“We are immensely proud of this achievement. Our focus is to keep every single customer happy and that requires the dedication of everyone at the dealership and their support structures like family and friends,” says Warren Olsen, Dealer Principal at the winning dealership.

Warren and Roy Obery own O2 Motor Company, and Roy owns Haval/GWM Edenvale. O2 Motor Company currently incorporates Mahindra East Rand Mall, Mahindra Edenvale and Chery Edenvale.

Warren is the Managing Director of O2 and DP at Mahindra East Rand Mall, Graham Obery is DP at Haval/GWM Edenvale, Ryan Drake is DP at Chery/Omoda Edenvale and Bruno Branco is the Branch Sales Manager at Mahindra Edenvale.

“An achievement like this is made possible with the right people and systems in place and a hands-on approach. To be the Mahindra Dealer of the Year for 2023 took a dedicated effort across all aspects of our business.

“Testimony to this is the fact that we were also Best Vehicle Sales in the large dealer category, Best Parts Performance in the large dealer category, Best in Overall in Aftersales, the Best Parts Manager, the Best Service Manager, and runner up in the Best Sales Manager.

Warren tells Dealerfloor they have increased their workshop capacity at the dealership and is in the process of expanding the showroom. “Currently, we have the largest parts business of all the Mahindra dealerships, and our workshop handles the most service plan and warranty business. Our sales of new vehicles are also the largest, which we are thankful for. We have also updated our facility at our other Mahindra branch in Edenvale.

Talking about their product range, he says the single cab Pik Up-bakkie is their best-selling vehicle and from a price and reliability point of view, it is increasingly popular with a number of industries, ranging from small, medium businesses, and we are slowly making inroads into large fleets.

“On the passenger car side, the XUV300 is doing well with the new Scorpio N getting good traction and becoming increasingly popular. The smaller XUV300 will be available with an automatic gearbox sometime next year that will really make a difference as demand for self-shifting transmissions is growing rapidly,” Warren tells us.

“We had a good year for which we are grateful and it is not that much about the trophy itself but knowing that the effort we put in is paying off dividends. For the year ahead, we strive to maintain our current sales output as the economic climate and the political landscape are crucial factors that have an influence on business,” he says.

“We will, however, build on what we have achieved and use all opportunities to grow the business,” Warren concludes.