If treated as a cost, it simply flows through the income statement and once expensed, it generally is forgotten about after the month in which it is expensed. From a tax and accounting perspective it is processed as an expense and when one needs to cut expenses, it is often one of the first expenses to be reduced.
Despite its “tax” and “accounting” treatment, training is best managed as an investment where the return is measured as you would measure the return on any investment. This is not always easy to do from a rands and cents perspective but if you apply your mind, you can produce a “yes” or “no” to the question - was the training worth it?
If workers have received training, they should be more efficient and productive, which should either lead to more revenue, lower expenses or more value added.
In your position in dealership management, you need to understand the course content and need to be comfortable that the course content should deliver a “return” on the amount invested and time spent out of the office by the employee.
OE tech training is compulsory, but you still need to ensure that you get maximum value from it. The technician should be more competent (efficiency = more hours sold) after the training and this should be discussed with the technician. There needs to be a post training “debrief”. Even if the OE does not charge for the training, the cost to the dealership is around R6 000 a day that the technician is away.
The same principle can be applied to all training. As a manager, your main responsibility is to ensure that your staff are as competent and efficient as possible so that the business performs. Training is a vital component of this. If you do not have staff that you are willing to invest in, then you do not have the right staff.
During May, MasterDrive will host a New Energy Vehicle (NEV) Fleet Workshop where the topic will be delved into with great detail. While the exact date is yet to be confirmed, several experts will be coming together to unpack pertinent issues related to NEVs.
Passenger car buyers in South Africa seemed undeterred by some of the economic concerns if one studies the retail vehicle sales figures for February, which show that car sales were up by 17.1% when compared to February 2024,” says Brandon Cohen, Chairperson of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA).
“And for now it may be the first, but not the last time…” Well, this ‘statement of intent’ from Luke Dreyer (Dealer Principal at BMW Midrand) during an interview with Dealerfloor last year, proves to be spot on.
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You can't build a reputation on what you are going to do.
Henry Ford
“And for now it may be the first, but not the last time…” Well, this ‘statement of intent’ from Luke Dreyer (Dealer Principal at BMW Midrand) during an interview with Dealerfloor last year, proves to be spot on.
UD Trucks Southern Africa announced the addition of its latest dealership in Midvaal, operated by the ETTC Group. This new facility strengthens UD Trucks’ commitment to providing high-quality sales, service and parts support, strategically positioned to serve fleet operators and transport businesses along South Africa’s key N1 and N3 routes.
Rola Ford Robertson won the Ford Dealer of the Year award for the second time in a row while the Human Auto Group bagged its fifth consecutive Dealer Group of the Year title.
