The rising consumer appetite for electric vehicles in China since the pandemic has not been lost on Brisbane motor industry identity Martin Roller, who after 26 years in the car market has taken a “leap” of faith into the EV sector for the first time.
Roller, who owned and operated Brisbane BMW through LMM Brisbane Holdings in partnership with trucking magnate Lindsay Fox, has launched a new dealership in Australia for Chinese EV marque Leapmotor.
The dealership adds to Roller’s existing business representing Ineos Grenadier and marks an expansion of his automotive business interests with original LMM partner Marvin Burke and new partner Anthony Alafaci.
Roller, who built a reputation for selling luxury marques that also included Ferrari and Alfa Romeo, parted ways with Brisbane BMW in 2019 – five years after he and Burke sold out to Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby.
However, Roller’s passion for selling cars never waned, leading him to co-found MM Brisbane Holdings after leaving the business with 20 years under his belt. With Lindsay Fox long gone, the partners dropped the L from the company name and went back to doing business the only way they know how – making deals.
After initially dabbling in the caravan market, the MM Brisbane Holdings partners took on the Ineos brand before discovering the new wave of EVs coming from China.
And while the new business partners have made big gains with Ineos, becoming the largest agency for the brand in Australia, it was the change in consumer appetite for EVs in China and the appeal of new brands that sparked Roller's interest in the sector.
“We have the infrastructure after growing our Ineos business and our service business, but to assist that growth we needed another brand,” says Roller.
“We had an idea we should get into the EV space while not taking away from anything we do with Ineos.”
In just five years, Roller says the new vehicle market has changed dramatically with the rise of multiple new EV brands from China and a shift in supply chains that that have subtly tipped the balance in favour of dealers.
“When I visited China back in 2019, wherever I went we’d see lots of BMWs, lots of Mercedes Benz and a load of black Audi A6s,” Roller tells Business News Australia.
“The road presence of those three German brands plus Porsche was incredible.
“But four years later when I visited, there were electric cars everywhere. I’d see cars that look like a Porsche or an Aston Martin or Ferrari but none of them were any of these – they were Chinese brands that I have never heard of, and they were being retailed in shopping malls.”
The growth of EVs in China was a key trigger for Roller to hitch a ride on the green auto revolution despite talk that electric vehicles are on the nose with consumers.
“There’s a lot of commentary about EVs out there but there are still a lot of Teslas being bought and a lot of BYDs and Polestars being bought,” says Roller.
He estimates that BYD is currently selling about 500 vehicles a month in Queensland alone, with most of these sold in Brisbane.
The latest data from the Electric Vehicle Council shows that EVs are rising as a percentage of sales in Australia with 85,319 EVs sold nationally in the 12 months to the end of September last year. This represents 9.5 per cent of all cars sold, up from 8.45 per cent a year earlier.
However, the take-up is slower than the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) would have liked. At the beginning of last year, the FCAI had forecast EVs would account for 11.1 per cent of total new car sales by the end of the year.
Despite a tepid 1.7 per cent annual sales increase in the overall new-car market last year, largely due to a slowdown in recent months, Roller says the fallout stemming from supply shortages during COVID has put the automotive industry in better shape to face the challenges ahead.
“COVID was the best thing to happen to the car industry and I suspect a few other industries as well because production dried up – yet customers still wanted to buy cars,” says Roller.
“The supply and demand curve kicked in and the level of discounting went away. The old model was that a manufacturer would build a car, put them on boats and they would give you 100 for the month when we didn’t need 100. That put pressure on margins.”
Roller’s decision to take on the Leapmotor dealership is backed by the Chinese company’s partnership with Netherlands-headquartered automotive giant Stellantis, which owns Maserati, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Citroën, Dodge and Fiat.
Stellantis first invested in Leapmotor in 2023 and later the companies formed an international joint venture to expand into global markets.
Just two months into the business, Roller says the launch has gone well, given that Leapmotor only started marketing in Australia last month.
“We’ve sold over 20 cars in the two months which is an encouraging start for what is essentially an unknown brand,” he says.
“Buyers have ranged from younger buyers to some retirees. A few cars have been sold to ride share operators.”
MM Brisbane Holdings is also taking a leaf out of the Chinese playbook when it comes to putting new EVs in front of buyers, with the dealership setting up space at Chermside Shopping Centre in Brisbane’s north.
“In China there would be 10 different electric car brands in a shopping centre like Pacific Fair, probably on the ground level, and in the car park there would be a dedicated area with charging bays for probably 40 or 50 demonstrator vehicles,” says Roller.
“Their showrooms are in the glitziest best shopping centres - that was their retail presence while their service operations were usually on the outskirts of the cities.”
Roller says the Chermside strategy has been “a huge winner”.
“Many of our buyers first came into contact with the car there and fell in love with its styling and overall value,” he says.
“Clearly over the Christmas-New Year period there has been a huge number of eyeballs on the car from the Chermside activation. Overall, a very worthwhile marketing and brand awareness activity.”
While Roller and Burke started as corporate salesmen for BMW in Melbourne more than three decades ago, they proudly see themselves these days as entrepreneurs.
They took their original leap of faith in 1999 when they were convinced by silent partners Fox and Izzy Herzog to buy into Brisbane BMW.
“BMW was my life back then,” says Roller.
“I loved the brand and had it in my veins. But I managed to turn my passion into a business, and we did well out of it.
“The car market has changed and we are probably better dealing with fledgling brands than big powerful ones. We are entrepreneurial and we like working with a manufacturer to get a better outcome.
“That’s what separates me, Marvin and Anthony - and that’s where we have to thank Lindsay Fox. A lot of what we have done comes down to Lindsay because he taught us one thing - never say no.”
Help us deliver quality journalism to you.
As a free and independent news site providing daily updates
during a period of unprecedented challenges for businesses everywhere
we call on your support