Manufacturer of the Year 2007
General Motors South Africa

A proud moment for and a well-deserved win by General Motors South Africa …
GMSA scooped the Overall Gold as well as the Leasing Silver and Rental Bronze Awards

Teamwork wins for GMSA

General Motors is the new name on the SA Vehicle Renting and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) Manufacturer of the Year trophy in a year in which all the top echelon of the results table failed to improve their scores over last year.

Colin Windell, editor of Autonews, examines the scores.

The General Motors victory came via a third place in the Rental Section and second place in the Leasing Section – the only instance in which any of the top four improved their scores over last year. After being top dogs for the past four years, Nissan slipped into second place overall thanks largely to a 5,4% drop in performance in the Rental Section.

Hyundai finished third overall, the first full importer to make it onto the podium. For the past couple of years the company has shown significant improvements and earned a podium placing this year by winning the Rental Section – no mean feat considering the established players in that sector.

“Following on our excellent results in 2005 (1st Leasing / 2nd Overall), we were understandably disappointed with our results in 2006 when we achieved 3rd in Leasing and 3rd in Rental” says Derek Maltby, GMSA Fleet Manager.

“Soon after the 2006 MOTY Awards we, as a team, sat down and analysed our results to identify our weak areas. We also held meetings with the Rental and Leasing Companies to hear directly what we needed to do to improve our levels of service.

As a result, MOTY 2007 became a focus priority in our 2007 activities with the priority of winning either of the Rental or Leasing categories with the cherry on top being the overall winners.

Winning the award is a proud moment for all at GMSA and it is really a team effort with many individuals including our Kempston Road colleagues and the Woodmead Sales Team.”

“Over the past few years it has become important for us to penetrate the rental fleets,” says Stanley Anderson, marketing director of Hyundai SA. “Not only does it add to the number of vehicles sold but it also results in exposure for our vehicles to thousands of potential customers.

“The world class quality of the Hyundai product and the level of sales and after sales support has contributed largely to this award. We would like to thank all our rental customers for their support and look forward to our future dealings with them.”

The most promising performer this year is Honda which came from nowhere to be 5th overall in the Rental Section and 8th in the Leasing Section where the company showed an 11,8% improvement over last year, the combined scores enough for Honda to finish 7th overall.

“Winners of the 2007 SAVRALA ‘MOTY’ awards can be especially proud of their achievement, knowing that this year the process was once again fully embraced by those participating, says Anthony Calcutt of KA Smart who processed the results of the survey. “The scoring was undertaken with the involvement of the most people ever and organisations were eager to make sure that they were included.

“The scoring is made up of several sections containing many questions which have been identified as being important areas for all of the Rental and Leasing and Fleet Management companies of SAVRALA. Each of these questions indicates a specific need for the best service and support from the manufacturers of the products that they purchase, service and supply to their customers.

“In order to do well and offer service excellence, a manufacturer does not necessarily have to be the best in every question, just as long as they are consistently good across all sections throughout the year.

“Specific questions where the industry as a whole has improved in meeting the requirement of SAVRALA leasing members are, Part Availability for both ‘Body and Panel’ and ‘Service and Maintenance as well as Maintenance Pricing From The Dealers.

“Honda and Land Rover have done a fantastic job on improving their scores on all questions compared to last year.

“The rental members scored Product Reliability, with the exception of one or two manufacturers, slightly higher than the previous year. Unfortunately Theft Prevention Effectiveness was one area that no one could improve on. Honda displayed a great effort being placed 5th from having not being scored last year due to too small a representation.

Overall it was General Motors that managed to put in their best effort across the board resulting in them being able to take top honours, displacing Nissan by just 0,1 percentage points.”

The final results are calculated after two identical surveys of SAVRALA members during the year – the dual questionairre route taken to offset the effects of new model launches and other activities and to measure the consistency of the manfacturers in their dealings with SAVRALA members.

“We have seen a steady growth in our rental and leasing business over the year and whilst the normal dealer channel business has come under huge pressure due to the economic changes taking place in the market we have seen steady growth in the fleet business,” says Ford’s vice president of sales and marketing, Jacques Brent.

“The business environment has changed in the past 12 months,” says SAVRALA President, Paul Pauwen. “The combined effect of the implementation of the National Credit Act, the successive increases in interest rates, the weaker Rand, runaway commodity prices and the teething problems of the Enatis have conspired to slow new vehicle sales and reduce further the residual values of the fleets.

“At the macro level and taking a long term view, the underlying climate remains positive thanks to lively infrastructure and resource sectors. On the realistic side, the hot pace experienced in the tourism sector is likely to cool down in the near future. One of the keys is in the hands of government as it needs to demonstrate more resolve in its war on crime.

“At our industry level, it seems that the pursuit of volumes has been achieved at the expense of margins. Perhaps a revisit of risk-reward profiles is overdue as there is a pressing need to restore the industry’s sustainability and service levels going forward.”

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Many thanks to all the motor manufacturers and importers for their generous support of the 2007 SAVRALA Manufacturer of the Year Awards

Sincere thanks go to ABSA Vehicle Management Solutions for their sponsorship of the pre-dinner drinks and also to Avis Rent a Car, Contract Lease Management, Fleet Africa, McCarthy Fleet Services and Standard Bank of South Africa for their contribution towards the evening’s prizes.