The million-dollar motor show

A bow tie distinguishes Berwick car retailer David Nutter wherever he goes, like a signature accessory.
Everywhere, that is, except while he is driving in a rally on gravel forest roads, a hobby he took up more than 10 years ago, a hobby for which he needs a special licence, medical tests equivalent to those of an airline pilot, electro-cardiograph stress tests, and membership of an auto club, in his case, the Pakenham Auto Club.
David has raced fourth, third, and second in the Victorian rally championships and holds a national licence.
As in rally driving, so in business, he makes his own luck, and so far that philosophy has brought him many rewards in the motor industry.
Nothing David Nutter does with cars comes as a surprise.
The former bank teller, electrical tester, maker of beach buggies and formula vee racers, and untrained motor mechanic is chairman of the Australian Automobile Dealers Association, and that means he has occasion to wear a bow tie often.
This year David chaired the management arm of the 90th Melbourne International Motor Show, 10 days of paradise for motor enthusiasts, at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre better known as Jeff’s Shed.
A lifetime in the car industry has prepared him well for the challenges of the $30 million expo.
“Someone has to do it,” he says.
“It is like putting something back into the industry that feeds me.”
A survey three years ago showed the international motor show injected $15 million economic benefit into the Victorian economy, considering freight, carpentry, transport, accommodation, hospitality, and other spin-offs.
It attracts about 200,000 people, reveals 20 to 30 new models every year, and includes about 95 per cent market share of brands from Australia.
It also includes special interest displays such as hand-made dragsters, concept cars, green innovations, and the traditional Shannon’s historic car auction always on the last day.
The scenario goes something like this. The media contingent arrives at 8am on the first day, abundantly catered for by the distributors and manufacturers courting favourable coverage for their current and new models.
“Some use the show to test public reaction to new concepts,” David says.
“Besides promoting the industry, the event is a major Melbourne tourism attraction.”
His role as chair of the management committee has been to welcome everyone to the grand opening before the Premier officially opens the show.
Meanwhile, the press circus works to the scheduled minute, touring the displays under the guidance of a motor writing personality.
“The media have a whole suite with facilities to file stories and pictures and to meet deadlines,” David explains.
At a cost of more than $1 million to hire the shed, the organisers can’t afford glitches.
A director and team handle operational matters such as space allocation. David and the management committee are concerned more with strategic planning, contracts, and budgets.
That means he can keep his day job during the motor show.
“I have to be there frequently but not all the time.”
This year marks a milestone in the history of the show. In keeping with European trends, the Melbourne and Sydney motor shows have merged to become the Australian International Motor Show, hereafter to be held alternately in both cities.
That change means David has chaired the committee for the last MIMS and will be on the committee again next year for the inaugural AIMS in Sydney.
From the dust and roar of a forest rally to the pomp and protocol of an international expo, David holds to the idea that everybody needs wheels.
Although attendance at this year’s Melbourne motor show was lower than in the past, although the economics of the car industry has fallen by about 15 per cent, and although cars of the future have to turn a darker shade of green sooner rather than later, the strength of the industry is assured, he says.
“The main question is about how cars will be powered.”
Ask him about Fords, and he can relay the whole history from the T-model to the concept models yet to reach the assembly line.
Best known for his car sales business, David Nutter Ford, which he bought 23 years ago from the previous owner Peter Durkin, David is also a member of the Rotary Club of Berwick and has had a hand in other community organisations over the past two decades.
Soon after moving to Berwick, he and wife Diana bought the historic house Quarry Hills, which overlooks the car sales yard from a distance. They have two daughters, Felicity and April, and a seven-year-old grand-daughter, Sinead.