ELECTRIC DREAMS BECOME REALITY
Sydney City Toyota is at the forefront of Toyota’s upshift in electric vehicle capacity. We’ve taken delivery of our first upgraded bZ4X batteryelectric SUV, and by the middle of the year, we’ll have our first bZ4X Touring version.
The incentives we’re offering at the showroom are immense –for private buyers, up to one-year free charging and a 7kW wall charging unit as part of the package.
It’s a huge statement by Toyota of its commitment to full electric vehicles, as well as to its plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, which are driving substantial demand.
Every step in Toyota’s electric journey is a giant leap forward, and Sydney City Toyota is proud to be part of what amounts to a revolution – to the benefit of our customers.
The new bZ4X employs a larger 74.7kWh lithium-ion battery, which enables it to use more potent electric motors.
It is available as a 165kW front-wheel drive and as a 252kW all-wheel drive.
The range for the front-wheel drive version alone is assessed at 591km, which is equivalent to the expectation customers have for a vehicle using any power source.
The all-wheel drive version now has a towing capacity of 1500kg – enough to tow a small caravan.
The bZ4X price has been reassessed to provide a compelling value for money proposition in what is to many of our customers, a confusing electric vehicle marketplace.
The front-wheel drive bZ4X has an entry price of just $55,990 plus on-road costs, which is a sensational offer considering it is backed by Toyota’s build quality and service. The all-wheel drive has a recommended retail price of $67,990, plus on-road costs.
Better specifications, greater driving range, and further improved safety features are all part of the move towards offering our customers the most complete and attractive electric alternative on the market.
The soon-to-be-launched touring version will provide even greater powertrain output along with additional rear storage, perfect for customers requiring larger cargo volume.
The bZ4X is a crucial part of Toyota’s multi-pathway approach to providing our customers with a means of entering the new era of motoring in a manner they can trust.
THREE SHADES OF GREEN
There’s a rush on for electric vehicles.
Rising fuel prices have accelerated demand. That’s not a bad thing, but it’s not necessarily a good one either.
Word within the automotive retail industry is that last month, ‘no brand distributors’ (companies you’ve never heard of) had thousands of battery electric cars sitting at grass. Now they have none.
‘Sitting at grass’ is industry jargon for cars trapped in the wholesale system, unable to be moved to a dealership because there are no buyers.
Suddenly, overnight, that’s changed. Dealers are quoting waiting lists of up to three months.
It’s time to put the brakes on. There’s a need for caution. Many years ago, lubricant company Castrol coined the phrase Oils Ain’t Oils. Today, the catchcry surely must be Batteries Ain’t Batteries.
It’s battery life that will determine the retained value of many of the BEVs that have charged out of the showrooms in response to the, hopefully, short-term current need. Buyers should beware.
In the used vehicle market, we’ve seen BEVs with battery life of less than 67 percent. They’re simply incapable of being resold. If we trade them like that, we send them to the wholesale market.
Eighty percent battery life is the bare minimum for responsible resale, and even then, there’s a need for care over how they’ve been recharged and treated.
Sometime, when the current demand dies down, there’s going to be a sorting out of companies offering electric solutions. The current influx is simply unsustainablehere or across the world.
The survivors will be those with a wide service network and a long view of what it takes to serve their customers.
At Sydney City Toyota, we are wholeheartedly committed to the move to alternate technology. Our future is green and electric.
We see it in three shades – dark green is full electric, mid-green is plug-in petrol electric technology, and light green is parallel hybrid. The stand-alone internal combustion engine is increasingly rare but still in demand. In the future, though, the three shades of green will each claim an approximately equal share of total demand.
Toyota, almost uniquely, is in a position to meet all needs.
The Federal Government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Program (NVES) is forcing car makers to meet increasingly stringent environmental standards. Fines are so massive that some car makers will face the prospect of going out of business.
Toyota’s wide range allows it, to a degree, to ride the wave –so we can still meet the ICE (internal combustion engine) requirements of some of our clients.
