15 000 SUBSCRIBERS Issue 75 | 30 July 2015 www.autolive.co.za For GMSA the customer is king General Motors South Africa (GMSA) has re- GMSA provides approximately 40 000 hours affirmed its dedication to looking after its lo- per annum of regular and extensive training for cal vehicle buyers with the introduction of all service personnel – from technicians to non- the Complete Care programme for new and technical employees. And prior to the launch of existing customers. each new product, dealers have to go through a Developed on the premise of offering custom- launch readiness programme which includes new ers more than they expect, every Chevrolet, Opel model introduction and aftersales readiness. and Isuzu owner will henceforth benefit from a Needless to say, considerable pressure is comprehensive aftersales programme which pro- placed on all dealers to perform consistently well. vides a wide range of services. This includes a war- However, the rewards are high and each year the ranty of up to five years or 120 000 km for new top dealers are recognised for performance excel- Brian Olson, Vice-President Vehicle buyers, free round-the-clock roadside assistance, lence. And to even be considered for the coveted Sales Service and Marketing at GMSA. maintenance servicing by GM-certified techni- title of Dealer of the Year, dealers have to achieve cians, full support through the customer care cen- at least 100% in all areas relating to the business. experience and light commercial vehicle servicing tre and Complete Service Mobile Apps. According to Olson, being nominated for a experience. “Chevrolet, Opel and Isuzu have a line-up of Dealer of the Year is a triumph in itself and dealers In addition, Isuzu scooped a gold award for great-value, high-quality vehicles, including the are rated on elements relating to customer experi- both sales and servicing experience in the light Chevrolet Cruze, Opel Corsa and the Isuzu KB, ence, service excellence, standards of facilities and commercial vehicle segment. Hot on its heels were to name a few” said Brian Olson, Vice-President sales performance. Chevrolet and Opel who took silver for the pas- Vehicle Sales Service and Marketing at GMSA. “Complete Care demonstrates our commit- senger car sales experience, while Chevrolet took “With Complete Care, we are delivering an out- ment to being a leader in customer care, service the silver category for passenger car servicing. standing ownership experience to match.” and satisfaction through one of the most thorough Add to this the fact that GMSA sold a total of Complete Care is a very impressive offering service packages available anywhere,” explained 5 024 units in June, with a market share of 10%, indeed. The Roadside Assist programme, for in- Olson. “By listening to what our customers want, the company must be doing something right. stance, offers local owners the benefit of a wide we will strengthen confidence in our brands.” Opel sales were 122% up on June 2014 with no- range of features including free accommodation “Our ultimate objective is to drive GM au- table performances from the trio of new comers or rental car to ensure that customers can com- thorised service centres to deliver manufacturing the ADAM, Corsa, and Mokka with 169, 277, 191 plete their journey, safety at roadside and repatria- standard service and to ensure transparency in units respectively. tion of vehicle to either home or work once repairs our service procedures, our dedication is evident “Our mission at GM is to earn customers for have been completed. Other services include as- through the recent customer study conducted by life. We are focused on putting the customer at sistance in changing a flat tyre or if keys are locked IPSOS where for overall customer satisfaction the centre of everything we do wherever we do in and even fuel assistance. Isuzu received gold and Chevrolet and Opel re- business. Our customers here in South Africa, However, GMSA realises that introducing ceived a silver award.” just like those elsewhere around the world, have such customer-oriented services means nothing The coveted Ipsos awards measure the ve- high expectations. With Complete Care, we seek without an efficient dealer network. To this end, hicle owners’ satisfaction when purchasing and to deliver a consistently satisfying and truly valu- all dealerships are continuously being improved servicing a vehicle and recognition is given to able ownership experience. Our goal is to demon- and service centres equipped with a complete top achievers in the categories for passenger car strate to our customers that we truly care about range of equipment and analytical systems to car- purchasing experience, passenger car servicing them throughout their ownership experience,” ry out maintenance and repairs. experience, light commercial vehicle purchasing Olson concluded. ■ Twitter can be a GM predicts jobs All systems go for Preview of Cars in valuable marketing tool of the future new Fortuner the Park 2015 Page 3 Page 12 Page 20 Page 24 Subscribe for free @ www.autolive.co.za Page 2 that ten brands were awarded Gold Editor and General Manager Dealers vote Toyota tops Status. In addition, the overall in- Liana Reiners Toyota, Lexus and Hino South Sales and Marketing at Toyota South dustry average increased by 3.6% [email protected] Africa all achieved gold awards at Africa Motors to 72.4%. 