Christchurch man Harry Holt faces an automatic five-year ban from the car sales business after his second conviction for breaching the Motor Vehicle Sales Act.

Henry Peter Holt, also known as Harry Holt, 71, had been supplementing his national superannuation by small-scale dealing in cars, but he has admitted a charge of falsely holding himself out to be a registered motor vehicle dealer.

He was convicted of a similar offence in 2008, and the second conviction would mean an automatic five-year ban from participating in the car sales industry, Ministry of Economic Development prosecutor Kathy Basire told the Christchurch District Court at Holt's sentencing today.

Holt has held a trader's licence for about two years, but before that he admits he had advertised and sold about six vehicles over a six-month period without being registered.

Judge John Macdonald said the maximum penalty for the offence was a $50,000 fine.

Basire said Holt not only had the similar prior conviction, but also had a conviction under the Insolvency Act relating to the buying and selling of vehicles, for which he had been jailed in 2006.

Defence counsel John O'Connell said the ban would have a major impact on Holt, who had an entrepreneurial background and had been involved in some way in the business since 2007.

He now had 11 vehicles on his hands and would have to speak to the Ministry of Economic Development about how to liquidate them at a loss.

The people involved in his trading did not suffer any losses as a result of him holding himself out to be a trader.

There had been no complaints about Holt's trading activities in the two years since he had become registered, O'Connell said.

Judge Macdonald said he took into account the impact of the ban that Holt would now face, and imposed a fine of $2500.

Holt was involved in the failed Chateau Commodore venture in the 1970s.

- © Fairfax NZ News