http://www.todayonline.com/singapore/rental-woes-driving-dealers-out-car-marts
With the used car industry, in particular, still reeling from the new curbs on car loans, the dealers cited the need to cut costs after a failed appeal to the centre’s owner, the Singapore Vehicle Traders Association (SVTA), to lower the rent.
Should the car dealers succeed in pulling out, it also leaves the SVTA with a massive headache — last year, it suffered a loss of S$1 million in running the 6,100 sq m centre — slightly smaller than a football field, which is less than half full.
Said one of the dealers, who wished to be known only as Mr Lim: “We requested for the SVTA to lower rentals as our business is not doing well after the new measures, but they refused our appeal ... we then decided to forfeit our deposits and not move in.”
Each dealer had to pay a security deposit of S$15,000. Another dealer added: “The market situation is such that we can’t sell or buy cars. I had spent another S$3,000 on refurbishment, but I’d rather forfeit that and the deposit than lose a bigger sum of money in the future.”
The seven dealers — who have to move out of Thomson Used Car Centre by July, after the land that the centre sits on was bought by a private developer — were due to move into the Mackenzie Centre at the beginning of this month. However, they would now rather look for alternative sites or even stop doing business altogether.
When contacted, SVTA President Neo Tiam Ting said: “We will try to sort out the situation and I hope the tenants will be able to complete the contract as we, too, are losing money.”
Since the curbs on car loans were imposed on Feb 26, car dealers at two used car marts have also appealed to their landlords for rent waivers. While the landlord of Commonwealth Car Mall has agreed to waive off 10 per cent — about S$600 — of their monthly rental rate, car dealers at Grandstand at Turf City are still waiting for an answer on their appeal.
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