This week I have taken the opportunity to head to the United States for the annual American National Automobile Dealers Association convention. Held around this time each year, the convention is the biggest single event for a motor dealer to attend. There’s over four days of exhibitions, franchise sessions and lectures where a dealer can hear all the latest views from experts both within and outside our industry.

The exhibition floor itself comprises of over 46,500 square metres of display with items ranging from computer suppliers to fully functioning car wash machines... to say they do things bigger in the States is an understatement! I hope to bring back with us (I’m taking three of my team with me) some new ideas and technology to better run our business and better serve our customers, so I hope to share some of the things I observe in the next few weeks.

It’s pretty exciting, and interesting that all my daughter Centaine wants me to do whilst over there (apart from come back...) is take photos of famous people for her!! Should be fun?!? If you are interested, check out the convention website nadaconventionandexpo.org or head to our site. Stay tuned for more updates!!

Those of you that know me would understand that I like to cycle and also support good causes… Well I was inspired last week when I learnt my good friend Steve Wisbey had joined forces with another mate Paul Hillbrick in instigating an indoor charity cycle event at Paul’s new place in Smeaton Grange.

Steve knows of a local family who went on a trip/mission to Africa to help out where they could. They came back and ignited a passion in Steve to start this charity event. The event supports South African children whose lives have been touched by the HIV and AIDS virus.

Wakelings are kicking in with a $2000 donation to help start the event as well as entering in a team or maybe two. If you feel you’d like to help or even jump on an indoor bike to ride then I’m sure Steve would love to hear from you. He can be contacted through Facebook or on 0411 076 506.
See you at the event!!

2012 is looking like being another huge year for the automotive industry. Though still recovering from the tragic events of 2011’s floods & earthquakes most manufacturers have now locked in their new vehicle launches for 2012 and it looks exciting.

Lots of new entrants were showcased at the recent Detroit Motor show and the clear message was one of smaller more powerful yet frugal vehicles will be coming our way. Hyundai showed off the turbo charged version of its soon to be released three door Veloster, Holden through sister company Chevrolet released new concepts like the Tru 14os and the Code 140r, both young hip and vibrant versions of small cars.

Volkswagen showed of its Beetle E-bug concept a new version of the exciting 2012 release from the big German. It all points to a big year with these cars adding to the already swelling range off vehicles Australians have the choice to buy so keep an eye out for these cars on the showroom floor in the near future….

For the last couple of months 25 girls under the age of 10 have been “having a go” at a new program run by the Campbelltown District Netball Association. The programme consists of a range of basic skills and fun activities for little people who are interested in learning to play netball, and is coached by a few local ladies with the view to helping create the excitement for the girls to start their first years of Netta Netball next year.

The CDNA approached Wakelings recently to help supply some new netballs, help pay the coaches and provide some other materiel for the course to be run. Given Holden’s commitment to Netball, and the great support this sport enjoys, we thought it would be a great fit and something to add to our existing support of netball in the region.

I’m pleased to say the program seems to have been a great hit and the CDNA are keen to see these young up and comers take to the courts next year. For more information you can head to the CDNA website at: www.cdna.com.au

There’s been a lot of noise in the press lately with regards to the state of the Australian Manufacturing sector. You may have heard that Holden has yet to finalise its plans for the next generation Commodore which is due to be designed & manufactured post 2014. These sorts of timelines are not unusual when dealing with the complex issues surrounding the manufacturing of cars.

 This brings light on the launch in Adelaide this week of the Australian Built Holden Cruze Hatch. Production of this car was secured amidst the turmoil of the GFC, and it rolls out of Elizabeth this week. This variant of the Cruze is expected to help bring production of cars at the Adelaide plant to over 480 cars per day, up from 430 currently. It also brings the number of variant’s, Commodore sedans, wagons, utes, long wheel base Caprice, export vehicles, Cruze sedan and now hatch built from the plant to 51!!

I’ve got to say we are looking forward to Cruze Hatch, demand for the Cruze is growing every day and with it being manufactured in Australia lots of people are interested in supporting the jobs it has helped maintain, not to mention it’s a great car to drive and looks impressive too!! Keep an eye out in our showrooms and pretty soon you’ll see them turn up, what are you Wakeling for?

What a Blast!! Last Sunday saw the HSV/HDT Owners club of NSW host their latest Muscle Car Show at our Service & Parts Department. Not having held the event for a few years, we had great anticipation that the cars & club would once again prove popular to the motoring enthusiasts of Macarthur. We weren’t disappointed…. The number of people through the yard showed that the great attention & care these owners have for their beauties is well appreciated. Represented were the earliest EH’s right the way through to the most current VE’s with superchargers and all the go fast gear.

Special mention had to go to HRT Endurance driver Cameron McConville who, with the Qantas dispute was stuck in Melbourne until late Saturday night, luckily Cam was able to get a Virgin flight up and the crowd & club were most appreciative of his appearance.

