In a show of strength, dealerships from KwaZulu-Natal scooped up the silverware in three of the four categories with the fourth title going to the Eastern Cape.

What makes the KwaZulu-Natal dealerships’ success so much more impressive, is that they not only had to overcome COVID and its aftermath like the rest of country, but they also had to deal with other serious issues. In July 2021, the province saw the unprecedented riots and looting and then the massive flooding a year ago, all factors that impacted business directly or indirectly.

Looking at the total number of awards across the categories of Dealer of the Year, Sales Manager, Sales Executive, Pre-owned and Aftersales (Service Manager and Parts Manager), KwaZulu-Natal had an impressive record with picking up 12 of the available 28 top spots.

The top title in the category for large dealerships went to Bidvest McCarthy Renault Gateway, with the medium winner, CMH Renault Ballito, while the category for small dealerships was scooped up by the third KwaZulu-Natal dealership, namely Alpine Renault Hillcrest with the micro category winner being Kelston Makhanda Renault.

Kelston Motor Group took another very important trophy home when it was awarded the Overall Group of the Year.

Motus Automotive Retail Group took the honours for the Highest New Vehicle Sales as well as for Best Overall Quality Achievement.

The Hey Carter Group walked away with the title for the Most Consistent Overall Performance, while the Eastvaal Motor Group was awarded the Most Improved Target Achievement title. The BB Motor Group was recognised as the Overall Most Improved.

Dealerfloor spoke to some of the category winners of the Dealer of the Year titles for their reaction, and this is what they had to say:

Danny Govender, Dealer Principal at Gateway Renault, says he is super proud of the team at the dealership. “Although I have only been at the dealership for a short while, we have a remarkable team that knows exactly what to do. The result is shown in all the different divisions of our category that we won. Our customer-centric approach is key to our success,” Danny says.

Stuart Singleton, Dealer Principal at Ballito Renault, says they put all the systems in place to successfully implement a drastic turn-around strategy. “What has been done over two years has borne fruit for us, and we are tremendously proud of this achievement. Although we moved into a new premises, the recipe for success lies with the people. Like they say, ‘a house is made of brick and mortar, but a home is made of people’.”

Byron Warner, Dealer Principal at Alpine Renault Hillcrest, is also very happy about their achievement, for the third time in a row. “We are unique in that we have won the title for the third consecutive year. We achieved success in 2019, 2021 and now for 2022. It is only a first-class team who strives for excellence that can achieve this,” Byron says.

Mike McNaughton, Managing Director, Kelston Motor Group, says they are very pleased with their performance at these awards, particularly with their Micro Dealer of the Year and Motor Group of the Year awards. “These awards reiterate the strength of the brand, both internally and to our customers. All the accolades that our group won, serve to celebrate what can be achieved, even under trying circumstances, and provide inspiration to all of our Kelston Motor Group teams,” Mike says.