For two consecutive years Alpine Renault in Hillcrest, a suburban area west of Pinetown and Durban, won the dealer of the Year Award in the medium size category from the French manufacturer. The previous award was achieved in the small category, but the dealership has since moved up a notch in its size classification.
Share with friends
Dealerfloor
spoke to Byron Warner, DP at Alpine Renault Hillcrest, which is a part of a multi-franchise in town of the independent Alpine Motor Group, which includes Haval/GWM as well as a number of dealerships like VW, VW Commercial, Audi, Chery and JAC in neighbouring Pinetown and an Audi dealership in Umhlanga.
“We worked hard as a team to achieve our goals, which led to us scooping up the award for a second time. Our strategy is a bit different in that we would rather order and have an oversupply of stock to reduce the negative impact that stock shortages create.
At the awards ceremony – Jaco Oosthuizen (Former MD of Renault), Tyran Ramlal (Service Manager), Byron Warner (DP Alpine Renault Hillcrest), Anthony Robinson (Sales Manager) and Shumani Tshifularo (MD of Renault).
“Our goals are set, not only on the targets provided by the OEM but also what we at dealership level need to make money. Having rather large backorders mean we get a lot of stock as it becomes available. What we get, we sell, and we know the needs of our customers,” Byron says.
He says they sell mainly in KwaZulu-Natal with Hillcrest itself being a prime location for doing business. “Our After Sales department functions close to capacity, but we would like to see more vehicles serviced locally.
“Many people stay in Hillcrest, but work elsewhere and it is convenient for them to have their vehicles serviced close to where they work. Nevertheless, we see a good uptake on business overall because of strong social media marketing.”
Alpine Renault Hillcrest in KZN.
We asked Byron what awards like this meant to a dealership. “We took over the dealership a few years back and turned its fortunes around. Not only running the business better with staff buying into the goals that needed to be achieved, but a good product goes a long way to put the dealership on a winning path.
“We use our award-winning status to the maximum, not only on social media and marketing campaigns, but also with branded vehicles and at the dealership itself. People take notice, it creates interest and trust in our dealership, which are very important for doing business,” Byron tells Dealerfloor.
UD Trucks Southern Africa (UDTSA) hosted its 2025 Annual Dealer Conference (ADC) where key stakeholders from across the dealer network and high-performing dealerships that delivered exceptional business results in 2024 were honoured.
JLR has hired 50 specialists to maximise the resilience of new electric-vehicle supply chains and uphold ethical standards, amid ongoing geopolitical uncertainty as it transforms to deliver its next generation of pure electric models across all its brands by 2030.
The first, all-EV courier company, has charged its batteries and is ready for business, says Alex Staniland owner of Xpress, with an eye on innovation and gaps in the market.
UD Trucks Southern Africa (UDTSA) hosted its 2025 Annual Dealer Conference (ADC) where key stakeholders from across the dealer network and high-performing dealerships that delivered exceptional business results in 2024 were honoured.
The Value of Franchise (VOF) is the “value” the franchisor delivers to the franchisee. There are a few components that make up this value, and I will mention some of the main components that I believe are pertinent to the dealer/manufacturer (OE) relationship.
UD Trucks Southern Africa, in partnership with Combined Motor Holdings (CMH), officially opened a state-of-the-art dealership facility in Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal.