If you drive a small car, or are thinking about downsizing to a lower fuel use, more efficient smaller car for around town use, then you need to see the Hyundai Accent. This zippy little hot hatch has it all! Small on size but massive on features across the model range. We have a wide range of quality used vehicles like this one in our central Nelson Yard. Click here to find out more.
Rodney Bowater, chairman of the Bowater Motor Group, watering in the tree commemorating our relationship with the Brook Sanctuary. Click to enlarge.
Bowater Toyota, and the wider Bowater Motor Group, are very excited that the Brook Waimarama Sanctuary's "Get Behind the Fence" campaign is coming to fruition with the 14 kilometre fence almost completed. We have been keen supporters of the whole project for many years, and are always keen to get involved where ever and when ever we can.
In the last month Toyota New Zealand began a conversation about the importance of connecting with nature, and entered into a relationship with DoC (the Department of Conservation). Click here to read about the celebration that Toyota NZ held to celebrate it's 50 years in New Zealand. Part of that celebration was the sending of a small Rimu seedling to every dealership in the country, for us to plant somewhere significant.
We instantly thought of the Brook Sanctuary, and the opportunity to gift this seedling to the sanctuary. A conversation ensued and we sat down with Sanctuary Manager Hudson Dodd to discuss the opportunity to start something significant. As it transpired we couldn't gift the Rimu seedling to the Sanctuary as they have a strict bio-security blanket in place where only trees "born" in the sanctuary valley are able to go back into the valley. They have a very comprehensive seed raising operation in place, taking seeds from the trees in the sanctuary, raising them at the Sanctuary base by the dam, and replanting them as and where they need them.
Instead we discussed their future plans for the area, how they envisaged the community engagement to be generated, and their collective wishes as to beginning places of commemoration within or just outside on the Sanctuary grounds.
We saw the entire exercise as an opportunity to celebrate Toyota New Zealand's Believe Statements, which have become competely integrated into the Bowater Toyota "way". One of those statements is that by working together we can make a difference. So we listened. In the end we came up with a great plan that involved finding a perfect rock to inscribe a small part of our story in a way that would truly "stand the test of time".
This video is long (14 minutes) but it celebrates our journey on Saturday 30th April when some of the Bowater Toyota team, and 3 generations of the Bowater family, came together and started something special. A tree was placed in the ground that will outlast us all, and will be a significant food source for birds long into the future as they repopulate the Brook Valley. It is awesome!
Today was extra special for the team of Bowater Toyota at The Brook Waimarama Sanctuary Trust as a bunch got together with their kids and planted a tree to commemorate the long standing relationship between Bowaters and the Sanctuary. This tree will stand the test of time and be there to visit for generations to come, as well as provide nourishment for the birds as they repopulate the area. It's a long video but worth every second. Thank you everyone. It was a very special moment.
Posted by Bowater Motor Group on Saturday, 30 April 2016
There is of course so much more to the story.
All of us here at Bowater Hyundai are right behind Hayden Paddon on his quest to become a WRC World Champ. When we met him in 2015 for our event at Pro Karts we were collectively so impressed by his entire way of looking at things, so are not surprised to see him making such huge strides in a such a competitive motorsport.
Here is his report on his historic win, in his own words.
Well I'm sure you are all well aware of the outcome of Rally Argentina, a weekend that I will forever remember! But it doesn't only stand out as it was our first WRC victory, but also because of the fashion of how we won the rally - going to head to head with triple world champion, Sébastien Ogier. It was what I would sum up as a perfect weekend from start to finish – winning Shakedown, winning 5 stages, winning the power stage and of course the outright event by 14 seconds.
Going into the weekend, we were playing down our chances, as the traditionally rough roads and challenging conditions have not been a favorite in the past. However after the pre-event recce, it became clear that 75% of the new stages this year were a lot faster than normal, and with Sunday as an exception, the stages were also smoother.
Adding to this, Shakedown went very well. As we did not test prior to this event (our team mates both did testing in Europe between Mexico and Argentina which we opted to miss in turn for more testing for the European events) – we used the first run to run the same setup as we finished Mexico as a base. After a return to service, we bolted on the new suspension, which had different settings and immediately we went fastest on the second and third runs – the car was feeling and working better.
But even after all this, we remained grounded for the weekend ahead, with the same goal in mind – to have a clean rally and a top 5.
Paddon, New Zealand’s most successful rally driver, partnered with his regular navigator John Kennard and drove a new Hyundai New Zealand built i20 rally car to win Rally Otago, giving the AP4 version of the i20 its maiden victory on debut.
Hyundai New Zealand General Manager, Andy Sinclair, said the company had begun planning the Hayden Paddon Special Edition Santa Fe – HP Edition for short – when Paddon re-signed with Hyundai New Zealand as well as with the factory rally team for the coming three seasons in October 2015.
“The Santa Fe Series II was going out to showrooms at the time, and knowing how deep the passion for our SUVs runs with Kiwi motorists, it seemed appropriate to mark the occasion with a Special Edition version. Then when the i20 AP4 project came together and Hayden won Otago by such a huge margin, it made the Santa Fe even more significant,” he said.
Hayden Paddon says there are few better ways to acknowledge the exciting relationship between Hyundai New Zealand and himself.
“The new Santa Fe is an awesome SUV that really suits the Kiwi way of life and this Special Edition version is very cool. Hyundai has been incredibly supportive of us over the past few championship seasons, and now there’s a chance for customers to share in this relationship and maybe even come watch us in action.”
Hayden Paddon and John Kennard secured their fifth outright victory in the Rally of Otago to create the perfect debut for their brand-new New Zealand-built Hyundai i20 rally car.
New Zealand's only driver/co-driver combination to compete in the World Rally Championship, Paddon and Kennard are home between international events to launch the first-ever New Zealand-developed Hyundai rally car which is part of a new partnership with Hyundai New Zealand.
Paddon and Kennard, from Geraldine and Blenheim respectively, blitzed the New Zealand Rally Championship field to win the two-day 40th anniversary Otago Rally by 9 minutes, 22.1 seconds from defending NZRC champion Ben Hunt and third-placed David Holder who competes in Paddon's former championship-winning car.
"It was pretty much the perfect debut for the new Hyundai," said Paddon. "If anything, it probably exceeded my expectations. The base of the car is very good. Our team worked very long hours coming up to the rally getting the car ready, and even right up to shakedown we were having problems so they were able to get on top on those right before the start of the rally which was great."
Head deeper into the article for some awesome video.
