Super Group won the first Hino Truck Dealer of the Year award in its history of more than 36 years when Hino Isando collected this coveted trophy at the recent Toyota/Lexus/Hino awards function in Johannesburg. This dealership, situated in the industrial and commercial hub of Gauteng, is one of the largest in the Hino network, selling more than 300 new trucks a year and servicing an average of 14 trucks a day.
Dealer Principal Bobby Pringle, who has been employed in the commercial vehicle business in South Africa for the past 26 years, says he has, for a long time, set his sights on proving that his dealership was best-of-the best by winning the Dealer of the Year award. As such, he led the drive for excellence from the front in 2022 and received the full and enthusiastic backing of his team, which now numbers 32 employees.
“I have aligned my management team so that I can track their progress continually in terms of the Hino Dealer of the Year performance measuring tool, which is known as the Pyramid of Excellence. We got close in 2019, when we were runner-up and sold the most Hino trucks in that year too,” explained Pringle.
“Each of our departments – Sales, under Bryan James; Service, headed up by Kyle Buys; and Parts, under the leadership of Darrell Pretorius – were set annual targets with a stretch aspect to ensure they went the extra mile. I am proud to say that we achieved 100 – 109% in meeting our sales, service and parts targets set by Hino SA and all our staff members contributed solidly to the overall performance of the dealership.
“Outstanding customer service is cardinal in winning the Dealer of the Year title and so we went above and beyond to over-deliver to each of our customers, even in the tough times when stock was short after the Hino plant in Prospecton was hit by the KZN floods last April no trucks were built for several months.
“We make use of various incentive programmes to reward productive staff, while all employees can qualify for an annual incentive based on the overall performance of the dealership,” added Pringle.
Hino Isando is the only Hino dealership in the Super Group currently and it is comparatively young as it was only established in 2015. It was the 22nd exclusive truck dealership in the Hino national network of 64 dealers. The cost of setting up Hino Isando – excluding the price of the land – was more than R25 million. The original staff complement was 17, with many of them still there.
Pringle says he is very pleased that approval has now been given to add a further six working bays and a state-of-the-art, eco-friendly wash bay at the dealership which will be welcomed by the customers.
Currently the facility has six double work bays. The workshop is equipped to undertake Certificate of Fitness (COF) testing and has an express service lane to minimise downtime when urgent servicing or repair work is required.
The dealership has an extensive parts stock, and this is replenished at least twice a day. From the outset it has been eco-friendly in terms of having movement-sensor lighting and recycles rain water for the wash bay.
Pringle has won a host of awards in his career and is determined to retain the Dealer of the Year trophy this year. “I always ensure we aim higher and we will continue to strive to provide even higher levels of service to our customers,” said the Hino Isando Dealer Principal.
“Bobby Pringle is a true Hino ambassador and continuously motivates his team,” said Leon Theron, Senior Vice President – Sales and Marketing at Toyota SA Motors, speaking at the award ceremony. “He embraces the Hino Total Support strategy and the team at the dealerships is always willing to walk the extra mile to ensure total customer satisfaction,” concluded Theron.
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