A Japanese philosophical approach to business forms a solid foundation for MTAQ member Darren Ungerer. Its strength and relevance is proven not only by the global company he adopted it from, but also in the
success of his own business, AutoWorks.

Words & PHOTOS: Lindsay Saunders

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When was AutoWorks established?

DU: We bought an existing business here in Salisbury in 2014. We had another business and were looking to buy a building and start green, but this building came up and there were hoists and other equipment here already. Things were very small at that time – there was only two staff – but it all fell into place from there and now we have four staff plus me and we’ve put in additional hoists and other equipment.

We’re definitely expanding – you’re either growing or you’re dying. We sold off the other business we had. It was a franchise business and we found there was too much ‘do it our way’ with that. We have more freedom this way and there’s more enjoyment to be had doing it this way too, making our own decisions. Everything we do is our own spin or flavour – such as the advertising we do that reflects what we’re about.

You say ‘we’ – do you have a partner in the business?

DU: I say ‘we’ because it’s always a team effort. I talk to my team about anything that’s going to impact the business because it’s going to impact them. I wear the same shirt as the boys and if a car needs to get fixed, I’ll get my hands dirty. At the end of the day it’s all about getting the cars fixed so the customer is happy. More happy customers, more cars.

What’s your background in the industry?

DU: Originally I was an apprentice under a group scheme, which was MIGAS back in the day – we’re talking about the late 1980s. I worked at a number of places around Brisbane during that time – everything from dealers to private business – which was great experience.

I finished my time at a local Toyota dealership and spent another nine or so years working there. Then I married, had kids, ended up chasing more money and went to a well-known business doing shift work for them for about 12 years. It was a good experience – that kind of breakdown maintenance was so diverse and I learnt so much, including learning to rely on myself.

Why did you move on from that?

DU: Aside from the shift work, doing that breakdown work by the side of the road meant I was seeing what repairers were getting wrong. You’d have customers saying ‘the car was only serviced a month ago’ and I’d be looking at the radiator hose that looked like a balloon and thinking ‘why wasn’t that mentioned at the time?’. I started thinking I could do better and stop these breakdowns, stop these inconveniences.

So I bought the franchise business and it went very well. At one time we were number two in the country, but a change of ownership changed the way the franchise did business – things I wasn’t comfortable with – so we started looking to do our own thing.

Once we got here, I could see how much better it was outside the franchise, so it was time to leave that and do it my way.

And what is your way?

DU: It has always been the principle of Kaizen, which I learnt at Toyota and which means continuous, never-ending improvement. Learning from your mistakes. Making sure you don’t make that mistake again. Toyota taught me so much about this, about how to continually improve things and avoid errors. The big thing I took from my time at Toyota was the Japanese philosophy of looking at the problem and asking, ‘What do we need to do to make sure it doesn’t happen again, ever?’ Toyota’s reputation is based on it and so is its success.

So, it’s not my original idea but it’s one I’ve embraced and I foster it in my team. If they find a better way to do something or find, for example, that there’s a tool we need to achieve that, then that’s what we do.

While you do general work, customisation and high-performance work are specialties for the business?

DU: Yes, definitely. I was that kid glued to the Bathurst 1000 or whatever it was called at the time – the kid in the back of the class reading car magazines because chemistry was boring. I’ve always been interested in what people are doing to cars to make them more suitable to their way of driving, whatever it is – drag racing, cruising, drifting, anything. And the technology now in some of the aftermarket products is on par with what the manufacturers are doing.

And you get to connect more with the customers when they’re all about changing their car – the things they don’t like. It’s so much more than the run of the mill stuff. It’s more satisfying to help someone build their dream car. It sounds a bit corny, but it’s their dream and we’re here to assist them to realise it. What the car is doesn’t matter, we embrace all makes and models.

Is there a particular area or demographic your customers come from?

DU: I get phone calls and inquiries from all over – even as far away as Cairns. I have an Advanced Diploma of Mechanical Engineering, so I am an approved person for Queensland mod plates and I think that’s why we get calls from such a wide base of the state.

We can do the whole job, do it legally and you can drive it on the road. And we do most everything in-house. Myself and my head mechanic are also qualified auto electricians, which is vital with the amount of technology we work with on vehicles today. We don’t do full engine rebuilds or gearboxes and autos, but I have trusted guys I’ve been using for years who we work with. They’re people who have a similar attitude to me regarding the work and level of professionalism.

It’s all about the end result. The ‘she’ll be right’ attitude isn’t our attitude. Kaizen doesn’t look at it that way. It is either right or its wrong. That’s how I look at it too.

How long have you been an MTA Queensland member and why did you join?

DU: About six months. I’d known about MTA Queensland forever and one of their guys came around and we had a chat. There were benefits there, the fees are reasonable, the regular newsletter is great and the information I’m getting is good.

Also, the government grants that are around for business expansion – although Covid has paused that – weren’t something I was aware of until MTA Queensland talked to me about what was available.

We’re still working on that business expansion plan, which I can’t go into too much. There are not many new ideas out there, and this is something a little bit different and aimed at a specific market. We were going to do it anyway, but the grant would allow us to set it up faster.

How has the pandemic affected your business?

DU: Initially we saw a big impact. People just weren’t driving. We could look out at the road here and there’d be a car every minute or so – usually it’s like four times that.

We do basically three things here – the custom modification work, specialised inspections and the ‘mum and dad’ stuff – and the specialist inspections dropped dramatically because these cars weren’t on the road. They went from 3-4 a week to 3-4 month. We’ve seen some of the companies’ divisions we did this work for shut down, never to return.

The mum and dad stuff slowed right down too because they were either not working or were working from home. But there was an increase in the modified work – big jobs spanning anywhere from three weeks to six months.

From a cashflow perspective, it has been very up and down. We saw a definite uptick but then Covid round 2 came along and you could see the sales creep up but then down. We’re in an unknown area. There’s been so much government stimulus so it’s a bit of an unreal situation. But unless people are working and using their cars, they’re not spending money on them. It’s still an unknown but we are cautiously optimistic.

Source: Motor Trader E-magazine (October 2020)

8 October 2020