Chery South Africa hosted its dealers, business partners and key customers at a gala event in Sandton on Friday, 24 May.
The event celebrated the past year’s record-breaking performance and honoured the best dealers in the Chery network. Chery also used the opportunity to call some of its largest customers and business partners to the stage to thank them for their business.
“It is hard to believe that we have only been in South Africa since the fourth quarter of 2021,” says Jay Jay Botes, General Manager of Chery in South Africa.
“Since then, Chery has grown to one of the ten best-selling vehicle brands in South Africa, with models such as the Tiggo 4 Pro regularly registering among the three best-selling passenger cars. We owe a debt of gratitude to our customers and our hard-working dealers for their part in making this happen.”
Since launching its first model in October of 2021, Chery has grown its dealer network to over 86 branches. Each of these dealers represent an entrepreneur or dealer group that has invested in the Chery brand and that now act as the representative of the Chery brand to customers in their city or town.
“If you grow at the speed that we have done since 2021, you run the risk of damaging your brand by offering poor customer service and after-sales support. Yet, we have managed, with our dealer partners, to maintain industry-leading levels of customer support despite having to double our parts warehouse and vehicle stock several times over this period,” says Botes.
At the Chery gala event, dealers shared stories of how customers are now starting to return to the showroom to buy a second or third Chery for their family or upgrade the model they bought in 2021 or 2022 with a larger Chery model.
Chery in turn shared resale data that clearly shows how models such as the top selling Tiggo 4 Pro are maintaining their resale value in a tough trading climate, which is proof of the brand’s affinity among customers and their endorsement of its quality and durability.
“There is no doubt that our 10-year or 1-million-kilometre engine warranty has helped to cement Chery’s reputation for quality among customers. Having dealers that can back this warranty and keep our customers happy have done the same,” says Botes.
Among the dealers that won an award or received special recognition, there are ten dealers that stood out. These dealers had the best performance in either Sales, Aftersales or Parts support throughout 2023.
In the category for Best Overall Parts Support, Chery honoured Chery Umhlanga in the category for Large and Extra-Large Dealers, Chery Krugersdorp in the Medium Dealer category and Chery Germiston in the category for Small and Extra Small dealers.
Chery Sandton took home the award for the Best After-sales Dealer in the Large and Extra-large category, followed by Chery Midrand, Medium Dealer Category and Chery Trichardt taking home the award for Small and Extra Small dealers.
Lastly, Chery honoured the dealers who outsold their peers in the Best Sales Performance category. Here Chery Phalaborwa was the Best Extra Small Dealer, Chery Trichardt received the award for the Best Small Dealer, and Chery Vanderbijlpark won the Best Medium Dealer Award.
In the large category for Best Sales Performance Chery Pinetown took home the silverware and Chery Pretoria won in the category for Best Extra-large Dealer.
“Many of the award-winning dealers were with us in Beijing recently when we attended the Auto Beijing Show and hosted a global dealer conference to share news of future products and our commitment as Chery in every dealer’s success.
“We are heartened by our dealer’s commitment to our future vision and our ‘With Chery With Love’ brand ethos, which requires everyone in our network to support their local communities in whichever way possible and share their love for Chery and its cars,” says Botes.
