So says Gary Klette, Dealer Principal (DP) at Williams Hunt who also oversees ITC Midrand where Danie Opperman is the DP. The dealerships are part of CFAO Mobility.

ITC was awarded the top volume Commercial Vehicles (CV) dealership, while Williams Hunt was the top volume dealership on the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) side. ITC also took top honours in the Dealer of the Year awards in the category for large dealerships.

Gary also looks after the Isuzu LCV and CV dealership in Pretoria and the Isuzu LCV as well as the Opel dealership in Centurion. At the award-winning Williams Hunt Midrand, there are also Opel, Peugeot and Citroën dealerships.

He says it is extremely rare for two dealerships from one division to win both top awards. “It is as a result of our consistent exceptional performance across the spectrum from the light commercial to the commercial side of the dealerships with a top-class team.

“The dealerships feed off each other as we are a fleet-certified dealership with a strong commercial focus on fleets and small businesses. As a result, customers return to buy bigger commercial vehicles. The same is true for the commercial side where our smaller commercial bakkies are popular with owners of large businesses running our bigger Isuzu trucks,” Gary tells Dealerfloor.

Gary says they do supply a big courier firm with bakkies and assist them with a short-term renting option that evolves into full ownership. “The leisure side of the bakkie business is growing with improved availability of the luxurious double cabs, and we are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the 1.9 litre mu-X Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) with keener pricing.”

Asked about the success of the two dealerships at this year’s Isuzu Dealer of the Year awards, Gary says he believes in the 25%-principle where in all aspects of the business there must be a constant step up across the spectrum.

“I have been in the business for 28 years, predominately with the GM brands. I am a qualified technician/mechanic and went on over the years to work in every department on both the After-sales as well as on the Sales side of the retail vehicle business.

“I try to be hands-on across all the departments because of my background, and I train and teach my DPs and staff whatever I can thanks to all my years of experience in different capacities. We have an excellent team at our dealerships,” Gary tells Dealerfloor.

He says CFAO Mobility is on a huge drive to carbon neutrality. “In this regard, we are installing motion sensors in all the facilities that switch lights on automatically and of relating to movement, replacing all lighting with LEDs, and outside floodlighting is replaced with low power usage lights.

“The load-shedding remains a huge challenge, and the production days lost on vehicles, parts and accessories are not necessarily something everyone sees, but it is a serious factor in the car industry across the supply chain,” he says.