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- Industry News
- 25 November 2024
Mahindra South Africa have revived its Care Fest event for 2021, where it invites customers to bring their vehicles to a dealer for a free safety inspection.
The Mahindra Care Fest is an annual celebration by the brand’s technical support team, stretching from the head office in India to each country and to every dealer. This year’s celebration will start on 15 November and will last for a full month, ending in SA on 15 December 2021.
For Mahindra owners, the Care Fest will be made tangible with a free check-up. The check-up is performed by a deal and includes 30-point check-up of various safety, wear-and-tear, and mechanical items.
“Customers can bring their vehicles to their local Mahindra dealer and spend some time enjoying refreshments and chatting with our staff, while the technicians do a thorough check-up of the vehicle,” says Rajesh Gupta, CEO of Mahindra South Africa.
Rajesh adds that Mahindra South Africa has extended its participation in the Care Fest 2021 until 15 December, allowing owners to thoroughly check their vehicle prior to the start of the Festive Season.
Care Fest 2021 crowns a busy year for the Technical and Customer Service teams at Mahindra South Africa.
The busy year kicked off with the official opening of the all-new, technologically advanced Mahindra Parts Warehouse in Linbro Park, Gauteng.
The warehouse increased Mahindra’s local stockholding of service and repair parts by 30%. Its design and support services allow rapid daily dispatches to all dealers across South Africa, further shortening service times.
Mahindra followed the establishment of their new warehouse with a brand-new Training Centre in Gauteng.
Located close to the head office in Centurion, the Training Centre has more than double the space of its predecessor. It is equipped with state-of-the-art training aids and has engines, transmission systems and other mechanical components of different Mahindra vehicles available for hands-on training.
“With the new Training Centre, we can train more technicians, more often and help our established technicians stay abreast of the newest innovations. We can do this both in our classrooms and remotely, meaning that we can continue with our training programmes regardless of the restrictions on travel or business,” says Rajesh.
The third innovation to be launched this year was the range of Mahindra Value Fit parts.
Value Fit parts meet all the technical requirements for its service and repair parts but are available at a more affordable price than some of the parts fitted under a normal mechanical warranty and service plan. A number of part lines have been launched and further part lines will be added to this offering shortly.
In addition, Mahindra recently launched its dedicated Certified Pre-owned Dealer programme, another customer service innovation.
Dealers are required to apply for and meet the standards set by Mahindra to be able to offer a range of Certified Pre-owned products. This means that customers can expect only the best quality pre-owned Mahindra vehicles from Certified Pre-owned dealers.
To show its trust in the Certified Pre-owned programme and to customers who put their trust in the brand, Mahindra has announced that it is adding a full 12-month service plan and 12-month complimentary mechanical warranty to every Mahindra vehicle sold under the Certified Pre-owned programme.
“The past two years have been tough on everyone’s wallet. We want to honour the trust that our customers put in the Mahindra brand by offering the best possible customer service and after-sales support to our SUVs and bakkies.
“We will celebrate a successful Customer Service year with our Mahindra Care Fest 2021 and welcome every customer to pop in to their local dealer for free 30-point assessment of their vehicle,” says Rajesh.
As we all know, the profit of a motor dealership comes from several areas and each of them needs to be monitored closely if you want to ensure that your dealership performs well.
Unlike in the past, when dealerships primarily waited for customers to come to them, we now take a more proactive approach, bringing our vehicles directly to places where people gather, allowing them to experience the product first-hand, including offering test drives,” says Gerrie van der Kaay, Dealer Principal at Supergroup Dealerships Jetour Midrand.
One of the latest Chinese automotive brands to establish itself in South Africa, GAC Motor, is benefitting from the expertise of well-known motor groups in the country, like the BB Motor Group.