Toyota, Lexus and Hino celebrate leading dealerships in SA
Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Centurion was recognised for their exemplary performance and awarded the title of 2016 Toyota Dealer of the Year at a prestigious gala dinner held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre. Riaan Grobler, the Dealer Principal, received the esteemed award, a first for the dealership.
Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Centurion was lauded for the undivided attention they applied to dealer developmental programmes and their perseverance towards achieving the hotly contested title.
“Riaan Grobler and his team at Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Centurion are well deserving of the 2016 title,” commented Andrew Kirby, the President and CEO of Toyota South Africa Motors.
“Their commitment to excellence is a testament that transformation and a mindset change are pathways to success. The Toyota values were diligently applied to the dealership’s day-to-day operations to continuously exceed customer expectations, resulting in a dealership which stands out as a beacon of excellence in the Toyota network”, added Kirby.
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The Toyota National Dealer Awards Ceremony is an annual event hosted to celebrate the dealer network’s performance over the preceding year. The scoring system used to identify winners, titled the Toyota Pyramid of Excellence, is based on a comprehensive set of metrics, which measures variables such as Customer Service, Sustainability Management, Vehicle Marketing and Sales, Automark Sales, and Financial Achievements.
President’s Awards
Toyota also identified its outstanding dealers within the Small, Medium, Large and Mega dealer categories. Bidvest McCarthy Toyota Centurion, under the leadership of dealer principal Riaan Grobler were furthermore awarded the President’s Award for the best-performing dealer in the Large classification. The category titles for best-performing Small, Medium and Mega dealerships were presented to Algoa Toyota Uitenhage’s Calvin Parry, Imperial Toyota Strijdompark’s Sean Bacon, and Barloworld Toyota Centurion’s Theo Brits, respectively.
Included in the evening’s Presidential accolades were awards for the most accomplished Divisional Group Managing Director and Group Managing Director of dealer groups in the Toyota network. Alex Frielingsdorf of the Barloworld Group walked away with the title of Group MD of the year, whilst Alfie Rieckhoff of the Thekwini Group was announced as 2016’s Divisional Group MD of the year.
The final President’s award for the evening acknowledged the Toyota dealership with the highest combined Customer Experience score in 2016. Thekwini Toyota Westville took the award and were commended for their extraordinary standard of workmanship, as well as their professional, accommodating behaviour. An excited Michael Koberstein received the award on the dealership’s behalf.
Andrew Kirby furthermore presented the evening’s prestigious Chairman’s Achievement Award, which is elected at the CEO’s discretion. For the year 2016, Fanie Erasmus of Lydenburg Toyota obtained the award. Erasmus holds the record for claiming five Dealer of the Year Awards, and was recognised once again for his contribution and passion since becoming a Dealer Principal in 1986.
Other Notable Awards
Within the Vice President’s Awards segment, Toyota recognised superb performance in service from its monitor dealer network. Monitor service dealers take on a specialist resolution function in the dealer network by addressing complex challenges, or problems lacking an existing solution. For 2016, Anthony Barraball accepted the award for Mortimer Toyota Newcastle.
Another noteworthy award, received by Elsa Mollentze for Hillcrest Toyota, was the Vice President’s Environmental Award. This title is given to the dealership that best implemented innovative environmental initiatives, both within the dealership and community, to align with Toyota’s overall sustainability goals.
Toyota Financial Services’ (TFS) CEO, Marius Burger, furthermore acknowledged the best-performing Toyota dealer for their Finance and Insurance services performance, and this year Brian Jones of Halfway Toyota Shelly Beach claimed the title.
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Lexus Awards
For their exceptional performance in all business touch points, the prominent title of Lexus Dealer of the Year 2016 was awarded to Brian Shrosbree of Lexus Nelspruit. The title for top-ranking Lexus Financial Services dealer of the year was assigned to Lexus Fourways, and received by Leon Brand. For exceptional service levels during 2016, the President’s award for superior Lexus Customer Experience was awarded to Lexus The Glen.
Hino Awards
In the commercial vehicle category, the esteemed Hino Dealer of the Year Award was bestowed upon Hennie de Villiers of Bidvest McCarthy Hino Midrand for the second consecutive year. Bidvest McCarthy Hino Midrand achieved 103% of their sales target, despite 2016 being a challenging year for the trucking industry. The award for leading Hino Customer Experience dealer was received by Gansen Chetty of Hino Shelly Beach.
Andrew Kirby applauded the entire dealer network and all the evening’s winners for their contribution to the company’s achievement of 37 years of consecutive market leadership.
Source: QuickPic