083 407 4600 the National Automobile Dealers’ Toyota has seen a considerable The survey to the dealers is Association (NADA) Dealer improvement in its scores to reach the segmented into thirteen focus ar- Contributors Satisfaction Index Awards recently. 80% mark, with a 4.4% increase over eas including Communication and Stuart Johnston Toyota placed first overall, with Lexus its second place in the 2014 survey. Relationships; Vehicle Range; Parts in third position for the passenger/ Lexus’ score increasing by 9.3% and Media Support amongst others. [email protected] light commercial vehicle category from ninth position in 2014 to third Toyota dominated in three categories: 083 450 9255 and Hino maintaining their second in 2015. Similarly, Hino improved Dealer Satisfaction, Customer Focus Roger Houghton position overall in the commercial their score by 8.9% to achieve 81.8% and Used Cars. Likewise, Lexus also [email protected] category. This makes Toyota the top in 2015. This improvement saw scored tops in three categories – 082 371 9097 automotive franchise in the country Hino receiving the Most Improved Goodwill, Policy Claims & Warranty, as voted by the dealers. award in the commercial vehicle Franchise Compliance Audits and Kieran Rennie “We are proud that all three category. Dealer Support. 083 225 9609 our brands placed in the top three Through this survey, NADA has “Toyota South Africa Motors of their categories and are over- been measuring dealers’ satisfaction will continue to build great relation- Advertising Sales whelmed with Toyota’s first place. with automotive brands since 2003. ships with the dealers and support Liana Reiners This is a first for us and we will In 2015, 42 independently researched them in their businesses. We will [email protected] continue to improve on our rela- brands formed part of the survey not be complacent and we will strive tionships, systems and support which received the highest responses to achieve better results next year 083 407 4600 to our dealerships,” said Calvyn to date. It was also a significant year and maintain our first position,” Hamman, Senior Vice President for the survey as it was the first time concludes Hamman. ■ Address 237 Rigel Avenue Waterkloof For Datsun affordability is key Pretoria PO Box 914-005 Vincent Cobee is the man tasked with put, the premise is that if you own a establishing Datsun as an afford- car, you are able to get a better job, Wingate Park able, aspirational brand in emerging earn a bigger salary and as a result 0153 world markets, including Indonesia, improve your quality of life. And by Russia, India, South Africa and Latin putting a new set of wheels within the Website America. Not an easy job, especially reach of as many first-time buyers as Vincent Cobee, corporate vice considering the flak Datsun has been www.autolive.co.za possible, Datsun believes it can have a president of Datsun Global. getting about safety issues surround- significantly positive influence on the ing the Go. lives of many. On the issue of safety, Cobee in- Facebook Most people would buckle under He sees the typical Datsun buyer sists that no amount of passive safety www.facebook.com/pages/AutoLive such pressure but Cobee sees it as a as young, optimistic and committed features on a car will make any dif- Facebook challenge rather than a problem. In to this country. He is quick to point ference if the driver isn’t properly © 2015 WCM Media CC fact, he sees himself as somewhat of a trained. As he so eloquently puts it: out though that attracting these buy- champion for the cause of the emerg- “It’s like putting a Band Aid on a ers requires a very different market- ing middle class. wooden leg.” He is quick to offer a so- Production ing strategy as many of their pur- “In South Africa, over 90 per cent lution to this problem though. Marketing Support Services chasing decisions are based on word of cars on the market cost more than Plans are in the pipeline to offer +27 (0)12 346 2168 of mouth. R120 000. In China, by comparison, [email protected] prospective buyers K53 training at around half of the vehicles are priced And Datsun’s approach to the Datsun dealerships with the use of below R70 000.