Lepas L4 Embarks on its South African journey
A new chapter begins as the first Lepas L4 vehicles depart Port Taicang in China, bound for South Africa.
- Product News
- 2 February 2026
Kia East Rand emerged triumphant as the overall 2025 Kia Dealer of the Year under the leadership Mike Salt, the Dealer Principal.
The winning dealership also bagged several category victories leading up to the overall top title.
The pinnacle of the 2025 Dealer of the Year Awards saw Kia present four Dealer of the Year honours across its dealership categories. These prestigious awards recognise excellence across all critical aspects of dealership operations, rewarding those that excelled in both sales and aftersales.
The four Dealer of the Year winners by category are:

In the category for Sales Executive of the Year, awards were presented to:

Focusing on the holistic management of dealership operations, the Aftersales Dealer of the Year category celebrated outstanding performance across training, parts, aftersales and overall customer satisfaction.
The winners in this category were:
Taking dealers’ overall sales volume achievements into account, Kia also presented several Sales Dealer of the Year awards, recognising outstanding market presence, strong team collaboration and innovative sales strategies amid challenging market conditions.
The winners in this category were:
The evening started by recognising and rewarding outstanding individual performance in two categories in the sphere of aftersales, specifically focusing on our technicians. The winner of this category for Technician of the Year was Enrique Erasmus of Kia Port Elizabeth.
The conference and awards were hosted by Kia South Africa’s CEO, Paul Turnbull, and attended not only by senior leadership from its full dealer network, but also by Ockert Janse van Rensburg and Brenda Baijnath, the CEO and CFO of Motus Holdings. A key highlight of the event was the attendance of Yaser Shabsogh, the Chief Operating Officer for Kia Middle East and Africa.

“This is the year we build on real momentum. Our dealer network delivered a strong performance across both sales and aftersales, consistently outperforming the market and expanding our footprint in key areas. It’s important to give credit where it’s due, and our annual awards do exactly that. We’re excited by the energy and focus heading into the year ahead,” Paul Turnbull, CEO of Kia South Africa said at the event.
Kia recognised dealerships that demonstrated excellence across all areas of the business, reflecting balanced performance in both sales and aftersales operations: presenting certificates to the top three finalists in each category, and announcing a singular winner.
Family-run new car dealerships remain a unique phenomenon on the South African automotive landscape, with their own challenges, particularly in rural towns.
The Absa F&I Awards (Finance and Insurance) were held towards the end of last year for the third time, celebrating the achievements and contributions of outstanding professionals in the automotive finance and insurance sector.
The new energy vehicle (NEV) brand, iCAUR, has announced key details of its dealership rollout strategy ahead of its official entry into the South African market.