
Asian brands, EVs dominate 2025 Best Buy Awards
The 2025 Best By Awards, announced by Kelley Blue Book, reflect the rapidly shifting landscape of the automotive market not only in the USA, but also elsewhere.
- Industry News
- 17 April 2025
Opel has been added to the Kelston Motor Group's facility in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape.
The Kelston Motor Group already has Jeep®, FIAT, Alfa Romeo, Peugeot and Citroën from Stellantis in the group. The expansion continues to bolster dealer representation across the Eastern Cape in support of Stellantis’s ambitious plans as one of the largest importers in the South African motor industry.
Stellantis’s dealer representation in the Eastern Cape continues to allow customers easy access to its brands, providing a convenient sales and aftersales experience to the majority of customers. The standards of those facilities are tightly managed to provide the best possible customer experience.
The Kelston Motor Group’s history stretches back in the mid-1990s when it started with a single dealership in Kariega, formerly Uitenhage. Mike McNaughton and shareholders of the group continued to build the company, adding more brands and ultimately becoming the expansive retail group it is today.
The Group introduced Peugeot and Citroën into its franchise stable during the 2000s and continued to expand by adding the Jeep, FIAT and Alfa Romeo brands in 2020. With the amalgamation of these brands under the Stellantis banner, the incorporation of Opel was a logical next step.
“We’re excited to be expanding our relationship with The Kelston Motor Group, providing efficiencies for their business and our ours, which will ultimately allow more time to service customers,” says Mike Whitfield, Managing Director of Stellantis South Africa. “We’re delighted to expand the Opel footprint in the Eastern Cape, exposing this incredible range to more customers.”
Leading the team at Kelston Opel is Managing Director of the Group, Peter McNaughton. “It’s an honour to add the Opel brand to our offering. This brand has a long history in the region and is very well recognised by the community of Gqeberha,” he says. “The Kelston Motor Group has become a stalwart motor retailer in the Eastern Cape – one that is driven by passion for and commitment to our customers and our province. We are looking forward to welcoming existing and new Opel customers through our doors to travel alongside us on their Opel journey.”
The expansion of Opel’s representation in the Eastern Cape coincides with Stellantis’s major investments at Coega to build a manufacturing facility. The new plant will significantly boost the local economy and contribute to Stellantis’s growth in the country and across the rest of Africa.
The Kelston Motor Group is complemented by outlets through the Eastern Cape with the latest facility for Opel located at 66 17th Avenue, Broadwood, Gqeberha.
In the face of a shifting premium automotive market, Audi South Africa is also currently re-aligning its retail operations according to the new reality where the premium vehicle sector has contracted to nearly a third of its size compared to a decade ago, with 2024 marking the lowest level yet.
The Halfway Group has opened the doors to a brand-new Lexus dealership, located in Lynnwood, Pretoria, with Chris Jones as the Dealer Principal.
Stellantis has announced the expansion of its multi-franchise dealer network with the addition of the Fiat and Jeep brands to the existing CMH East Rand dealership in Boksburg, Gauteng.