Rola Ford Robertson, Human Auto dominates
- Dealer News
- 27 February 2025
You need high octane fuel in your veins when doing business in rural and even smaller urban areas these days. Marius du Toit is a car dealer not afraid of the challenges associated with the decline of rural towns. He also has a keen interest in the motor trade doing business on-line. Marius is the managing Director of the 4Wheels Motor Group with branches in Vryburg, Lichtenburg and Mahikeng (previously known as Mafikeng) in North West.
Paul Louw, 40-year-old Dealer Principal of Volkswagen Table View, is a man on a mission – in his professional life as Dealer Principal, but also his private life as husband and father.
In the mining hub of Rustenburg in North West, a woman is on a mission to make two Chinese nameplates a household name. Dealerfloor spoke to Kerry Lee Palm, Dealer Principal GWM Rustenburg, which sells GWM and Haval, about the challenges for these brands in an economically sensitive part of our country.
The name Park Motors has been around for almost 37 years. It is not only a familiar name within the motor industry but also well-known to customers across the country. Dealerfloor chatted with Mark Parodi, a Group Director and the Dealer Principal at Park Motors BMW in Welkom.
The oldest BMW dealership in South Africa under private ownership – that is one of many attributes proudly claimed by BMW Paarlberg in the Western Cape.
Ask any CEO or owner of a business what the greatest asset of the business is, and you will probably hear the cliché of our employees are our greatest asset, and while it is well intended, it rarely gets explained or unpacked.
Kula Magaqa, new vehicle sales executive at Toyota in Pietermaritzburg gives good advice to the guys who buy Etios and Quest models to drive for ride-hailing apps like Uber and Taxify.
Regional radio and social media — these are the elements Spencer Tait, Marketing Director for the Alpine Motor Group, credits for VW Alpine in Pinetown being one of Volkswagen SA’s best-selling dealerships.
A few months ago, Deon Olivier, sales manager at Toyota in Pietermaritzburg, moved his desk less than 150 metres, but that small move soon led to a 10-15% sales increase.
Roland Reddy, long-time sales executive at Metro Cars in the capital of KwaZulu-Natal, has two lesser-spotted vehicles he recommends to any spaza owner or courier contractor, if he can only get them to trust cars from China.
In a recent Forbes study, it was again confirmed that it can cost a business up to five times more to acquire new customers, as opposed to retaining the ones you have.
Managers are taught no one is indispensable in a business, but at Toyota Hillcrest, Workshop Manager Elsa Mollentze comes very close to being that one cog that keeps the machine turning.
Car manufacturers promote the continued scheduled servicing of cars by the franchised dealership and use words such as “original equipment”, but how important is this?
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You can't buy happiness but you can buy cars and that's kind of the same thing.
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