Weighing up 30 years of business
Posted on October 5th, 2022
A WISE person once said when one door closes, another opens.
More than half a century ago Bill Weigh took his first steps in the motor industry with a small but successful motor dealership in the Brisbane region.
After a flood he moved north-west to open a multi-franchised dealership in Mount Isa and even served the city as mayor for a while.
Four years before they landed the gong, Bill partnered with his son Ian and some business colleagues to buy the historic Rockhampton Toyota dealership, which was struggling financially. The doors closed on Rockhampton Toyota late in the September of 1992 and reopened as Ian Weigh Toyota.
It didn’t take long before he and his team made an indelible impression on the Toyota fraternity, marked by their unveiling as a National President’s Excellence Award recipient in 1996, something of which Ian and his dad Bill were immensely proud.
On Bill’s passing in May 2005, he was a revered figure in the automotive industry, having seized opportunities to invest in new Toyota dealerships – two in Far North Queensland and one in Central Queensland.
In 30 years of business, Ian Weigh Toyota has built on its reputation and consolidated its place in the market, with strategic moves to add more franchises to complement its operations.
In 1999, Toyota’s Luxury Brand, Lexus, was added as a Franchise.
Three years later they opened a fully-operational Toyota branch in Yeppoon while at the same time celebrating their induction to the National Rural Top 20 Club.
In 2004, work was under way on a multi-million dollar expansion of the Rockhampton dealership, a project considered so outstanding in design it was honoured by the Master Builders Guild as the 2005 retail facility Queensland State winner.
Expansions to this mothership lead to the redevelopment of the Opposite Lock 4×4 franchise to expand operations and near the end of 2013 construction began on a new OL 4×4 superstore.
After the OL and Lexus Franchise additions it became practical to rebrand to the umbrella company to ‘Weigh Auto Group’, and in 2016 the Group grew once again when Jaguar (and) Land Rover were added. Mahindra followed in 2019 to become their fifth franchise.
With staff numbers approaching 150, Weigh Auto Group has always employed local people and strives to provide an inclusive, flexible and family-first culture. Each year, over 60 local charities, sponsorships, sporting teams and clubs are also supported.
Who knows what the future holds, but with the third generation of the family (Simon and Stephen Weigh) now actively involved, they are eager for more opportunities to grow the business and to continue to reinvest in products and services that deliver world-class and innovative experiences for their guests, their employees and the brands that they represent.
Capricorn Enterprise extends it’s sincere congratulations to our long-term corporate partner and friends at Ian Weigh Toyota/Weigh Auto Group. Here’s to the next 30!
