
Asian brands, EVs dominate 2025 Best Buy Awards
The 2025 Best By Awards, announced by Kelley Blue Book, reflect the rapidly shifting landscape of the automotive market not only in the USA, but also elsewhere.
- Industry News
- 17 April 2025
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) celebrated its best-performing dealers for 2019 and 2020 in a combined function recently.
At the awards it singled out four dealers for its Sales and Aftersales Dealer of the Year for the two years. For 2019, Grand Central Motors was awarded the Aftersales Dealer of the Year and Arnold Chatz was the Sales Dealer of the Year.
For 2020, FCA picked Fiat Chrysler Sandton as its Aftersales Dealer of the Year and Cargo Motors Bedfordview as its 2020 Sales Dealer of the Year.
“Our dealers have shown resilience and ingenuity in the face of adversity to still deliver impressive sales results, whilst continuing to ensure the highest level of service to our valued customer base,” said Ismaeel Hassen, CEO of FCA South Africa.
FCA recently joined forces with Peugeot Citroën in the larger Stellantis Group, but on local soil, FCA currently represents Fiat, Fiat Professional, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, Abarth and its aftermarket MOPAR brand.
While all four top-performing FCA dealers are located in Gauteng, the group also recognised its smaller urban and rural top performers.
Auto Italia took consecutive titles in 2019 and 2020 for Rural Sales Dealer of the Year, while Rola Motors (2020) snatched the laurels away from William Simpson (2019) as Urban Sales Dealer of the Year. The Metro Sales Dealer of the Year for 2020 was Cargo Motors Bedfordview, an accolade won by Arnold Chatz Cars the previous year.
The Most Improved Aftersales Dealer during 2019 was De Wit Motors Ermelo, with Rola Motors showing the biggest shift in 2020. Keeping its momentum going, Arnold Chatz Cars was named Best Aftersales Customer Service Dealer two years running.
“Congratulations are in order for our best performing dealers, but a big thank you is due to our entire dealer network,” says Ismaeel. “All our dealers strive for improved customer satisfaction, are dedicated to service excellence, and are determined to win the hearts and minds of even more customers in 2021.”
In the face of a shifting premium automotive market, Audi South Africa is also currently re-aligning its retail operations according to the new reality where the premium vehicle sector has contracted to nearly a third of its size compared to a decade ago, with 2024 marking the lowest level yet.
The Halfway Group has opened the doors to a brand-new Lexus dealership, located in Lynnwood, Pretoria, with Chris Jones as the Dealer Principal.
Stellantis has announced the expansion of its multi-franchise dealer network with the addition of the Fiat and Jeep brands to the existing CMH East Rand dealership in Boksburg, Gauteng.