Mortimer Motor Group’s (MMG) dealership under the auspices of Andries as Dealer Principal, was recently awarded the Overall winner at 2022 MSX / NADA Business of the Year (BOTY) awards.

The awards ceremony recognised the exceptional performance of managers and their teams at automotive dealerships across the country and is the only independent validation of dealership profitability. MSX International (MSX) measures the financial performance of over 1 000 South African franchised dealers and recognises the top performers across five categories.

“We hoped we could win our category having been a finalist in 2021 and was more than happy when we did walk away as overall winners, which made it so much more special.

“Not only did MMG Toyota Bethlehem win the category for Unlisted Group Dealerships, but we scooped up the prestigious title as overall winner. For 2021, we were close being placed as one of the top three finalists in our category.

“For 2022 we, however, made sure to win our category, which put us in the running for the overall title which we now brought back to the Eastern Free State,” a proud Andries tells Dealerfloor.

Andries has been at the dealership for fifteen years and for many as DP. “It is a team effort from everyone at the dealership as well as strong guidance and leadership from within MMG to attain a result like this.

“The importance of this award is that it creates a platform or business plan to run the dealership effectively in all respects. It is a tool to assist you to run your business successfully. One of the advantages is the broad spectrum covered, which includes attention to detail no matter how small,” he says.

“We are glad and privileged that we could maintain and build on our standard, even during difficult times, so we didn’t have to retrench any of our staff.

“The motor industry went through challenging times over the last two years, to put it mildly. Not only did we have to overcome COVID and its after-effects, but we had additional challenges on the Toyota side with the closing of our manufacturing plant in Durban owing to flood damage.

“Now with the seemingly ever-increasing interest hikes, an economy that is struggling to get going and load-shedding all being obstacles standing in the way of conducting and growing a business, it necessitates the fine-turning of a dealership on a day-to-day basis,” Andries tells us.

“The availability of stock is still a fine balance of what is available and what is in demand. Sometimes the difference between stock shortage and stock excess can boil down to one unit. In general, we are happy and especially on the used side where things are getting back to normal.

“In Bethlehem, the economy is mainly driven by the agriculture sector and related businesses. Although we, like everyone else, sell to anyone across the country, our focus remains on our local region where our customer base is,” he says.

Asked about future prospects, Andries says they will continue on the set path as the awards show they are moving in the right direction. “Winning an award like this, also allows us to measure our effort against the industry standard.”