes.
“This represents significant investment in a key area for our truck servicing customers as the Golden Triangle sees over 40% of New Zealand’s total freight movement,” McKenna says.
The building is targeting a Greenstar four rating, meaning it will be built on the minimum expectations to deliver a building that is either net zero carbon in operations, or a higher performer in energy, water, and health related issues.
The complex hopes to include provisions for solar, EV charging stations, rainwater recycling, site landscaping and end of trip amenities for employees such as a bike storage.