New Zealand Trucks was based in Christchurch and was owned by former NZX-listed Hellaby Holdings Limited before it was sold in 2016, alongside AB Equipment, to private equity fund Maui Capital for $81 million.
The new deal will see CAL taking over the Hamilton site in Earthmover Cresent and the south Auckland, Wiri site in Edsel Way.
The acquisition will see over 35 staff join the CAL team and brings its numbers to around 200 people.
The two additional sites adds around 15,000 square metres and sees the company grow to two sites in Hamilton, three in Auckland plus sites in Tauranga and Whangarei.
CAL Isuzu owner and managing director Ashok Parbhu says he’s very pleased with the deal which was carried out in just a couple of months.
The acquisitions is all about speeding up the delivery of trucks for customers, he says.
“We wanted a bigger footprint … the key driver was to add more capacity and this has increased our capacity overnight. It’s a turn-key operation, integrating into our business with two extra workshops.”
The Hamilton site also includes its very own testing station lane which will be a first for the company. This will be up and running following NZ Transport Agency certification.
The addition of a testing lane will greatly improve capacity and turnaround time for the business. At the moment it’s taking around three days to get trucks through but with the new testing lane it should be no longer than a day, Parbhu says.
The new sites will be rebranded to CAL Isuzu and the first will kick off in Auckland with a new parts department.
CAL is now strategically located with its three Auckland sites so it’s much easier for customers getting through the “diabolical traffic” for parts and servicing, Parbhu says
The CAL dealership was originally founded in 1987 as Commercial Autos Wreckers by Raman Parbhu. It has grown to become the leading sales team for Isuzu Trucks NZ, helping it deliver 19 consecutive years as the number one brand in the country.
