This award was one of the Accelerator Awards from the National Association of Automotive Manufacturers of South Africa (naamsa) covering the motor industry across the entire value chain.

“We were surprised and honoured by receiving this award. It is an acknowledgement of the effort we put into the business and specifically for looking after our customers over the years,” Ryno Olivier, Dealer Principal at Hino Kuilsrivier, tells Dealerfloor.

Hino Kuilsrivier is part of the Natal Motor Industries Group (NMI) with various dealerships of different brands across South Africa.

“Last year, we won the Customer Index at the Hino Dealer of the Year awards as well as the award for Best Sales department in the Hino network. We have won the Customer Index twice now. Although the overall Dealer of the Year award for Hino is still eluding us, we believe our efforts will eventually lead to the top award,” Ryno says.

Ryno tells Dealerfloor that year on year, since COVID, the dealership has shown solid growth for which they are thankful. “We are fortunate that we bought a lot of stock that carried us through the rough patches like during the floods at our Prospecton manufacturing plant in Durban when production was halted for a time.

“Customers take centre stage at our dealership. Trucks are not only a way of transport for our customers. It is the tool with which they earn money. Downtime on a truck means no income, which is not necessarily the case with a car. We are classified as a large dealership (3 S) with ten service bays, and we handle between 20 and 26 trucks a day.

“This is also the reason why on Tuesday and Thursday nights we service trucks after hours to limited downtime. It is important to mention our world-class team at Hino Kuilsrivier. Remember, without an excellent team, we would not be able to provide excellent customer service. If we all have to work late to get the job done, it is a team effort,” he says.

Ryno says they have fleet customers all over the country and many of their long-haul customers from up north will book their vehicles in at Hino Kuilsrivier for servicing while they’re down in the Western Cape.

Asked about what he considers the biggest challenge fleet operators face today, Ryno says he thinks there is a shortage of well-trained truck drivers in the industry. “Driver abuse is a main problem in truck maintenance today and is an issue that needs attention and is solvable.”

Ryno tells us that he has been at Hino Kuilsrivier for 20 years now. “I started as an apprentice and worked my way up through different departments till my appointment as Dealer Principal at the dealership.

“My motto is simply to keep my staff and customers happy. When both elements are happy, everyone – including me – is happy, and I am positive about our future growth,” Ryno says.