At Halfway Toyota in Howick, workshop foreman Devesh Saamcharan stole a march on his Japanese colleagues in the Toyota Motor Corporation when he assembled a few foot-operated, hand-sanitiser dispensers back in May 2020.
The dispenser proved to be a novelty in May, before it became commonplace in dealers across South Africa.
Toyota announced recently that its Kamigo Parts Centre in Japan will be making up to 2 500 sanitiser stands a month, which are to be sold or leased to dealers in Japan from December onwards.
Saamcharan told Dealerfloor he built his stands as strong but as cheaply as possible, using wood and old clutch housings that he salvaged at the dealership. To this he added only a few new bolts, making it a very cost-effective solution for the dealership.
The sturdy stands are in daily use at the busy Halfway dealership, but despite being stepped on many times a day, are still cleaning hands as fast as the bottles can squirt.
South Africa’s Eastern Cape automotive hub is entering a precarious period as infrastructure failures, policy drift and external trade shocks converge to undermine confidence across major plants and supply chains.
Changan is throwing its hat in the ring of highly contested mid-sized SUV market in South Africa with the arrival of the Changan UNI-S soon.
In a stark reminder of the COVID-19 pandemic, working from home may soon return on a wider scale as governments and organisations look for ways to curb fuel consumption amid a global oil supply shock.
Advertisement
Advertisement
Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
George Carlin
FAW Johannesburg South (ELT Group) took the top podium position as Dealer of the Year at FAW Trucks Southern Africa’s 2026 Annual Dealer Conference. It is the fourth time the dealership scooped up the top award.
Audi South Africa has launched The Audi Open Haus Sales Event, a national retail campaign inviting customers into Audi Dealerships nationwide.
With youth unemployment remaining one of South Africa’s biggest challenges, the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA) has launched Motoring Mavericks, a movement designed to show young people that car dealerships offer far more than sales or mechanical jobs.