We welcomed a few of our country clients at the recent Royal Agricultural Show, and they drove happily away in their new petrol and even diesel utes.
John Roca Dealer Principal
WE’RE GOING RACING
Finally, we’re going racing. Sydney City Toyota has become the NSW naming rights sponsor of the Brad Jones Racing Toyota GR Supra team in the Repco Australian Supercars Championship.
It’s an entry that’s been 20 years coming. That’s how long Toyota has been waiting for the time to be absolutely right to make its bid to be part of Australia’s heartland motor racing series.
Our 5.2 litre quad cam Supra is taking on two mighty American brands – one with a 5.4 litre engine and the other with a 5.7. In motor racing, cubic inches count, so in one respect, we’re coming from behind.
But, the Toyota way has always been to lead with our strength, and our world-renowned engine technology will allow us to compete with confidence.
No one expects success right out of the box, but within two events, our sister team, run by Walkinshaw TWG Racing, has secured Supra a podium position.
We hosted Supercars veteran team owner Brad Jones at our Sydney showroom to launch the series, and we share his confidence in our combined future.
There are fourteen rounds and 28 races to be contested across Australia and New Zealand this season – and each time we race, we’re not only showcasing Toyota’s ambition but putting our brand loyalty on show.
This is a big year for Toyota in motorsport.
Locally, our Australian Rally Championship Yaris team is
AND WE’RE HANDS ON…
Sydney City Toyota’s support for our Gazoo Racing Supercar racing team has already advanced from sponsorship to hands-on involvement.
At the Supra’s first event, the Sydney 500, our team members joined Brad Jones’ Racing’s team in the pits. Three of our own expert technicians Sargon Shaba, Nehemiah Melsom and Sean Nancarrow, became pit crew members for the weekend.
And we’re delighted to note that our new Supra has become a Supercar winner only nine races into its first season. That’s an all-time record.
chasing Toyota’s twelfth annual victory in the off-road title.
Globally, our Gazoo Racing team is chasing Toyota’s eleventh world rally title. Gazoo Racing has entered the Le Mans 24-hour to chase its third victory.
And Gazoo Racing has become the naming rights partner of the Haas F1 team.
We’re extremely proud of our GR (Gazoo Racing) brand. It’s become an important part of our DNA, and we’re fielding increasing demand for Toyotas wearing the GR badge.
GAZOO RACING WHAT’S IN
A NAME?
Akio Toyoda, global chairman of Toyota and grandson of the founder, coined the name Gazoo because his family would not let him go motor racing under their own brand.
It was a cool name he’d been using as he developed the company’s fledgling social media platform in the late 1990s.
He adopted the pseudonym Morizo to enter himself as the driver for Gazoo Racing.
‘Morizo’ in Japanese means strong and resilient, which is what Akio was being when he stood up to the most powerful family in the automotive industry.
Akio had a goal – he wanted his company’s cars to be ‘fun to drive.’
He worked with Toyota’s chief test driver, Hiromu Naruse, to give them what he called ‘the secret sauce’.
They were so successful that Akio won his class in Germany’s Nürburgring 24 Hour race in their flagship V10 LFA.
When Akio became Toyota’s CEO in 2009, he appointed himself the company’s Master Driver, a title that is still proudly on his business card – and Gazoo became part of Toyota’s DNA.
Today, GR (Gazoo Racing) is our much-admired performance signature on cars like the GR Yaris, GR Corolla, and soon to be standalone on at least one high performance sports car.
Every car we sell today is a direct result of Akio’s passion for providing his customers with vehicles of which they, and he, can be proud.
Gazoo has become a global brand, alongside the performance arms of Europe’s great car makers.
SYDNEY
A ROGUE TRADED
For more than 20 years, Con Simotas was a harried executive, running an Aldi store with 60 employees and working as a head office trainer for the growing retail chain.
Aldi grew from 20 stores when Con started to more than 300.