The attention to detail the owners have of their vehicles really has to be seen to be believed, they start arriving from dawn and once they’re on site they get back to their love of looking after their machines, toothbrushes cleaning engine bays is not unheard of here!! Once again a big thank you to Joe, David and the owners club committee for their passion and thank you to the enthusiasts of the Macarthur region for helping show why this region is considered one of the “Heartlands of Holden”.

Wow what a finish to another great race. Like most motoring enthusiasts I look forward to sitting down on the Bathurst weekend to watch the mountain come alive. I can remember as a boy being so hyped by the race that I used to go out to our backyard veggie patch, dig it up & make my own dirt version of Mt Panorama. The matchbox cars didn’t go quite as fast as Brockie but in my mind I was the master of Conrod.

This years race was another thriller with a great finish, having been overseas last year I was glad to be able to sit down with mum, dad & the family & watch the majority of the race. Like most we were anticipating the downpour that would create havoc, it didn’t arrive but there were fireballs, kangaroos and flat batteries along with the usual shots of the crowd going mad.For the race to finish as closely as it did, after racing for over six hours was amazing. The skill of Garth Tander & Craig Lowndes was there for all to see. The fact that the red team won also made the day for the Wakelings, Harrison was cheering for Lowndes and was a little disappointed but in the end it was a great conclusion to a great race.

With that in mind, I’m pleased to announce that we are hosting a HSV Show & Shine day at our Parts & Service facility in Mill Road on Sunday the 30th October, keep your eyes out for more details on the event, but if you liked Bathurst you’ll love this!

As well as a massive weekend of finals footy there was plenty going on last weekend. Once again I was lucky enough to attend the Annual fund raising dinner of the Mater Dei School. Mater Dei is a school that provides early intervention therapy services, education and residential programs for babies, children and young people with an intellectual disability or developmental delay. Based in Camden the school was created with great vision by the sisters of the good Samaritan in the mid 1950’s. Since then the school has served not only the local Macarthur region but also the wider community by helping out those children & their families who are in great need.

 On the evening we saw a fabulous performance from some of the students, we were amazed at their ability to get in and have a good go at “dancing with the staff” and heard stories from parents as to what their life has been like living with children who need so much care & help as well as how Mater Dei has helped them along the way.

 Tom Burlinson wowed us all with his Sinatra like show and the Cube never looked so good. The biggest surprise of the night however came right at the end when we learned that the evening had raised well over $200,000 bringing the 11 year total to massive $2 Million!! A great testament to the organisers and all the business community who have helped along the way.For more information about Mater Dei, head to their Website: http://www.materdeicamden.org . Let’s hope this weekend can be just as good with the Tigers smashing the Warriors Friday!!

Last week I had the opportunity to be present at the launch of the all new Volkswagen Jetta. One of the cool things about attending these launches is you get an understanding of what goes on in the background when big car companies design & create cars.

For the launch, VW flew out the chief exterior designer of the Jetta and I had the opportunity to have a good chat with him.

His name is José Pavone. José informed me of the cut throat nature of the design process, they started the design four years ago!! With 30 plus other designers all competing for the right to have their ideas go into production, José is obviously very talented. What struck me the most though was José’s background. He is a 34 year old who comes from Sao Paulo Brazil, a city of 20+million people. Talking with José, I asked him how he got into design. As it turns out, José’s big break came when he was a 12 year old who was good at soccer but better at drawing things. He sent some car designs into the Brazil VW headquarters only to receive some good praise from the chief designer who gave him some tips to move forward...fast forward ten years and José was now this man’s boss…it just goes to show how with the right instruction and desire anyone’s dreams & aspirations can take them anywhere. Check out José’s designs at Volkswagen’s website, I think they’re great.

Choosing the right partners in life is one of the great challenges, you need to find organisations that share the same passion, belief and have the same drive to succeed that you do. This year Hyundai has enjoyed two very fruitful associations, the first one close to all our hearts has been the sponsorship with the Wests Tigers. I was proud to be one of the NSW Dealers that helped Hyundai & the tigers form a great partnership. We always knew that the Tigers had the right skill set & drive and its great to see that the boys are now well & truly in the finals race.

As we head into Finals Footy, playing in September is uplifting knowing that the Tigers will once again be challenging for the title. Can they repeat their feats of 2005? Similarly, Hyundai’s partnership with “Drive To Survive” was formed by likeminded individuals who had a common goal of ensuring that people are aware of highly technologically advanced vehicles, and safe driver training. The Drive to Survive course focuses on improving driver behavior as well as developing existing skills, ensuring that our fellow road uses know how to operate their vehicle, both in normal driving conditions and in emergencies.

The “Drive To Survive” program has seen 4,500 people this year attend the program, and all have spoken with the highest respect of Ian Luff and his team, and what they learnt on the day. If you are interested in this program, please feel free to go to our website or pop in and ask us about it!