"We started with a trial of just a few dealerships on the Central Coast of New South Wales in 1985. Over the years the whole concept has steadily improved to a point where we are the preferred providers of New and Used Vehicle Mechanical Protection Plans for the Australasian franchised dealer market." says joint founder Rick Featherstone.

With co-founder Don Harris, an automotive F&I ‘guru’ who has frequently been a guest speaker at automotive conferences, doors opened to many new opportunities and soon the majority of dealers around Australia were using the Harrier National programs to improve their service retention and customer loyalty.

In 1995 Holden Australia approached Harrier National to take over operation of their Holden Network Q plan. Today over 90% of Holden dealers enjoy the benefits of operating their own in-house extended warranties using the current Holden Certified program, and their customers are nothing but happy.

The Harrier National concept is without doubt the best customer-to-dealer loyalty scheme ever developed, ensuring that customers actually want to return to the place of sale  for vehicle servicing.

Of course, it's not just Holden taking advantage of the success of Harrier National's extended warranty programs. Franchises all across Australia and New Zealand are enjoying their success across Toyota, Ford, Mitsubishi, Mazda, Subaru, Honda and Nissan dealerships - to name a few.

One of the biggest benefits to dealers and customers is that the underwriting is done by the dealership, not sent off to insurance companies.

As Don will tell you, "Prior to our programs being introduced dealerships saw less than 10% of used cars returning to the selling dealer for just one service of the vehicle. Now they regularly see more than 75% coming back! And they keep coming back for at least three years."

In November 2000, Ross Eichorn, previously General Manager (Automotive) for Castrol Oil joined the Harrier National team as Sales and Marketing Director.

"Our recent impetus has been our new vehicle extended mechanical protection plan." Ross advises.

"Over the last few years many dealers have taken advantage of this exciting opportunity which sees new car customers returning to dealerships long after the manufacturer's warranty has expired. It has certainly become a major contributor to customer loyalty and subsequent dealership success."

"Honestly," he says, "Wouldn't you like to see your customers more?"

More importantly, reports are showing that customers are much preferring to service at their purchasing dealerships.  With competitive pricing, genuine parts and factory trained technicians, and vastly superior quality over that of independent repairers such as UltraTune, Midas, LubeMobile, Repco and K Mart it's really no surprise that dealers are pulling customers back.

In Motor Dealer Alert, leading industry accountants Deloittes advised that "...the biggest drain on service has been the high loss of customers to non-franchised service providers. The big question is how much more successful could dealers be, and therefore how much happier would their customers be if service retention was higher?"

Harrier National's New and Used extended warranty plans consistently keep customers wanting to come back not only for servicing but for repair work too. This is a win/win situation. The customer enjoys quality servicing and repairs at highly competitive pricing, using genuine parts, while as Deloittes say, the dealers service department becomes their most successful department.

Fellow Director, Michael Volikas, whose remarkable industry experience includes giants Suttons Motor Group (Australia) and the United Automotive Group (Penske) in the USA, says "with over 163,000 approved claims totalling more than $62 million since 1985, my role - well, along with our excellent office support team - is to provide first class service to customers and dealers alike. "

"Our system of monthly reporting and half yearly national comparison graphs allows dealers to benchmark their performance with a view to improving customer satisfaction. The program ensures a maximisation of service retention and it is our duty to provide total efficiency in claims approval and data support."

In 2006 Harrier National New Zealand commenced operation by appointing local sales and administration staff. With offices located in the Hamilton district ,dealerships across the whole country immediately came on board to take advantage of Harrier National New Zealand’s unique warranty product.

In 2007 a major initiative - National Roadside Assist (see point 8 in "About Us") - was launched offering an exciting additional product to the Harrier National range via their sister company National Roadside Assist.

This product has been designed to further enhance dealer’s service retention and marketing programs. This product provides emergency breakdown services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and is supported by over 1400 service providers across both Australia and New Zealand. It delivers peace of mind motoring with quality road recovery services. With our reliable and stable nationwide network, National Roadside Assist provides a high standard of fast, reliable & professional services.

2008 saw yet another addition to the Harrier National product range. In a first to the dealer franchise market a unique Online Driver Safety Course (see point 9 in "About Us") was launched.

Exclusive to the Harrier National group of companies this product is designed for drivers of all ages to help make better and safer drivers. It also helps dealerships sell cars, improve customer satisfaction & enhance their community support programs.

In July 2008 Harrier National also launched Gift Rewards, a customer loyalty & referral program. It is designed to assist dealers in thanking their customers for buying their vehicle from them.

It also includes a unique referral program known as "Do a Friend a Favour". Many dealerships are now experiencing improved vehicle sales & increased customer satisfaction (CSI) results by using Gift Rewards<. (see point 10 in "About Us")

August 2009 saw Harrier National join forces with Australian Warranty Network.

Harrier National & AWN have signed an exclusive joint venture agreement, giving Harrier National the opportunity to market a range of AWN licensed warranty products specifically designed for the franchise market.

Various products are available from Bronze & Platinum up to Extension of Mechanical Warranty & coverage starts from day one, not just after the “Stat” warranty period. These products are perfect for car sales made well outside a dealerships normal trading area & who are unlikely to return for service.