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Exocet update:
http://www.ozclubbies.com.au/index.php? ... -for-sale/

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I don’t know where else to put this so figured here is as good a place as any…

For Sale: Exocet Australia

Yep, I’m selling up. Why? Because I’ve been working my ass off on this business for 2 years and finally have it to a point where it’s self sustaining, and I need to focus my attention on everything else that my wife has planned for the next 2 years.

What do you get? The Australian manufacturing licence. The business name. The website. The Facebook page. The car that is at 95% completion.

I don’t have a workshop to build them in. Truth is, you don’t need one. I’ve been working closely with my laser cutters here in Newcastle, and I’ve got a pretty good system in place that’s ready to launch. Here’s how it works.

Customer Calls:

Customer: Oh My Gawd!!!! I just found your cars in the google and they’re awesome (no, I’m not exaggerating here)
You: Yep, they are awesome. Just place your deposit and you could have your kit in a month

Customer places deposit. You call Laser cutters and say you need a frame. Laser guys cut frame, build it, weld it and send it to powdercoating. From your couch, you make arrangements for body panels through the fibreglasser. Put together nut and bolt pack, brake line and fuel line, box it and ship it to customer. Laser guy takes delivery of body panels from fibreglasser, wraps panels and kit on pallet, and ships to customer, all the time you’re sitting at home drinking a daiquiri, cooking dinner for your wife, cause you’re a nice guy like that. It really is that simple.

But why aren’t you doing it if it’s that easy?
Because I need to get away from cars for a while. They’ve consumed every minute of my life for 2 years, and I need a break.

What do I need to do?
What I haven’t done. Market the car. Go to car shows. Go to events. Get on the blower and advertise the car as much as you can. Get out every weekend and drive it.

Surely it’s not that easy?
It is. Call me and I’ll put you in contact with my suppliers and you’ll see how I’ve set the business up ready to take over. You don’t have to be in Newcastle. You can be anywhere in Australia.
Evan is set up in Adelaide and will be receiving his kit in the next few weeks, and will be ready to sell kits for you. James is in Perth ready to do that same.

The whole kit is now manufactured and built here in Newcastle. It’s why I haven’t been on the forum for the last few months. Organising the design and build of a car has certainly not been an easy process, or a quick one, (or cheap!) but it’s complete, with the first All Australian kit shipping out this Saturday heading to Brisbane, followed by kits to Gold Coast, Canberra, Adelaide and Bundaberg. As more cars are completed, and more are registered, more people will see them and sales will increase.

So, that’s me done. You should buy my business. Call me to discuss. 0409 403 168

it is a shame none of these kit builders frequent this forum. actually seeing a finished product, or even just a completed shell would drum up many sales for you.

The issues are far deeper than lack of forum presence, which is why I have not been affiliated with Exocet Australia for a while now.

Months on still get quite a few phonecalls from private numbers and regular joe citizens trying to get hold of the owner of Exocet Australia. Read into that how you want.

Dann

I know the story line, or a least have been told possible story lines. I've spoken to a few previous buyers.

As I'm considering doing something different, a couple of days ago I'd typed a whole PM asking for financials and values etc when, for some reason, I just deleted the whole thing. At that stage I did wonder why the best buyers of it might not be the existing distributors or suppliers, and if not, why not. I might nevertheless be interested in hearing more by PM if the vendor wants to rise to that challenge.

Dave, suppliers may not want to take it on as Exocet is a completely different business. Making components v's marketing /coordinating /building a whole (kit) car requires different skill sets that many couldn't be bothered with.

Unfortunately it's got to a point where there are a bunch of people who have paid deposits or paid in full who are still waiting to get their chassis and matt no longer answers their calls...and have also heard there is legal action pending....things are not looking good at all.

It is quite the twilight zone. I have initiated legal proceedings. There at least two other actions. If anyone here is having problems PM me for some assistance.

You could do a search here to see if anything has been submitted in relation to bankruptcy https://www.afsa.gov.au/online-services/bankruptcy-register-search/brs-fees. It has a small fee

However a quick search of the ABN http://abr.business.gov.au/SearchByAbn.aspx?abn=20012749886 shows that it is still trading.

A quick search here https://insolvencynotices.asic.gov.au/browsesearch-notices/ for 20 012 749 886, Reid Welding & Fabrication or Exocet Australia shows that no notices have been issued ro wind up/deregister. ASIC has very strict notice requirements and if there was an insolvent issue it would have to be reported. This is not to say that it is, however trading insolvent has legal ramifications.

Good luck with the legal proceedings.

davekmoore wrote:As I'm considering doing something different, a couple of days ago I'd typed a whole PM asking for financials and values etc when, for some reason, I just deleted the whole thing. At that stage I did wonder why the best buyers of it might not be the existing distributors or suppliers, and if not, why not. I might nevertheless be interested in hearing more by PM if the vendor wants to rise to that challenge.

There has so far been no sign of any interest from the present owner when he or she saw the post above. This further reduces any interest I might have had.

Regie wrote:Gumtree Add

Says 'sold'. That was quick ...

Magpie wrote:You could do a search here to see if anything has been submitted in relation to bankruptcy https://www.afsa.gov.au/online-services/bankruptcy-register-search/brs-fees. It has a small fee

However a quick search of the ABN http://abr.business.gov.au/SearchByAbn.aspx?abn=20012749886 shows that it is still trading.

A quick search here https://insolvencynotices.asic.gov.au/browsesearch-notices/ for 20 012 749 886, Reid Welding & Fabrication or Exocet Australia shows that no notices have been issued ro wind up/deregister. ASIC has very strict notice requirements and if there was an insolvent issue it would have to be reported. This is not to say that it is, however trading insolvent has legal ramifications.

Good luck with the legal proceedings.

Bear in mind the ABR registry just shows that the business has an ABN, they don't actually record if the business still operates or not.
From my experience people very rarely contact the ABR and request their ABN be cancelled, we don't usually recommend it either (after all, ABNs are free and have no fees attached)


As for the trading while insolvent part, much of the ASIC stuff is in relation to Companies, and it looks as though Mr Reid had the business setup as a sole trader (per the ABR)


Personally, I find it odd that the business was setup as a sole trader operation, especially from an asset protection point of view.
Normally people will operate a business through either a trust, or a company, so that in the event of legal issues it is generally only assets owned by the entity that are in danger (tools, equipment, stock)
In a sole trader setup it opens you up to having to sell many personal assets, like your house etc.

Neither setup is bulletproof, but at least using a separate entity means it can be bullet resistant.