The Clutha District Council confirmed yesterday it had received a complaint over the vehicles, describing the incident as very disappointing.
The group said, when contacted yesterday, they were surprised they had been driving where they should not.
Ford New Zealand is distancing itself from the party — a bunch of Australian Ford salesman, driving Ford Rangers - who had been in Queenstown before heading to Papatowai Beach.
The incident occurred in the middle of last month.
Beaches in the Clutha area have been under the spotlight over the past couple of years after the Clutha District Council pulled back on a full ban of vehicles on beaches, despite threats to wildlife and people.
Papatowai resident Mary Sutherland said she saw nine Ford Ranger utes on the beach with people having a picnic on March 19.
One of the men came over, introduced himself and said they were a group of car dealers, she said.
"They then got into their trucks and one at a time raced down the beach, timing each other.
"They would do donuts and then go back up the beach," she said.
"They were going as fast as they can. I couldn’t say exactly how fast but it was fast."
"They were not going into the water or the high tide mark. But I left as I was not totally comfortable with what they were doing. There was another group who also left and another couple from further down [the beach] walked along and left.
"There were no sea lions there that day — they only impacted birds who flew away. But we have had a very busy season with sea lions there nearly every day."
When asked if it had the potential to be a disaster, she said it did.
"It is not the behaviour you want to see on a beach," Mrs Sutherland said.
A Ford New Zealand spokesman said the trip was an annual sales incentive trip for Ford Australia dealer sales managers, run independently by Ford Australia and their Australian events management company.
"We will be having discussions with the Ford Australia team regarding their event in New Zealand and will require assurances in the future regarding their drive programmes, locations and practices," he said in a statement.
"But they were assured, as they have been in the past, they only drove on permissible roads, beaches and offroad tracks. They’ve done these trips quite a few times without any issues, incidents. Just the opposite in fact — they’ve been very popular and they love coming over to New Zealand for the same reasons we live here. It’s beautiful. So they are equally surprised to know they may have been driving where they shouldn’t."
The spokesman said the group did drive down to a beach where there were seals and other cars on the beach but they did not drive on that beach.
A Clutha District Council spokeswoman said a complaint was made to the council.
No ranger was in the area on the day.
The drivers appear to have breached rules under the Vehicles on Beaches Bylaw 2023, including (when operating a vehicle) showing consideration for other users and vulnerable wildlife, operating a vehicle in a courteous, appropriate, safe and responsible manner and not causing damage to any part of a beach.
"This is a very disappointing situation and council is in the process of reviewing all evidence before approaching the parties involved."
