The reality of a breakdown during the hostile Dakar
The Dakar Rally is often portrayed as a heroic clash between man, machine and an unforgiving wilderness.
- Industry News
- 14 December 2025
For the tenth consecutive year, the Audi Group Dealer of the Year award was scooped up by the Hatfield Motor Group at the annual Silver Arrow Awards ceremony held by the manufacturer.
The Audi Franchise Director for the Hatfield Group, Karl Lessle, received the award on behalf of the three Audi dealerships in the group. The dealerships are Audi Centre Braamfontein (medium dealership), Audi Centre Rivonia (mega dealership) and Audi Centre Hatfield (mega dealership).
The criteria for the award include areas such as customer care and retention, profitability and sales success to mentioned but a few.
Dealerfloor spoke to Karl about this outstanding achievement by the Hatfield Group and asked him what the secret to their success is.
“First of all, our staff members are the foundation for our success. I believe in well-trained staff who are happy, committed and have career opportunities in our group. In return, our staff add value to our business rendering the best service possible to our customers. Between the three dealerships, we currently boast a staff complement of around 200 people.
“We put in a huge effort to establish an environment that ensures an extremely low staff turnover. This, in return, creates experts that deliver a first-class customer experience that leads to people coming back to us for business. Take our three Dealer Principals as an example – all three rose through the ranks from different positions and backgrounds in the group to where they are today.
“In short – staff retention ensures customer retention. Therefore our motto is Rated Number One in Service,” Karl tells Dealerfloor.
Karl, who originally comes from a finance and banking background, joined the motor retail business in 2002. In 2005, he joined the Hatfield Group and was tasked to establish the Audi dealership in Hatfield, and since 2011 they have been winning the much sought-after manufacturer’s award.
He concluded that notwithstanding the challenging times with COVID-19 and the now well-known stock shortages of new vehicles worldwide, they manage to keep their head above water and are today excelling in all aspects of the business.
The Hatfield Group is privately owned, and the two shareholders are Brad Kaftel and Joe Mthimunye. The business is also fully BEE2 compliant, and the involvement in disadvantaged communities is of utmost importance to them.
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