But Con and his wife, Louise, were the new parents of twins Dimitri and Anna, and increasingly, work-life balance was becoming their priority.
“I was sitting on my back porch with my morning coffee, looking at my newly mown lawn, and I thought, ‘you know what, I’m going to cut grass for a living,“ Con said.
He acquired a VIP Home Services franchise covering a big chunk of Sydney’s Hills district, hooked up a trailer full of lawn care equipment, and took on life on his own terms.
Last week, Sydney City Toyota delivered Con his brandnew Toyota HiLux Rogue 4x4 – top of the range with luxury features which make going to work a pleasure.
“I listen to Spotify in my earbuds all day long, then transfer straight to the Rogue’s new seven-speaker JBL system for the drive to the next job,“ he said.
“No radio or blogs, just music. I don’t want to know what’s going on.”
Con’s new Rogue replaced his 114,000km Toyota HiLux Rugged X, the Rogue’s predecessor in the upper luxury HiLux range, which served him for the past decade.
“I’ve kept that too,“ he said. His twins have just turned 17.
“They’ve learned to drive on the Rugged X, and they can have it as their first car,“ he said.
Con’s new Rogue is serving him well.
It’s the important upgrades that really matter – like the automatic roll slide tonneau tray cover that allows him to securely carry all forms of load configuration.
“The previous model had a hard lid, and that meant I couldn’t drive it with tall loads,“ he said.
There’s marine-grade carpet in the tray as well, easy to clean, and Con can hose it out after a day carrying green waste.
Con likes to keep life simple.
He’s built a business with 120 clients who appreciate his dedication.
“I have eight customers in one street alone,“ he said.
Louise works part time as airline ground staff and also has a home hairdressing business.
Pretty much, they choose when they want to work, and family always comes first.
We’ve helped their simplification process.
Con took a four-year novated lease with guaranteed buy back, so his only real concern is to match the model cycle when he orders his next ute.
When we spoke, Con was about to hook up the VIP trailer to his new Rogue for the first time.
“I really love the Rugged X,“ he said.
“But this new Rogue. It’s good, different.”
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Myth Busting with Con
We’ve always admired the ingenuity and curiosity showcased on the Discovery Channel’s , where a team of adventurous scientists tackles widely held beliefs to see if they truly hold up.
From investigating the existence of ghosts to assessing the effects of an aircraft’s jet stream. They’ve even tested whether a person of average strength can tear a telephone book in half—back when telephone books were a thing!
At Sydney City Toyota, we encounter our own share of myths every day related to the car service process. To address these, we’ve appointed our General Manager of Service, Con Hatzivasiliou, as our resident “myth buster.” While we can’t officially borrow the iconic name from the TV show, Con is dedicated to unravelling the misconceptions that surround car servicing.
Trust us to bring clarity to your car care experience. To watch Con’s myth busting video, please click here.
STAYING CONNECTED
At Sydney City Toyota, we’ve noted an uplift in customers seeking to sign up to our MyToyota Connect app and to learn more about Toyota’s suite of Connected Services. It’s a sign of the times.
There’s a certain reassurance in knowing that you’re being cared for and looked after when you’re on the road –and even when you’re parked.
How many times have you walked back into a crowded car park and even for a moment not known where you’ve left your car?
The MyToyota app will lead you straight to it.
Parents, naturally, are concerned for their teenagers’ safety when they’re out in the family car.
Each new Toyota has an SOS button in the overhead panel, which will call in appropriate response services.
When an airbag is deployed or a serious collision is detected, it triggers a response from our Connected Services team.
The overview is 24/7. There’s always someone to respond to your emergency.
The MyToyota app is a single repository for all your Toyota’s details – from registration and VIN, through its complete service history.
And as an added benefit, it has a relationship with Ampol Foodary to communicate special offers and discounts.
Connected Services links directly to owners’ smartphones and offers complimentary access to Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It’s particularly handy to receive updates to navigation, especially when driving conditions change en route.
