by Cameron Outridge

Nambour Chamber of Commerce’s regular Coffee Catch Up was on October 18 at Ken Mills Toyota where guests were treated to great coffee, a sneak peak at the newly-renovated showroom and insights into dealer principal Brett Mill’s views of Nambour and the car industry.

Brett outlined his plans to continue to drive Ken Mills Toyota into the future buoyed by the dominance of the hybrids and growth opportunities in Nambour. 

“Along with the fact that there’s capacity here to grow, I just think Nambour has got a very, very vibrant and bright future,” Brett said.  “Of course there’ll be peaks and troughs, but I’ve never regretted our decision to stay very solid in this town. Other car brands have shifted out of this town over the years, but we've stayed here and I've never regretted that decision at all. This is a good business that we've got here and I very much believe that  it'll be solid for as long as what we want to be here.”

Brett worked in the Kingaroy dealership alongside his father, Ken, from 1996-1999,   absorbing everything Toyota, where he has spent most of his working life.  

After  Kingaroy, Brett landed his dream job as National Dealer Planning Manager in Sydney where he met his wife Caroline. He used his time with Toyota to grasp a clear understanding of how the dealer network operates, fostered life-long relationships and learned how the manufacturing and supply side of the global business worked.

Armed with this additional knowledge and with guidance from Ken, Brett in 2002 became Australia's youngest Toyota dealer at just 27.

Brett and Caroline purchased the then “busted and broken” Nambour dealership in 2002 and transformed it and the Maroochydore businesses into the progressive, innovative outlets they are today. 

“Obviously we’ve seen a fair amount of change in that time and not just change on the Coast but change in our industry. Actually, right now we’re in what's been described as a century of change in one decade. And that’s largely driven by fuel emission standards.

“Also as a family business in the automotive industry, we are becoming the minority,” Brett said noting that most of his competitors were owned by much larger companies.”