- Kia Dealer of the Year Awards recognise and reward dealerships excelling in sales, after sales and service operations
Kia South Africa this weekend rewarded its top-performing dealerships across the country with prizes for outstanding achievements in sales, after-sales and service operations. The 2024 Kia Dealer of the Year Awards, which encompass the period July 2023 to December 2024, was held during the brand’s leadership conference at The Marriott in Melrose Arch, Johannesburg.
The conference and awards was hosted by Kia South Africa’s CEO, Paul Turnbull, and attended not only by senior leadership from its full dealer network, but also by Ockert Janse van Rensburg and Brenda Baijnath, the CEO and CFO of Motus Holdings. A key highlight of the event was the attendance of Mr. SH Chang, the President of Kia Middle East and Africa, and Yaser Shabsogh, the Vice President of Operations for Kia Middle East and Africa.
“The past year has been one of significant change for the Kia brand in South Africa, but despite challenging market conditions, the resilience of our dealer network remained a key characteristic for success,” says Paul Turnbull, CEO, Kia South Africa. “It’s important to give credit where it’s due, and our annual awards do exactly that. We are excited about the renewed energy and focus for 2025.”
For the 2024 awards, Kia consolidated many of its previous awards in order to best encapsulate that success must be achieved across all the various business elements to truly represent excellence, presenting certificates to the top three finalists in each category, and announcing a singular winner.
The evening started by recognising and rewarding outstanding individual performance in two categories in the sphere of aftersales, specifically focusing on the critical role that service advisors play in this area. Winners in this category were Anna Kwedi from Kia Northcliff as Service Advisor of the Year (Certified level) and Nicole Kuhn from Kia Nigel as Service Advisor of the Year (Expert level). It was Nokuphiwe Bawana from Kia Pietermaritzburg who stole the show, however, as she was declared Service Advisor of the Year on the Master level for the third consecutive year.
In the category for Sales Executive of the Year, awards were presented to:
- Rehard Quickfall from Kia Paarl (category D dealerships)
- Stuart King from Kia Hermanus (category C dealerships)
- Phillip Nagel from Kia Sandton (category B dealerships)
- Duncan Boya from Kia Alberton (category A dealerships).
Diving deeper into the holistic management of dealership operations, winners in the Aftersales Dealer of the Year category were recognised for excellence across training, parts, aftersales and, ultimately customer satisfaction. The winners in this category were:
- Kia Tzaneen (Category D dealerships)
- Kia Hermanus (Category C dealerships)
- Kia Ballito (Category B dealerships)
- Kia East Rand (Category A dealerships)
Considering dealers’ overall sales volume achievements, Kia also presented a number of awards in the category Sales Dealer of the Year, recognising superior market presence, effective team collaboration and innovative sales strategies in tough market conditions. The winners in this category were:
- Kia Eswatini (Category D dealerships)
- Kia Vereeniging (Category C dealerships)
- Kia Sandton (Category B dealerships)
- Kia East Rand (Category A dealerships)
The pinnacle of the 2024 Dealer of the Year Awards arrived when Kia presented four Dealer of the Year awards across the operation’s dealership categories. These overall awards consider the achievements across all critical elements of a dealership’s operations, and reward those dealerships that excelled across all key elements of sales and aftersales. The four Dealer of the Year winners by category are:
- Kia Paarl (Category D)
- Kia Vereeniging (Category C)
- Kia Brackenfell (Category B)
- Kia East Rand (Category A)
However, for 2024, there was one dealership that excelled across sales and aftersales and achieved the best results across all categories during tough market conditions. Demonstrating that the power of focus, commitment and consistency will always result in excellence, it was Dealer Principal Sean Simpson and his team from Kia Vereeniging that walked away triumphant as the 2024 Kia Dealer of the Year.
