Nissan has named Algoa Nissan its South African dealer of the year, honouring the network behind its import-led business after the sale of its Pretoria plant to Chery.
The awards were presented at a gala during the carmaker’s first Festival of Nissan, a three-day event in Gauteng in September built around the South African launch of the Tekton sport utility vehicle (SUV). Ghana’s Japan Motors Trading Company took the award for the most consistent market share performance among Nissan Independent Markets Africa (NIMA), the distributors that handle the brand in other countries on the continent.
The ceremony came at a sensitive time for Nissan in South Africa. The Japanese automaker stopped building vehicles in the country this year after selling its Pretoria factory to China’s Chery, and now imports its models. Reuters reported that Nissan is relying on a run of new models to revive growth and reassure customers and dealers. The Tekton, the first of those models, is built in India.
That shift puts more weight on the showroom floor. Jordi Vila, president of Nissan Africa and Europe, told the dealers that products alone would not shape the brand’s future on the continent. “Products open the door. Dealers build the relationship,” he said.
Nissan South Africa managing director Juan Wheeler said the country was one of the company’s most important African markets, with a 65-year history there. Ramy Mohareb, head of brand and communications at Nissan Africa, said no Nissan customer in South Africa was more than 25 minutes from an authorised dealership.
Algoa Nissan dominated the small-dealership categories. Besides the overall title, it won dealer of the year, aftersales department, new vehicle sales department and customer quality in its size band.
NTT Nissan Bloemfontein won dealer of the year and best new vehicle sales department among large dealerships, while NTT Nissan Secunda took the medium dealer title. The NTT Group was named dealer group of the year. Mark White Nissan won two large-dealership awards, for customer quality and for finance. NTT Nissan Gaborone took the large aftersales prize.
Among the NIMA distributors, ATC Comafrique of Côte d’Ivoire was named best overall national sales company in the large category and best aftersales company in the same band. Sun Motors of Seychelles won the medium category, and Anciens Comptoirs Ries of Djibouti took the small category. Zimbabwe’s Croco Motors won best national sales company among large markets. Motus Africa in Malawi and Old East in Burundi won aftersales awards, and Motorcare Mozambique took the overall prize for customer satisfaction, sales and service.
Nissan plans to launch an upgraded Navara pick-up and the eighth-generation Patrol SUV in South Africa during the current financial year, Reuters reported.
