Friday, 22nd October 2010, The Ballroom @ The Hilton Hotel, Sandton
Manufacturer of the Year 2010
Volkswagen
(left to right) John Hopkins, Rabby Bokaba, Stuart Norman, Kathleen Booth, Mike Glendinning, Paul Smallman, Gina Handley, Nico Fourie & Letsepe Phahlane
Louise Carver thrilled MOTY guests.
Moty Awards Evening – A Truly Classy Affair
On the 22nd of October, the South African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) and the country’s motoring fraternity celebrated their annual Manufacturer Of The Year Awards – colloquially known as MOTY.
It was a classy affair of the highest calibre as both ladies and gentlemen turned out in their finest evening attire to celebrate these sought-after awards at the Hilton Hotel in Sandton. The country’s top car brands were well represented – a clear indication of how prized these awards are to manufacturers. Paul Pauwen, outgoing President of SAVRALA, noted “Over the years, the MOTY Awards have become prestigious accolades within the industry and receiving one is no small feat.”
As the association steering industry standards in the rental and leasing space, SAVRALA takes these awards very seriously and the judging criteria are therefore managed and facilitated by an independent research company to ensure that the process is fair and unbiased.
The primary focus of these awards is the relationship between the motor manufacturers and their leasing and car rental customers. Superior levels of service and support, as judged by their SAVRALA-member clients, is the main objective of MOTY.
Emcee for the evening, funny man Al Prodgers, kept the evening very entertaining with his humorous anecdotes about his own car experiences whilst seamlessly announcing awards and ensuring the event was fluid and light-hearted. To everyone’s delight, additional entertainment was provided by none other than the talented Louise Carver, whose sultry voice enchanted the audience with a mix of pop/rock ballades.
The evening commenced with a very heart-felt president’s report delivered by outgoing SAVRALA President Paul Pauwen; who also welcomed in-coming president Linda Kotzé. Linda is National Manager at Nedfleet and has been a SAVRALA NEC member for the past 5 years.
Excitement rose as the first awards were announced for Best Manufacturer’s Representative. The trophies went to Trevor Jones from General Motors’ rental division and Paul Smallman from Volkswagen’s leasing division.
The evening got into full swing with the competition heating up between the car manufacturers. The Motor Manufacturer Of The Year – Rental was won by General Motors who took the gold, followed closely by Volkswagen winning Silver and Hyundai walking off with the bronze.
The Motor Manufacturer Of The Year – Leasing saw VW walking away with the gold, Nissan taking the silver and Hyundai once again taking the bronze.
Most Improved in their respective classes were the two Germans, Audi in the rental section and Mercedes-Benz in the leasing section.
By the time the Overall Manufacturer Of The Year award came around, the atmosphere in the beautifully decked-out ballroom was electric and the guests were cheering their brands on. The three top spots looked very similar to the 2009 winner’s rostrum with top honours going to Volkswagen, who dominated the night. Silver went to last year’s winner, Hyundai. For the third year in a row General Motors went home with the bronze.
“We are very pleased with the terrific support we received throughout this year from our members,” Linda Kotzé commented. “The results speak for themselves and the winners were all worthy players who consistently go the extra mile when it comes to both service and delivery. We look forward to what 2011 brings.”