Author Archives: Administrator

2018 MOTY Breakfast

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MOTY 2018 Award Winners Gallery

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LEASING AWARDS

Handing out Leasing Awards – Sandile Ntseoane, Theshnee Sinan and Denise Fairhurst

RENTAL AWARDS

Handing out Rental Awards – Sandile Ntseoane, Grenville Salmon and Francis Human

OVERALL AWARDS

Handing out Awards – Sandile Ntseoane and Winston Guriah

2017 Motor Manufacturers Of The Year (MOTY) to be announced

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Which motor manufacturer will win the coveted title of Manufacturer Of The Year in 2017?

The first round of judging has concluded in the annual MOTY awards process, run by SAVRALA, the Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association whose car rental members manage over 70,000 vehicles and leasing members account for over 54,800 – Owned/Funded and 244,148 – managed vehicles per annum in South Africa.

In contrast to many other car surveys, this award is based on the largest rental and leasing companies in South Africa scoring their automotive suppliers twice annually on 38 objective criteria which include B-BBEE levels, value for money (eg: vehicle resale, maintenance and cost of parts), vehicle security, communication and support.

The results of the competition are used by motor manufacturers to identify their strengths and improve their areas of weakness as highlighted to them by their customers.

“The vote of confidence given by SAVRALA members to their vehicle suppliers should be an important consideration for the car buying public who also want to buy a vehicle that offers good value for money, reliability and safety,” says Winston Guriah, the President of SAVRALA.

The first round, as voted for by both the rental and leasing sectors, has highlighted the top five manufacturers being Ford, Hyundai, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen. In this group, first and second place is separated by less than three points which can easily change the overall scores winners when round two is completed.

“Volkswagen has taken top honours for the past seven years in the rental section, but there has been fierce competition between motor manufacturers where the winning margins have been very small as we are seeing this year. In 2016, Hyundai and Toyota came second and third respectively,” says Winston.

MOTY also identifies the top account representatives and technical representatives from motor manufacturers, evaluating their ability to establish and maintain a successful relationship, and to be proactive and professional in their approach.

Past winners of the MOTY Best Account Representative award include Loshini Pillay from Volkswagen in 2016 and David Maeko from Ford in 2015, while Robert Wright from Volkswagen and Bennita Senyatsi from Nissan won the Best Technical Representative awards in 2016 and 2015 respectively.

“The emphasis on the MOTY results is likely to both increase the service expectation from the rental and leasing companies, while forcing them to look more critically at current service levels provided by manufactures,” says Sandile Ntseoane, the GM of SAVRALA.

“MOTY influences the vehicle purchase decision-making of both the public and large fleet operators who will be comforted by the experiences of the SAVRALA members.”

The results of the 22nd annual SAVRALA MOTY awards will be announced at a gala ceremony in Johannesburg on 20 October.

On social media, join the conversation using the hashtag #SAMOTY17.

Roadblocks and Your Rights

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“Roadblocks and Your Rights” featured on the Carte Blanche website on 20 August 2017 provides useful insight into:

  • The two kinds of roadblock
  • What cops are legally allowed to do
  • What happens if you have outstanding fines
  • Under what conditions arrests are allowed
  • What to do if you feel unsafe
  • Can you film the police?
  • Can you ask for identification?

Read the full article here:
https://carteblanche.dstv.com/roadblocks-and-your-rights/

New Accounting Standards – substantial impact for Car Rental and Leasing Companies

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IFRS 16 Leases, the new international accounting standard, will come into effect from 1 January 2019.  This will have a substantial impact on car rental and leasing companies.

During a presentation to SAVRALA members by accounting firm Deloitte Touche, Trevor Derwin, A & A Partner in the Johannesburg office explained that the essence of the changes lies in the accounting treatment applied by lessees. At present, the costs pertaining to leased vehicles are not reflected on the balance sheet; in the future all leases will have to be reflected on the balance sheet, with the exception of short term leases (less than 12 months) or low value leases.

“There are a number of considerations to take into account for companies who have lease agreements” said Derwin.  “These include the impact on the company’s financial report, key ratios, disclosures, the cost of implementation, the ability to access desired information, the impact of covenants and debt renegotiations and leasing strategies. It is essential that these companies start discussions with their bankers, analysts and lessor companies to ensure they are ready to implement the new standards.

“However, there will be no difference to the bottom line for leasing and rental companies,” he added.  “Despite the changes, there remains considerable advantages to leasing as opposed to buying vehicles.”

The main changes required by the new standards include the accounting treatment for lessees in a lease (where most leases will be brought on balance sheet as finance leases), the definition of a lease and enhanced disclosures.

Under the new standards, a contract contains a lease if it depends on the use of an identified asset and if it conveys the right to control the use of such an asset.   Further, the customer must enjoy substantially all of the economic benefits from the use of the asset during the lease term. In determining whether a customer has the right to control an asset, the customer must be able to determine how and for what purpose the asset is used.

