Manufacturer of the Year 2009
Hyundai South Africa

 Stanley Anderson, Hyundai marketing director (left) and his triumphant Team Hyundai blow their trumpet … or rather, Vuvuzela!  The Korean marque took home Gold in both the Overall and Rental Section award categories as well as Silver in the Leasing Section award category.

Hyundai: Patience rewarded

Hyundai is the 2009 SAVRALA Manufacturer of the Year and is the first importer to earn the prestigious accolade – achieved by a slender 0.2% over second placed Volkswagen and just 1.3% ahead of General Motors in third place. The Korean automaker also took pole position in the Rental Section awards.

Colin Windell, editor of FLEET, reports …

The result for Hyundai is a deserved one and comes after a patient climb through the ranks over the past four years – truly patience rewarded. Last year the company finished second overall and, perhaps, there was a sense of inevitability it would make that final step up the ladder this year. However, over the years manufacturers have found taking anything for granted can backfire quite heavily.

“It has been one of our business objectives to be the first Importer to win the SAVRALA award,” says Hyundai marketing director Stanley Anderson. “It took a lot of dedication from our staff and dealers to achieve this and all credit to them.

“There is no doubt that Hyundai has grown into a mainstream player in the automotive market, fleet as well as retail, thanks to product with leading designs, world class quality and backed by superior customer service.

“These awards are extremely important to Hyundai Automotive and our dealers. We study the results in detail every year and target the areas where we need to improve. The leasing and rental market is critical to the success of the brand and a priority for us to excel in.”

As usual, the competition was split into two parts – Rental and Leasing – with the combined result deciding the overall placing. Hyundai was first overall in the Rental section with a score of 60.8%, some 0.7% up on last year when they placed second. This year General Motors came in second with last year’s winners, Toyota, taking a 4.6% tumble to third place.

The most improved manufacturer in this category is Kia, which jumped from seventh last year to fourth, showing a 4.3% improvement. The biggest losers, however, were Honda – dropping from third place last year to 10th.

In the Leasing section, Volkswagen took the honours – a sterling effort coming from sixth place last year to top of the log, notching up a 4% improvement in the process. Although their score was down by 1.6%, Hyundai finished second in the category – up from fourth last year. Winners last year, Nissan dropped back to third place and 5% down on their score for last year.

Alfa Romeo put in a trot this year to be the most improved manufacturer in the category, gaining 9.4% over last year to move up from 22nd to 17th.

It has been a tough year for the motor industry and this showed in the final tally of scores where only Volkswagen in the top six improved on last year. All the others were marginally down.

With input obtained from a detailed survey of the members of SAVRALA, which is conducted twice during the course of the year, awards are bestowed upon those motor manufacturers who have provided the respective Rental and Leasing and Fleet Management companies with exemplary service in areas of communication, support and value.

According to Anthony Calcutt of KA Smart, which does the survey and analyses the results, within the Rental business, ‘Technical Training’ and ‘Regular Technical Representative Contact’ are major areas of concern receiving low scores.

“Timeous and Comprehensive Information on Models’ has become the question with the best scores,” he says.

“The Leasing and Fleet Management counterparts continue to rate ‘Dealer Delivery Quality’ highly and all three of the ‘Technical’ questions witnessed good improvements. The area of concern to them at the moment is around ‘Manufacturer Contact’.”
A new element introduced to the survey this year was the awarding of points against the B-BBEE level attained by each manufacturer.

“It is great to see a number of companies have embarked on this important process of true transformation and have taken the necessary steps in obtaining a verified scorecard,” says Calcutt. “We encourage all companies to continue in their efforts by improving on their scores going forward and embracing the essence of Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment.

“Over the last four years the Overall Top 2 positions have been held by different manufacturers each year. These results are testament to the genuine competition that exists between each manufacturer in providing the best service possible to the South African Vehicle Rental and Leasing industry.”

“This is the second year running that we have won the Rental section, says Anderson. “We built on the success of last year and focused on the areas where we needed to improve. All credit has to go to my staff and dealers that made a valuable contribution to our rental business.”

“Our members see the vehicle manufacturers and importers as their prime partners and we appreciate their support, as much as they value our custom,” says SAVRALA president, Paul Pauwen. “Expressed in the percentage of the total volume sold to the market, our industry has purchased significantly more vehicles this year which goes to show why we are inter-dependant.

“The SAVRALA Manufacturer of the Year (MOTY) award is an attempt to reflect the strength of the relationship with the OEMs and how it is evolving rather than a purely volume based calculation. Several key factors are taken into account and they are surveyed comprehensively on two occasions during the year by both the rental and the leasing sections.

“The overall winner has been making good progress for several years, culminating with this year’s award. It is no real surprise as they have made a considerable investment in our industry and they are entitled to savour the moment.”

The ‘Most Improved – Leasing’’ and & the ‘Most Improved – Rental’ Awards for 2009 went to Alfa Romeo South Africa and KIA Motors SA respectively. Congratulations!

Many thanks to all the motor manufacturers and importers for their generous support of the 2009 SAVRALA Manufacturer of the Year Awards