They might compete in the category for very small dealerships, but Knysna Nissan made its voice heard loud and clear in the Nissan Dealer of the Year awards.
Not only did the dealership scoop up the silverware for its class, but also took top spot in the subcategories for Best Navara Double Cab Sales as well as for the Best Customer Satisfaction for Sales & Service.
For the two owners of this independently owned dealership, Simon Guassardo and Gary Laughton, it was a very proud moment indeed. The dealership is no stranger to winning awards, having won their category twice before and a number of other accolades from Nissan South Africa and financing banks.
“We might be a smaller dealership, but we can compete against anyone. Business conditions are not easy, but when you stick to what you know and do it well, the results will follow. We have a conservative approach to business to ensure sustainability.
“Like the awards indicate, we take customer care very seriously. It goes without saying that satisfied customers are at the core of our business and in turn this generates repeat business. We have just moved into our new dealership of which we are very proud,” Simon tells Dealerfloor.
Asked about the business conditions in Knysna, Simon says a large percentage of their business comes from customers who spend half the year in Europe and the other half in Knysna. Nissan being a strong brand in Europe draws of lot of these customers to our dealership.
“Tourism and the property sector are the main economic drivers in Knysna and most of our business is in this area. We have a well-established name and reputation in our region and beyond. The dealership opened its doors in 1997. My partner, Gary, became the original owner’s partner and I joined in 2004. In 2017, I bought the original owner’s share of the business.
“As mentioned earlier, we have since built a new dealership and during March this year, we acquired the GWM/Haval franchise for Knysna. We are in the process of building a new dealership for GWM/Haval next to our Nissan dealership. Additionally, we are also the service agents for Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Datsun vehicles. Our new and used car sales manager Stephan Botha does an excellent job in keeping sales up and we deliver vehicles all over the country.”
Simon says he acts as Dealer Principal for the multi franchise for Nissan, Datsun, Fiat & Alfa Romeo and GWM/Haval dealerships, while his partner takes charge of the Service and After-sales departments of all the mentioned brands.
“We are looking forward to broadening our Nissan product offering in the near future with more ranges like the new X-Trail and Pathfinder. Currently, our ranges are limited to the Navara, Qashqai, Magnite and NP200 pick up.
Simon concludes by saying they believe in fair business, rendering good customer service, which leads to their success in Knysna and the region.
Falling back on their heritage and the legacy specific models have established over decades seems to be a strategy for European manufacturers to try and neutralise the tsunami of Chinese vehicles, especially full-electric vehicles (EVs), being set loose on Europe’s roads.
South Africa has taken important steps to position itself within the global electric vehicle (EV) industry, but industry stakeholders argue that further policy adjustments are needed if the country is to accelerate adoption and support long-term investment in clean transport infrastructure.
Dealer excellence was recognised at the Mahindra South Africa Dealer Conference Awards Evening, where dealerships were acknowledged for their performance across retail sales, commercial vehicles, customer satisfaction, aftersales and other areas of the business.
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You can't buy happiness but you can buy cars and that's kind of the same thing.
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Dealer excellence was recognised at the Mahindra South Africa Dealer Conference Awards Evening, where dealerships were acknowledged for their performance across retail sales, commercial vehicles, customer satisfaction, aftersales and other areas of the business.
To turn the fortunes of a dealership around from one not firing on all its cylinders, so to speak, to one of the top five dealerships in the country and now the top Dealer of the Year, is testimony to what can be achieved with dedicated leadership.
Few can claim a bond with Mazda as deep as the Plitt family's. For more than 60 years, Mazda has been part of the family's story through Mazda Vereeniging, the oldest Mazda dealership in South Africa and a longstanding standalone representative of the brand.