A further consideration lies in substantive substitution rights.  In this instance, if the supplier has the practical ability to substitute alternative assets, and the supplier benefits economically from this right, the contract would no longer be considered a lease.

Many lease contracts today include both a lease and service component. Under the new standard these should be accounted for as separate components with the lease element capitalized to the on balance sheet lease, while the service component is expensed as incurred. Lessees may, however, elect to not separate non-lease components from lease components by class of asset.

“Identifying a lease will sometimes require a significant amount of judgment based on the elements of the definition of a lease” said Derwin.  “It is also important to determine the lease term, ie whether it is reasonably certain that an extension or termination option will be exercised.  In addition, identifying the appropriate rate to discount the lease payments will require significant consultation.”

“Although the new standards come into effect in January 2019, they will apply equally to existing as well to new lease arrangements,” he concluded.   “For those SAVRALA members who play the role of lessor, there is a business opportunity in that they can assist their customers to find the best solution.   We urge all your members, lessors and lessees alike, to discuss these changes with their auditors to ensure they are informed and ready to implement they changes as they come through”.

Download the PDF of the July 2017 presentation by Trevor Derwin:
IFRS 16 Leases – Technical Update

Volkswagen South Africa wins 2015 Motor Manufacturer Award

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p2910SavralaVW-001JOHANNESBURG, OCTOBER 23, 2015 – Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA) wins the SAVRALA MOTY (Manufacturer Of The Year) award for the sixth consecutive year.

Celebrating its 20th year, the SAVRALA 2015 Manufacturer of the Year was revealed during a gala award ceremony at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton tonight, 23 October. Incredibly, for six consecutive years, Volkswagen South Africa (VW) took the accolade of overall car rental winner yet again.

Commenting on this achievement, SAVRALA President Marc Corcoran applauded VWSA’s remarkable achievement and said that one had no choice but to respect the consistent and recognised high levels of service given by VWSA to the car rental industry. “An important insight from this year’s data is the improved scores by almost all automotive brands, demonstrating the competitive nature of the industry,” he added.

RIC_5809-VW-2-001The MOTY 2015 results further reveal that VWSA has gained a distinct advantage over its peers in the key survey category of Communication and Support.

The competitive nature of this year’s MOTY awards was best demonstrated by the 0.1 difference in score between Audi SA and Toyota South Africa Motors which swopped podium places, with Audi taking home silver this year.

Illustrating the extent of how some automotive companies have focused special attention on their car rental customers, the Most Improved Award went to BMW SA which leaped from 11th place last year to 7th this year achieving a phenomenal 17% increase in their 2015 score.

Addressing concerns by some automotive brands that they are at a disadvantage when competing against their larger-volume peers in the car rental industry, a new award called Tutuka was created and won by Audi SA. “The performance of Audi this year clearly demonstrates that winning MOTY is not merely a function of the volumes sold to the car rental industry, but also of satisfying customer needs,” said SAVRALA GM Sandile Ntseoane.

The Value Award in its first year was a tight contest, but was won by Ford SA which, by the narrowest of margins, beat VWSA. Commenting further Marc said this ‘’was an important award as the cost of vehicle ownership is a key consideration for any fleet purchase, whether a corporate fleet or individual purchaser.’’

MOTY 2015 also acknowledged the role of certain individuals the car rental industry:

  • Best Account Executive was won by David Maeko (Ford SA)
  • Best Manufacturer’s Technical Representative was won by Bennita Senyatsi (Nissan SA)

The MOTY evening also saw industry stakeholders recognise the remarkable service given by Dawn Jones, Imperial Car Rental CEO, who leaves the industry next month after 35 years.

“Dawn leaves behind an incredible legacy that few could even imagine achieving. Ever the shrewd car rental operator, Dawn had a remarkable, innate skill in developing warm relationships with her colleagues, customers and competitors. The industry thanks her for contribution and wishes her well in her future endeavours,” concluded Marc.

AWARD SUMMARY MOTY OVERALL

Overall Bronze
Toyota South Africa Motors

Overall Silver
Audi South Africa

Overall Gold
Volkswagen South Africa

Best Account Executive
David Maeko (Ford SA)

Best Manufacturer’s Technical Representative
Bennita Senyatsi Nissan (SA)

Most Improved
BMW SA Group

Value Award (Certificate)
Ford (SA)

Tutuka Award
Audi South Africa

On social media, join the conversation using the hashtag #MOTY2015.

About SAVRALA

SAVRALA is the trade body for companies engaged in the rental of passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Founded in the 1970s, SAVRALA represents South Africa’s the car rental rental industry

We lobby government to ensure that regulation and legislation affecting its members is fair. SAVRALA also works with public sector agencies, industry associations and key business influencers on key road transport, taxation and finance-related issues.

For more information about SAVRALA, please contact us.