AutoTalk Live! has confirmed its full programme for Christchurch, with the half-day event running Tuesday 15 September at Rydges Latimer, 30 Latimer Square.
AutoTalk managing editor and event host Richard Edwards says the compressed format has shaped a deliberately dense programme.
“This is a sharp, no-filler afternoon. Every session earns its place, whether that is benchmarking data, the economy, AI, or hard numbers on how fast dealers respond to the customers they are already paying to attract.”
The day opens with a networking lunch from 11:30am before Motor Trade Association chief executive Lee Marshall kicks off the formal programme with opening industry remarks.
Stephen Timperley follows with the latest Deloitte Motor Industry Benchmarks, giving dealers a read on where their operation sits against national performance data. Trade Me Motors’ Steve Vermeulen then presents market analysis and insights drawn from the country’s largest vehicle marketplace.
After the first break, ASB acting chief economist Kim Mundy delivers the economic update, covering the conditions shaping consumer confidence and vehicle demand heading into 2027. Mundy presents online, as the economic session has in previous Christchurch years.
Titan DMS head of marketing Jamie Russell tackles artificial intelligence with his session Translating AI for Dealerships. Russell spent seven years at Ebbett before moving into DMS and AI development, and frames the session around what the technology does inside a dealership rather than the theory behind it.
AutoPlay’s James Leong presents Five Minutes or Five Hours: What Response Time Does to Your Close Rate. The session draws on New Zealand dealer enquiry data to show how quickly enquiries actually get answered, what that does to conversion, and the three points where leads quietly go missing. It is practical and system agnostic, with benchmarks dealers can hold their own team against.
Betham takes the guest slot
The guest speaker slot goes to former boxer and league player Monty Betham, who joins Edwards for an open discussion on leadership and what it really means to be part of a team. Betham will share anecdotes from a legendary career and the battles that shaped it, both literal and metaphorical, and what those lessons offer anyone leading people in a high-pressure business.
“We are excited to bring Monty to Christchurch,” Edwards says. “His conversation was a highlight of our Auckland event in May, and the feedback from the room made bringing him south an easy call. Dealers run teams under pressure every day, and Monty has lived that at the highest level.”
Marketing in the spotlight
Buyerscore’s Mark Greenfield returns to the AutoTalk Live! stage after presenting at Eden Park in May, with his session to be announced.
AdTorque Edge chief revenue officer Nick Johnson and chief executive Damien O’Neill then take on dealer marketing with Maximising Dealer Marketing ROI in a Changing Media Landscape. Fresh from presenting to Australian dealers at the AADA convention, the pair bring an NZ lens to the forces reshaping dealer marketing: AI doing buyers’ early research before they ever see an ad, the hidden cost of leaning too hard on performance channels at the expense of brand, and making every marketing dollar work across the whole business rather than new sales alone.
Closing the day, Edwards runs through what to expect from the election, covering who is promising what and what that could mean for dealers.
Networking drinks run from 4:45pm.
This is the third year AutoTalk Live! has run in Christchurch. The event has sold out each year, with attendance growing about 30% annually and a room that typically runs 70:30 dealer to supplier.
Tickets are $250 per person, or $1950 for a table of eight. The event is recorded, with the recording and speaker slides sent to attendees afterwards.
Sponsorship and table enquiries go to Deborah Baxter at deborah@automediagroup.co.nz.
