SA’s oldest Mazda dealership: The Plitt legacy

Dealerfloor spoke to Rory Plitt, the third generation at the family-run business and co-director with his dad, Selwyn. Mazda has been at the centre of the family business for three generations, and the fourth, Rory Plitt's son Dylan, is now being groomed to take over one day. Selwyn started the Mazda franchise originally, taking over form his dad, David.

The business, Team Vaal Motoring Group, includes Dutton Motors, a Volkswagen dealership in Sasolburg, and more recently, a Mahindra dealership for the Vaal Triangle. There is also a used vehicle operation and two forecourts.

Mazda Vereeniging has traded from its current premises in Voortrekker Street for about 15 years. Rory bought the building and converted it into a Mazda facility, which now stands on its own. Before that, Mazda traded from the building across the road, and which now houses Mahindra. Rory's own office remains at Mazda.

The family's history in the motor trade goes back further than the Mazda badge. In a previous article with Dealerfloor in 2021, Rory explained that his father, Selwyn, took over the dealership from his grandfather, David, at a time when it sold Morris, Wolseley, Riley, Volvo, Jaguar and Renault vehicles. Mazda arrived when, as he put it then, "a scout from Japan came to the dealership and asked him if it could also become a Mazda dealership".

Asked how the family has kept its enthusiasm for the brand as the market changed, Rory answers: "We are Mazda people. From a family legacy point of view we will always stand by Mazda, with its reliable and unbreakable cars".

He acknowledged that the brand is not doing the volume in South Africa that the dealership was used to, but tells Dealerfloor he believes the wheel will turn. “For now the dealership sells on "reliability and a proven brand". Rory says the latest generation Mazda’s like the recently launched CX-5 is a formidable vehicle.

Rory also pointed to the Mazda’s still on the road. "We still have a vehicle park out there and we still have a lot of clients that swear by Mazda because in South Africa it built up a big name over these many years.

Those owners also feature in the aftersales business. Rory agrees that Mazda owners tend to stay loyal to a Mazda dealer once their vehicles are out of warranty and maintenance plans. He says Mazda South Africa works closely with its dealers on keeping the costings as affordable as possible to ensure that we keep those customers coming into the workshops.

The people who look after those vehicles are another matter of pride. "I have staff that I call family," Rory tells us. “Some employees have been with the business for close to 40 years, and he has had staff who worked for his late grandfather and spent 59 years with the family. The foreman in the Mazda workshop has been with the family for 36 or 37 years.”

For a business that has survived changing ownership of the brand, changing customers and a radically transformed motor industry, the Plitts continued commitment to Mazda is therefore about more than simply selling new cars.

It is a relationship that has survived for almost seven decades, supported by generations of family involvement, long-serving employees and a large existing base of Mazda owners.

And with a fourth generation now learning the business from the ground up, the Plitt family's Mazda story appears set to continue.

• Also read our previous article at: https://dealerfloor.co.za/dealer-news/ever-evolving-to-grow-business-for-vereenigings-rory-plitt

Video by Mazda Southern Africa.