Charles Betteridge Recalls

The Last 25 Years

By Charles Betteridge, Parts Manager, PNG.

LOOKING BACK over the last 25 years, I recall when I first arrived in Port Moresby and joined Bums Philp & Company Ltd as parts salesman. That was in April, 1960. The workforce was predominantly expatriate orientated but even at that early stage Bums Philp had six citizen staff working in the Parts Depart ment under six expatriates.

Most of the vehicles in the country in those days were of British or European origin.

Japanese sourced vehicles were practically un heard of, primarily due to the fact that there was no proper representation established in the country at the time. Theiss Sales in Sydney (the Toyota distrib utor for Australia) had a small agent operating from a service station in Boroko but it was obvious that sales were not effective. Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan had identified the need to become properly established in the market and so they approached Bums Philp, as the largest company in the country, with a view to offering the Toyota franchise. That was in mid 1962.

In November 1962, a basic agreement was reached for sales of Toyota vehicles to be handled via a Bums Philp subsidiary company, the Port Mo resby Freezing Company Ltd, known generally as

Pmf.

It wasn’t until March 1963 that Toyota Motor Corporation finalised the agreement and officially appointed Bums Philp through PMF as the Distrib utor for Toyota.

PMF then arranged to take over the three Toyota vehicles held in stock at the service station in Bo roko. These were a Toyota RK4S Stout, a Toyota RKI6O Dyna Truck and Toyota RT2O Tiara sedan.

The total Parts stockholding acquired fitted into 6 cardboard boxes and amounted to approximately L4OO value (around Kl5O by today’s reckoning).

From a service station and garage on the comer of Hunter Street and Champion Parade in down town Moresby, PMF sold their first Toyota vehicles and established the initial Toyota Genuine Parts Department.

Sales of Toyota in 1963 only achieved two units.

The long established “well known, well made” Brit ish vehicles were definitely preferred. The introduc tion of other models from Toyota, however, created considerable interest. The Toyopet sedan featuring

the twin cylinder air-cooled 800 cc engine was unique.

Although the car itself was quite small, it performed remarkably well, especially on fuel economy ratings where it achieved over 50 miles to the gallon! During 1964 six new Toyotas were sold.

The year 1965 saw the PMF garage and service station move out to a new complex in Pascal Ave nue, Badili, to be known as Moresby Garage...the present location of today’s head office, Parts. 1965 was also the year of the introduction of both the Toy ota Corolla and Toyota Corona passenger cars. On the commercial vehicle scene, the FJ2S Land Cruiser, the RK4S Stout and the RKI6O Dyna Trucks were already becoming well-established and proving both economical and dependable.

At the same time Parts sales had improved sub stantially and the decision was made to build a new Parts complex to house both the Bums Philp range of vehicle parts and the Toyota parts.

The Toyota Land Cruiser became PNG’s pre dominant 4 Wheel Drive vehicle over the ensuing years. Their 6 cylinder petrol and optional diesel en gines were outperforming the 4 cylinder Landrov ers, and their ruggedness was already proved.

By 1969 Landrovers had almost disappeared from the 4 Wheel Drive scene here, having been pro gressively replaced by the Toyota Land Cruiser.

The opening of the giant Bougainville Copper Mine in Panguna in the 1960 s required a strong and

durable 4 Wheel Drive to tackle the virgin jungle taking surveyors and engineers up into the moun tains. Toyota Land Cruiser was the right vehicle for the job.

The establishment of the Highlands Highway from Lae to Mt Hagen also required a formidable 4 wheel drive vehicle the Toyota Land Cruiser.

On the sedan side, the Toyota Corolla quickly became the most popular medium sized car avail able. Burns Philp had expanded their outlets and be gan selling Toyota cars in Lae and Rabaul. By 1969, Bums Philp decided that a separate automotive di vision was necessary to allow for further Toyota expansion.

On July 1,1969, Ela Motors was established. Fa cilities such as garages and parts outlets previously used by Bums Philp became known as Ela Motors.

Private dealerships came into being and within a short time, Toyota vehicles were being sold in Mt Hagen, Goroka, Kimbe, Popondetta, Madang, Ai tape and Kieta. Ela Motors was by then established in Port Moresby, Lae and Rabaul and over the next few years gradually expanded the network.

As vehicle sales expanded, so did the require ment for a proper back-up parts service. Lae was the central location, so a new Parts complex was built, the Central Parts Operation, (CPO) primarily to serve the rapidly expanding Toyota franchise. In 1980, the new CPO complex was officially opened.

Today, Ela Motors CPO Lae is still the largest Parts warehouse in Papua New Guinea, housing over K 5 Million worth of parts under the one roof.

From a humble beginning in a small garage in Port Moresby in March 1963, Toyota is now repre sented throughout the length and breadth of the na tion with 13 wholly-owned branches of Ela Motors covering all the major centres from Tabubil and Vanimo in the West to Kieta in the East.

Charles Betieridge congratulated by Hiroshi Nogami.

A.P. Collins, Ela Motors’ general manager, receives an award from Hiroshi Nogami, Toyota manager, Oceania Dept, In recognition of 25 years of Toyota in PNG.

Charles Betteridge’s Toyota Sports 800.