The Claassen family this year celebrates 23 years of Mercedes-Benz sales and service in the Helderberg, making it the longest standing family-owned Mercedes-Benz agent in the Western Cape.
More than five decades ago, a Mr MH (Kiewiet) Cloete, a farmer from Karasburg, Namibia, registered a new company, MH Cloete Enterprises, trading as Rola Motors, in 1963. He was joined by his daughter Helmine and her husband, Laurie Claassen, a schoolteacher at the time.
In 1994, when Kiewiet Cloete retired, Laurie Claassen became the sole owner of the Rola Motors company; he was joined in the business by both his sons – Theo, who had joined in 1986, and Marius in 1993. Laurie retired in 2007, leaving the company in the hands of his capable sons.
Until about ten years ago, the Mercedes-Benz dealership was based at 274 Main Road, Strand, before moving to its current state-of-the-art premises at No 1 Pacific Close in Somerset Crossing, Somerset West.
It is now a bustling dealership, selling around 50 cars a month and servicing up to 30 a day.
Laurie Claassen coined the phrase “Service is your best salesperson”, which became synonymous with Rola Motors. This has evolved into “Serve with integrity”.
Francois Botha, who was the financial manager, became Dealer Principal of Rola Mercedes-Benz in May this year.
He says in spite of the lockdown, this year is shaping up to be good for the dealership, adding “watch this space”. He is expecting great things from his team and expects to be celebrating a good 2020 when all the results are collated next year, in spite of the tragedy of the national state of disaster. He is extremely proud of the very high levels of their Customer Satisfaction Index achievements.
Botha says the ethos of service is deeply ingrained in the fibre of the dealership and is their strongest aspect. “Great service leads to success.”
Ryan Stokes and his team have been crowned the Certified Pre-owned Dealer of the Year for MBSA for the last two years with Stokes winning the Manager of the Year award.
Leapmotor at Stellantis South Africa announced a partnership agreement with boutique car rental company, Drive Electric, to make premium electric mobility more accessible to local driving consumers.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are still expected to dominate the European Union’s (EU) car market from 2035, yet their eventual share could vary considerably depending on the strength of upcoming emissions rules, according to new findings from the transport campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E).
The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) in the United States (US) has renewed its backing for policies aimed at preventing Chinese vehicle manufacturers from establishing a foothold in the US, despite growing expectations that their entry may be inevitable.
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Stellantis South Africa announced the opening of the new Bidvest McCarthy Centurion dealership reinforcing its brand house network and expanding access to key automotive brands across the Gauteng Province.
Housed in the upmarket, safe and centrally located Ballito Business Park in Moffat Drive, the location is in the heart of the Ballito retail trading business precinct amongst many already established OEM brands.
Within the vehicle retail sector, there are meaningful career opportunities for young people who are interested in sales, customer engagement, administration and dealership operations.
