Luxury car dealer Martin Roller is back with electric dream

Martin Roller is back doing what he loves - selling cars. But his latest venture is a far cry from the six-figure luxury marques he used to sell.

Leapmotor’s C10

Martin Roller is back doing what he loves.

After the luxury car dealer and his business partner Marvin Burke sold their remaining stake in their Valley-based business to Malaysian multinational Sime Darby in 2019, few thought they would retire to the golf course.

Roller, who has been in the car game for more than 35 years, took over the city’s BMW dealership in 1999 and grew it five-fold into a $250 million a year colossus with about 250 staff. The pair, who expanded to include Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Volvo, sold the initial 70 per cent of the business for $85 million to Sime Darby in 2014. That included the buyout of then-silent partner Lindsay Fox.

After a period selling luxury caravans and concentrating on their property interests, Roller and Burke, along with Anthony Alafaci, are now back in the auto trade as Brisbane dealers for new Chinese electric vehicle marque Leapmotors.

It will make a change from the luxury Lamborghinis and Ferraris the pair used to sell, which could retail for up to a million bucks.

Martin Roller in his BMW days.

Leapmotor’s C10 model being introduced into the Australian market sells for under $50,000 and is aimed squarely at suburban mum and dads. “We’re car guys, but we like looking after customers,” Roller tells City Beat. “We’ve built a pretty good reputation in town. A lot of people know us for the right reasons, not the wrong reasons.

“We haven’t left a trail of destruction behind us. That’s why we got out of caravans, because the manufacturer’s approach to building a quality product and then standing behind it was non-existent, which left us holding the baby when customers would come back and say, look at all these defects. They’re manufacturing issues, these are not ours.”

Roller says he didn’t think that a Chinese electric vehicle in the Australian buyer’s mind could command a premium price, which made the Leapmotor’s price point attractive. “Their product just resonated and we thought they know their stuff,” he says “They’re car people, we’re car people, and the investment required probably wasn’t as much as some of the others were asking.” Hangzhou-based Leapmotor has formed a joint venture with Stellantis, the maker of Fiat, Jeep and Alfa Romeo, to market the brand internationally. The dealership will be based at Stafford with plans for a pop-up store at Westfield Chermside to display the new C10.

Life alliance

Life Sciences Queensland (LSQ) has joined forces with AusBiotech amid burgeoning expansion in the state’s biotechnology and health innovation sector.

LSQ says a memorandum of understanding between the two peak bodies represents a commitment to support the growth and resilience of Australia’s life sciences ecosystem.

LSQ chair Professor Trent Munro says he welcomed the opportunity to work more closely with AusBiotech to ensure that Queensland’s unique perspectives and opportunities are embedded into the national conversation.

AusBiotech is Australia’s leading national and global advocate for life sciences, working to help its more than 3000 members by shaping policy and sharing knowledge.

The life sciences industry is driving significant income for Queensland, with an estimated annual gross value of $2.21 billion, including $3.6 million in manufacturing R&D private investment and an annual export value of $534.3 million.