Penske now eyeing Aussie car dealerships

Having invested heavily in the Australian transport and heavy engine industry and launched a V8 Supercars team, billionaire American Roger Penske has revealed his likely next move here will be to start acquiring automotive dealerships.

“We need to digest our trucking and transport acquisitions over the next 12 months, but out of the corner of my eye I would say there is an opportunity for retail automotive,” Penske told Australian media during a press conference at the Clipsal 500, where DJR Team Penske made its V8 Supercars debut with returning star Marcos Ambrose behind the wheel of a Ford Falcon FG X.

Penske’s interest would most likely lie in the prestige and luxury area of the market, as that accounts for more 72 per cent of his various networks’ global sales. Another 21-22 per cent is accounted for by Toyota, Honda and Volkswagen while GM, Ford and Chrysler brands account for what’s left.

“We initially started with a foreign nameplate focus and that’s where we have stayed,” Penske explained.

In total, Penske Corporation’s global retail presence is staggering, representing 41 brands through 341 franchises in the USA, Western Europe and the UK, selling a total of 398,000 new and used cars.

Penske’s interest in Australian dealerships will come as a no surprise to industry watchers here in Australia, as a Penske representative was in Australia in 2013 assessing potential dealerships for purchase, focussing on the Mercedes-Benz network.

Asked what attracted him to the Australian market, Penske hinted it was a case of being invited in as well as actively hunting for opportunities.

“We have seen in the US … there are people who don’t have siblings who want to take over businesses and the brands that we have, we have relationships globally and time to time things come up that look attractive to us.

“And we are going to be looking at those.

“Maybe there’s a group that we could take a look at that’s involved and we could tuck it under our global, public footprint.”

Penske’s first invested in Australia in 2013 by taking over the Brisbane-based distributorship that provides Western Star, MAN and Dennis Eagle trucks, parts, service and technology to around 70 dealers here and in New Zealand.

Since then it has added the MTU/Detroit Diesel business, which provides heavy duty engines to the transport, marine and other industries.

Penske’s multiple relationships with automotive brands has led his team to be branded as the most likely to lure a new manufacturer into the V8 Supercars championship, which transitions to new Gen2 regulations in 2017.

DJR Team Penske is running as a privateer team in 2015, with Ford exiting the category at the end of the year. Penske said moving the team – which is expected to expand to two cars in 2016 - to another manufacturer could not be ruled out.

“We are going to take a look at the landscape and if there are other opportunities we are definitely going to take a look at them,” he said.