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Motor Bikes and Everything Cars

On Wed 16th July 2025, members heard from well-known Ballarat identity, Barry Bedggood.

Barry has been in the motor industry for well over 50 years. He is also a long-standing and respected Rotarian with the Rotary Club of Ballarat West, and is a Paul Harris Fellow.

After starting business as a motorcycle dealer in 1969, Barry moved into used cars in 1988. After gaining the Kia franchise in 2009, his business grew to a point where it needed to move to larger site in Learmonth Road, Wendouree. In 2025, his business retails Kia, Peugeot, Chery, SsangYong and LDV, as well as Franklin Caravans.

The areas of particular interest to members were Barry’s views on the current state of the motor vehicle industry and its future.

Some of the interesting points he made were:

  • That to sell vehicles with internal combustion engines, manufacturers are required to produce electric vehicles (for which they receive credits). Hence the problems of some traditional manufacturers.
  • That in his view, the EV industry is “at the crossroads”. In Australia, they have not been as successful as hybrids. There are problems with the second-hand market as well as charging and overall quality.
  • That despite the issues with EV’s, “they will get there”, with a lot more brands to come, particularly from China.
  • On the future of motor vehicles, Barry spoke about driverless cars, hydrogen vehicles (which he regards as “impressive but not there yet”), and the move by Toyota to build a system involving water.

Our thanks to Barry for making the time to speak to our club.