Articles by Susannah Moran

Trivett executive chairman Greg Duncan said his company had spent $400,000 on consultants' fees and had worked with Porsche designers before submitting building plans to council. But the development, designed to showcase Porsche and five other luxury car brands, is now on hold after Porsche told Trivett it was not renewing its franchise. "If we don't have a Porsche franchise in there it's not viable," Mr Duncan said. "What do we do about our building? We can't build a building that involved a whole section for Porsche ... no other brand would accept it." Trivett Group has been selling Porsches to Sydneysiders for 16 years and Mr Duncan has been in the car business for 26 years. Six weeks before the end of the last financial year, Mr Duncan was told Porsche would not renew its franchise -- and he is angered he was not given any reason. Porsche was forced to backtrack last year after Mr Duncan pointed out that the Franchising Code of Australia required Porsche to give Trivett at least six months' -- not six weeks' -- notice. Mr Duncan believes pressures on the local Porsche office led to the move, with Porsche wanting to sacrifice Trivett's successful business in a bid to boost its own dealership. "I just think they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it," said Mr Duncan, who has also lost staff to Porsche's head office following the move. "Our people are so good they want to employ them and our profits so good they want to steal them," he said. With his franchise set to run out at the end of June, Mr Duncan said he was unlikely to make any profit from forward orders he was taking for new Porsches, because dealers did not realise profits until a car was delivered. He said the end of the Porsche dealership would not ruin the Trivett Group financially -- it also sells high-end cars such as Bentleys, BMWs and Bugattis -- but that Porsche should not be allowed to treat its loyal franchisees so poorly. He also believes the move could have implications for other dealers. "We are fortunate: the size of our business means we are financially strong and Porsche is only a part of it. But there are other dealers out there where this would be their only business," Mr Duncan said. ``If the factories can get away with this they will send dealers broke." Mr Duncan says he enjoys good relationships with all other major dealers he does business with. Mr Duncan said Porsche offered Trivett $60,000 -- a fraction of the $4m he believes is its true value -- but has refused to discuss continuing the franchise. "What are our options? I can't imagine we can go to court and force them to love us and supply product," Mr Duncan said. "We dont want to go, we want to be a Porsche dealer, we are heading into better times." Porsche managing director Michael Winkler said: "It is just inappropriate to comment on any ongoing relationship that I have with any of my franchisees." Porsche Cars Australia is part of the Volkswagen Group, Europe's biggest carmaker.

The Trivett Group, which has run a hugely successful Porsche dealership in Sydney for 16 years, is facing a battle with Europe's biggest carmaker after unceremoniously being given six weeks' notice that its franchise is to end. Porsche Cars Australia, part of the global Volkswagen Group, has its own dealerships in Sydney and Melbourne, as well as franchisees in major cities. Sydneysiders can buy Porsches from one of three sites and Trivett Group's executive chairman, Greg Duncan, believes his western Sydney dealership is being punished for outperforming Porsche's head office dealership. "They shouldn't be acting to shore up their (business) at the expense of ours," said Mr Duncan. "There is no question about our performance; they have never written to us with any problems, any breach, any warning, absolutely nothing." Mr Duncan was stunned when Porsche sent him a brief letter on May 24 last year telling him Trivett's franchise was to expire on June 30, just weeks later. "We have done nothing to warrant it," he said. After pointing out to Porsche that under the franchising code of Australia Porsche was required to give Trivett at least six months' notice of a decision not to renew the franchise, Trivett has been given a reprieve until June 30 next year. Porsche managing director Michael Winkler said: "It is just inappropriate to comment on any ongoing relationship that I have with any of my franchisees."