Toyota, Lexus and Hino SA Celebrate Their Leading Dealers
- Toyota Dealer of the Year: Michael Koberstein of Thekwini Toyota Westville
Close attention was paid to all the development programmes and this – coupled with good business sense – proved to be a winning formula.
- Lexus Dealer of The Year: Kevin Crowie of Lexus Fourways
This achievement requires dedicated efforts and a balanced approach that is aligned to the new core philosophy of Lexus: Experience Amazing.
- Hino Dealer of the Year: Gansen Chetty of Hino Shelly Beach
The Customer Experience in each category, including Sales, Service and Parts were all above 98% for this year’s winners
Michael Koberstein and his team at Thekwini Toyota Westville were recognised for their exceptional performance last year and were awarded the coveted 2017 Toyota Dealer of the Year. This marks a first for this dealership. This year’s instalment of the Toyota National Dealer Awards was held at the Durban International Convention on 9 March 2018.
Awarded annually, the Toyota Dealer Awards are based on a comprehensive set of metrics on which each dealer is measured throughout the preceding year. These measurements include customer service, environmental protection, financial performance and vehicle sales.
As Calvyn Hamman, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing, puts it:
“It is always a grand occasion when the Dealer of the year Award is a first time winner. Thekwini Toyota Westville’s outstanding performance in 2017 is clear proof that strong leadership and the correct staff make all the difference.”
Commenting on Koberstein’s leadership style, Hamman says:
“The Dealer Principal is empathic, warm and caring and is personally involved with all areas of the business, resulting in a very innovative and highly motivated team.”
Toyota also recognised several dealers and dealer groups during the prestigious event; including the coveted Chairman’s Achievement Award. The latter was awarded at the discretion of Andrew Kirby – President and CEO of TSAM – to MD of Mortimer Group, Rudi Seele.
“Mr Seele spent 17 years as Dealer Principal before relinquishing his home dealership to take a more active role in managing the group he had established. Thirty two years later, our recipient has nine dealerships under his watchful eye. An extremely humble person with a delightful sense of humour, his philosophy is simple 'look after your staff, in turn they will look after customers who will then have no choice but to look after the company's bank account'.
“We not only honour our recipient as a leader, mentor, Family person and friend but we also pay tribute to his great contribution and vision to his Group, the Motor Industry, and Toyota SA.”
Andrew Kirby applauded the entire dealer network and all the evening’s winners for their contribution to the company’s achievement of 38 years of consecutive market leadership.
