The Dealer of the Year Gala was hosted under the title of “Market of Excellence”. Using this theme, dealers and the team at Suzuki Auto South Africa discussed ways in which they could further improve on Suzuki’s high levels of customer service and sales support, which helped make it South Africa’s top-selling passenger vehicle brand in May this year.

“When we break an overall sales record or hit a big milestone like the one in May this year, people often look at the brand first. But in reality, these achievements are made up of thousands of individual interactions between a dealer, a salesperson, a service adviser and a customer.

“That is why we put so much effort into our Dealer of the Year Awards as it gives recognition to the daily hard work of our 81 dealers in South and Southern Africa,” says Brendon Carpenter, Brand Marketing Manager of Suzuki Auto South Africa.

The first group of dealers to be singled out is Suzuki’s Platinum Award winners. These dealers have a high average score across all criteria, including customer service, parts support, new car sales support and a supportive finance and insurance team,” says Henno Havenga, Manager of Auto Dealer Sales at Suzuki Auto.

• The Platinum Award winners are Suzuki Alberton, Suzuki Bassonia, Suzuki Boksburg, Suzuki Centurion, Suzuki Constantiaberg. Suzuki Durban, Suzuki Durban South, Suzuki Hatfield, Suzuki Kenilworth, Suzuki Klerksdorp, Suzuki Mokopane, Suzuki Nelspruit, Suzuki Northcliff, Suzuki Pinetown, Suzuki Polokwane, Suzuki Port Elizabeth, Suzuki Queenstown, Suzuki Rustenburg, Suzuki Stellenbosch, Suzuki Tygervalley and Suzuki Vredenburg,
• The Elite Award winners are Suzuki Bramley, Suzuki Bryanston, Suzuki Cape Town, Suzuki Helderberg, Suzuki Kyalami and Suzuki West Rand.

“It is worth noting that the dealers on this coveted list are spread across South Africa in large cities and smaller towns. This again proves that our high level of customer service isn’t just limited to a small, select group of dealers or even to large cities,” says Havenga.

While the Platinum Dealers are a cut above the rest, there is a special group of dealers that have set an even higher standard. Called the “Green Berets” of the Suzuki network, these dealers are the Elite Award winners with the highest performance in all service and sales categories.

This year, Arno Bester of Suzuki Queenstown was the Top Technician, Grant Saunders of Suzuki Cape Town was the Top Parts Manager, Wian Greyling of Suzuki Alberton took home the silverware as the Top Sales Manager, and Odette Allers of Suzuki Queenstown won the award as the Service Manager of the Year.

The top three dealers with the highest sales volume during this period were Suzuki Boksburg (3rd), Suzuki Menlyn (2nd) and Suzuki Bassonia (1st), which also holds the record for the highest sales of any dealer in a single month.

Of the various dealer groups, the IPOP Group – which includes top performers such as Suzuki Bassonia and Suzuki West Rand – was the best-selling group.

The category winners are Suzuki Vredenburg (Rural Dealer of the Year), Suzuki Cape Town (Small Dealer of the Year), Suzuki Helderberg (Medium Dealer of the Year and overall dealer of the Year) and Suzuki Bramley (Large Dealer of the Year).