The Ateco Group, the largest Australasia-owned independent automotive distribution company, has moved to a new office, training and warehouse facility in the Sydney suburb of Lidcombe to meet growing demand for the products of the brands it represents in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
“The rapid growth of LDV in Australia in particular, but also the development of Maserati and RAM, have meant that the Ateco Group had outgrown its office and training facility in Waterloo,” explains Neville Crichton, Executive Chairman of the Ateco Group. “The new offices, training facility and warehouse in Lidcombe enables the Ateco Group to provide support services for sales and training at a level that will match the growth in sales, meet the demands of a changing market place and provide our staff with a modern, well designed facility within which to work.”
The Ateco Group now provides products, parts and services to more than 100 dealers across Australia and New Zealand. A key element of this service to dealers is providing training and the move to Lidcombe has enabled the Ateco Group to more than triple the space it has available for training. This includes both classrooms and dedicated technical training areas with their own vehicle hoists, tools and equipment.
Typically, the Ateco Group provides up to 40 hours of training per technician for the launch of each new model into the Australian market, as well as sales and marketing training. The growth in dealer numbers, sales and new models required an entire new training centre to meet demand for training. To support the fleet market across Australia, LDV has its own national fleet market team and its own fleet of demonstrator vehicles. Lidcombe not only provides space from which to run these vehicles, but also Lidcombe is much more centrally located in Sydney and it is amongst the many fleet customers with which it is now working.
The move to Lidcombe has also enabled the Ateco Group to install the latest information technology and support facilities for its staff so that they may work with people quickly and easily, be they in the next street or on the other side of the planet. The company maintains state of the art technology so that it may not only run its own business but also have seamless digital communication with the computer systems of the companies with which it works in Asia, Europe, Africa and North America.
“The multi-million dollar move to Lidcombe represents the largest investments Ateco has made in facilities over the last 35 years,” says Mr Crichton. “But this level of investment is essential to ensure that we provide a benchmark quality of service to our dealers, to the brands we represent and to our customers. It is a clear and unequivocal sign of the Ateco Group’s commitment to the automotive industry in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.”