Dealerfloor caught up with the brothers to chat about their success and celebration of being 51 years in the business.

Testament to their commitment to the above vision, brothers Matthew Emanuel (37) and Andrew Emanuel (35),main photo, collected the silverware for the Major Dealer Area (MDA) Dealer of the Year LCV and Large Dealer of the Year CV respectively at the Isuzu SA Dealer of the Year awards on behalf of their leadership teams.

Key Truck & Car is celebrating its 51^st year in existence this year, founded by their grandfather, the late Joe Emanuel in 1973. Paul Emanuel (63), Joe’s son, is still at the helm as CEO of a now diversified group. These entities consist of several dealerships, three Truck Centres, an Automotive Body Repair Centre as well as a Hire and Leasing division, each a separate PTY Limited company, partially owned and run by the team of directors of the relevant subsidiary.

Key Pinetown, still based in the original flagship site, has stayed relevant through the decades by meeting the best customer service as well as facility standards and now comprises of the Isuzu Light Commercial and Passenger vehicle franchise, an additional passenger franchise as well as an Automotive Body Repairer facility and is led by the following directors: Matthew Emanuel, Brian Dixon, Vireshan Mahadavu, Ricky Behari and Matthew Holmes. Key Pinetown has won the MDA Isuzu LCV Dealer of the Year Award four times since the founding of the evolved Isuzu Motors South Africa (IMSAf) in 2018.

Key Pinetown Truck Centre is based three kilometres away from the LCV flagship, strategically located from 2008 amidst the industrial hub of New Germany and holds the Isuzu Commercial Vehicle Franchise, is led by the following directors: Andrew Emanuel, Jameel Aly and Peter de Villiers. It is the first time the dealership has won the Dealer of the Year award under IMSAf.

“We are very proud of this achievement, although it is not the first time that entities within the group have won top accolades, but it is the first time that we have achieved the title for best LCV and CV simultaneously,” Matthew tells Dealerfloor. The importance of both businesses winning top awards is echoed by Andrew. “Dedication and a team effort at each dealership were crucial in our success,” he tells us.

Also based at the New Germany facility is the headquarters of Key Hire, a now 500 strong fleet available for commercial hire as well as offering fleet management solutions. The group operates out of an additional six facilities in the south of Durban and Pietermaritzburg and is looking forward to expanding its operations in strategically identified locations around eThekwini.

The next generation of Key leadership is focused on differentiating themselves in the market through focusing on a “total-transport solution”-based selling approach with a razor-sharp focus on after-sales, as well as creating an ecosystem where every aspect of customers’ mobility needs is satisfied, to the Key standard.

Matthew says that their focus will always be in KZN despite the political and environmental challenges of the past in the province as well as the broader economic downturn of South Africa.

“We believe with the right mindset; the opportunities outweigh the challenges and remain committed to continuing the standards our customers have come to expect from us in the local community.

“Our regional focus allows us to achieve a much higher performance level than the potential diminishing standards that may occur through a national strategy. Our leadership team always has been in touch with our customers on the ground, and we look forward to continuing this tradition,” he says.

When Dealerfloor asked Andrew about the increased competition pressure on the market because of new entrants, his answer was simple: “We remain committed to both sustaining and growing the market share of our established business partners through two factors.

“Firstly, we continue our people-first strategy and double down on the employment, development and engagement of our 400 strong team to make sure we have the boots on the ground to make sure our vision and our reality are the same thing. The customer-focused culture is what will make the difference and keep competitors at bay.

“The second critical factor to the above is that we need to ensure transparency in educating our customers that the upfront cost of a vehicle is not the only number that goes into establishing the total cost of ownership of a vehicle over its lifetime, particularly a commercial vehicle.”

Looking ahead, the Key team remains focused on overcoming any challenge that arises to ensure that it remains a cornerstone of the commercial mobility ecosystem within the KZN economy.

“Winning Isuzu Dealer of the Year 2024 remains a priority for us but not for the status that the accolade represents, but rather to demonstrate that our team has the commitment, ambition and ability to achieve a set of performance standards and be measured as the best. It is what our customers deserve,” Matthew concludes.

• Key Pinetown recently also won the Metro Dealer of the Year award at the Stellantis Dealer of the Year awards ceremony.