CoolDrive Auto Parts New Zealand Continues Stellar Year

18 Sep, 2019

CoolDrive New Zealand has been recognised at CoolDrive Auto Parts’ annual Branch of the Year Awards, being named the Top Performing Region for 2019.

The JW (John) Blanchard Region of the Year award was presented to General Manager of CoolDrive New Zealand, Aaron Carr, by the award’s namesake, CoolDrive CEO John Blanchard.

CoolDrive introduced the Region of the Year award last year, to recognise outstanding performance by regions across Australasia, with New Zealand recognised for its phenomenal growth over the past 12 months.

“It’s a landmark for the business that New Zealand has won Region of the Year for the first time,” John Blanchard said.

“The team in New Zealand headed by Aaron Carr has done a stellar job growing both the business and the company’s profile here and creating opportunities to increase our presence in the market.”

CoolDrive commenced operations in New Zealand in 2016 with the opening of a single branch in Albany, Auckland and three years on, the automotive parts distributor continues to go from strength to strength.

Aaron Carr, General Manager of CoolDrive New Zealand attributes the win to CoolDrive’s passionate and dedicated team, along with the support and loyalty of its ever-growing customer base.

“We now have three branches and staff numbers have increased significantly, from eight originally, to now numbering 20 to support our current and future customer base,” Aaron Carr, General Manager, CoolDrive New Zealand said.

“Specific branch highlights over the past 12 months have included the opening of a Christchurch branch and moving the Albany branch to a larger warehouse to accommodate our expanding product ranges.

“We have also seen incredible growth within the Auto Electrical sector recently and are proud to be a corporate member of the NZAE Group.

“Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on our core ranges of starters, alternators, electrical accessories, air-conditioning, EFI and cooling, and through the support of CoolDrive Head Office and the product team, will continually introduce new ranges, with PETRONAS Oil and Nolathane suspension products being recent examples.

“We also have significant branch expansions plans in place for the next three-to-five years.

“It is a fantastic honour to have been named Region of the Year, particularly considering how ‘young’ our region is. The New Zealand team has worked incredibly hard over the past year and this win is due to their passion and commitment to the company, along with the support of our customers.”

Conducted at Rydges Norwest in Sydney, Australia in early August, the CoolDrive Branch of the Year Awards, sponsored by REDARC, was attended by over 100 guests including senior company management, key staff, branch managers, suppliers and industry special guests.

Additional awards presented on the evening were the WJ (John Senior) Blanchard Branch of the Year award for turnover over $5 million which went to CoolDrive’s Perth (WA) branch and the SL (Shirley) Blanchard Branch of the Year award for turnover under $5 million which was awarded to Rockhampton (QLD).

CoolDrive’s Branch of the Year awards is named after the company’s founders and key personnel.

CoolDrive Auto Parts is one of Australasia’s largest automotive parts distributors with a comprehensive range of automotive air conditioning, rotating electrical, electrical accessories, engine cooling, engine management, underbody, braking and suspension products. CoolDrive Auto Parts is 100 per cent family-owned and operated, and has over 30 branches in Australia and New Zealand.