For the third time in five years, Thekwini Toyota Westville received the President’s Award as the best Toyota dealership in the medium category at the annual Toyota Dealers Award ceremony held in Sandton recently.
Says Michael Koberstein, Dealer Principal: “We won this award in 2017, 2018 and now for 2021. It took a team effort second to none to succeed.
“We wanted to win this award from the outset and started with our planning and commitment as far back as 2020, getting our goals in place in all the departments and monitoring them every single day. Each and every aspect of the business is scrutinised for optimal performance.
“Finally, you can find the reason for the success in our staff. I passionately believe to create a work environment that encourages people to look forward to coming to work. Happy staff means happy customers. We have a staff complement of around 60 people, and they all know what is expected of them, and they are dedicated to their jobs.
“The foundation for our success in terms of our staff is a mutual understanding and respect for each other. We share the same goals for the business, and we all bring our side, and we have no barriers between the different departments and staff. I make an effort each day to greet each employee personally,” Michael tells Dealerfloor.
He says the main focus of business is in Westville itself and in the broader region to ensure they retain customers for the aftersales department.
“With the well-known stock shortages on the new side, we try to be as diverse as possible, selling to customers across a broad spectrum. This helps us to move stock and make sales and not get bogged down by a shortage of one or two specific variants because of stock shortages.
“I am in the business of selling cars, and popular models are always in short supply. Focusing on the broader range selling to a variety of customers, including fleet owners, farmers, individuals, city dwellers, you name them, creates opportunity in diversity,” says Michael.
“When the new car market returns to more normal levels, it will surely help the used car side. Owing to this problem, good used stock is more difficult and expensive to come by but we are putting in a huge effort through our Automark division.”
Michael has been DP at Thekwini Toyota Westville for the last ten years and before that worked himself up in different positions within the independent Thekweni Group, which owns three Toyota dealerships, used cars divisions and forecourts. He was 18 years old when he joined the group and by the age of 23, he was the Used Car Sales Manager at one the dealerships.
Chery South Africa says it is accelerating its growth in the local car-rental industry, with its national passenger vehicle market share reaching 6.2% in the past month. As interest in Chery’s range of vehicles continues to grow for consumers and fleet operators, the brand is seeing increasing interest from rental car companies nationwide.
Ulterio Motiv will exhibit a total of three vehicles at this year’s Hankook Land Cruiser Festival. Held annually, the Land Cruiser Festival caters not only to Toyota Land Cruiser enthusiasts, but also to various companies that supply products, upgrades and equipment for these vehicles.
Following the launch of the family-orientated Ford Territory last year, Ford SA is set to raise the bar for its compact sport utility vehicle (SUV) with a decent value-for-money proposition with the imminent release of the Territory Dark Edition.
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Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) recently hosted its annual National Dealer of the Year Awards. The pivotal event marked 45 years of market leadership – a celebration of dedication and resilience of a successful partnership with the Toyota dealer network.
Renault South Africa recently held its annual Dealer of the Year Awards, acknowledging great performance to the brand within the 80-strong Renault Dealer network.
South Africa’s top-performing Finance & Insurance (F&I) professionals in the automotive retail sector were honoured at the prestigious 2025 Lightstone Auto Star Reacher F&I Awards held this past weekend.