Once, long ago, sceptics might have described such services as Big Brother intrusion.
We’re way past that now. There are privacy laws in place that prevent inappropriate use.
Connected Services is part of our new social responsibility.
WE’RE GOING AGAIN!
Sydney City Toyota is proud to roll over our sponsorship of South Sydney Junior Rugby League for our third year – and we’re delighted to note ongoing changes and improvements.
Kids under 12 will, from this year, be playing non-competitive matches, only friendly ones.
The new age limit is an initiative of the National Rugby League’s player development framework, and it’s been welcomed by South Junior’s CEO Luke Curry.
“Children, and their parents, should be turning up for the sport and the fun,“ Luke said.
“In past years, kids as young as six through nine were playing competitive matches,“ Luke said.
“Restricting the competitive age to above 12-year-olds - in other words, teenagers – is going to do a lot to help youngsters learn the game properly.
“It will contribute to the development of playing techniques which will reduce injuries, and it will help modify sideline behaviour.”
That last part is code for parents behaving badly. According to Luke, there’s a growing trend towards parental sideline intervention “not just in League but in all sports”.
It’s not healthy for sport or for children’s enjoyment of whatever code or sport they play.
It’s good to see the NRL and clubs like Souths Juniors actively working to curtail it.
This year, more than 3,200 club members from under-5s to adults will play in more than 1,500 games arranged by Souths Juniors.
The grand final will be held on the hallowed turf of Redfern Oval. Luke Curry says the club is still recruiting players for this season.
The cut-off date for registration, imposed by the NRL, is 30 June.
IF YOU HAVE A FLEET, WE NEED TO MEET
Here’s a hypothetical – you’re a business owner with a small fleet of vehicles, and frankly, they’ve become a costly pain in the neck to manage.
You want to get on with your own work, but instead you’re spending a disproportionate amount of time looking after your vehicles. Instead of being assets, they’ve become liabilities.
You reach out to a fleet management organisation –but because of your fleet’s size, or rather lack of it, they’re not interested.
Or worse – they’ll take you on, but only at a premium because, understandably, you must meet their profitability requirements. Sydney City Toyota understands that.
We’ve devised a program for our customers with fleets as small as five vehicles.
Because we want to continue to be the primary provider of your vehicles, we’ve charged our fleet manager, David Xuereb, with the responsibility of providing a solution for each of our business customers.
David and his team can help you with your fleet plans.
You may be eligible for GST credits as well as tax deductions via depreciation.
Capped price servicing with Toyota Service Advantage can substantially reduce outgoings.
Servicing can be planned around your requirements to keep your vehicles working.
Subsidiary businesses can be included in the fleet plan David devises. His service applies to fleets up to 50 vehicles.
After that, we have plans for fleets between 51 and 200 vehicles and large fleets over 200, each with access to an account manager.
It’s a service that is a natural corollary of our sales and vehicle maintenance offering to our clients.
We see it as a win-win, because our fleet customers’ cars will be properly in our care, and that will help to maintain their value.
WILBURY’S TRAVELS
Wilbury, our charity fundraising mascot, thought he’d earned a justified retirement at the end of last year.
In one year, the giant bear that our dealer principal, John Roca, bought at a charity auction and turned into a welfare powerhouse, earned more than $16,109 for the Sydney Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Our clients and business associates bid for the pleasure of having Wilbury visit their places of work, play, and promotion, and the funds they raised went straight to charitable causes.
We figured it was a great one-year promotion.
So, we were surprised and delighted when this year people kept asking for a Wilbury encore.
Already, he’s been adopted by celebrity chef Luke Mangan, greeting guests on arrival.
He attended the Sydney City Golf Day, granting players an automatic hole-in-one on the Par 3 ninth hole in return for a $100 donation.
Wilbury is open to continuing his post-retirement fundraising in the second half of the year.
If you’re interested in adopting him for a good cause, just contact marketing@sydneycitytoyota.com.au or to donate, sydneycity.co/SCHFDonate
