Renault SA honours top dealers

Western Cape's Renault Worcester and Renault Paarl scooped first and second spots respectively while Northern Cape's Renault Kimberley secured third place in Renault SA's highly contested 2013 Dealer of Year Awards.

While both the Worcester and Paarl dealerships are privately owned and operated, Renault Kimberley is part of the Imperial Automotive Retail stable.

André Roux, owner and dealer principal at Renault Worcester, the winning Western Cape dealership which opened in 2002, could barely contain his excitement and pride on hearing that his dealership had taken the title of overall dealer of the year.

While no longer the case, in past years, Renault dealerships were judged in three categories: large, medium and small. In the small dealership category, Renault Worcester took line honours in 2005 and 2006, was pipped at the post in 2007 and took top spot again in 2008.

"With the launch of Renault's New Clio and New Duster models, 2013 proved to be a great year for my team and I'd like to thank each of them for the part they played in getting Renault Worcester on to the winners' podium once again," said Roux.

"Renault's product line-up is more exciting than ever and, like the Clio and Duster before it, the New Sandero is going to be an absolute winner in 2014 and beyond. Well spec'd and well-priced, in a challenging economic environment, it presents great value for money. There's no doubt that it's going to be another top seller for Renault.

"My philosophy is quite simple: I love the Renault brand and I love people. Together, they make a winning combination and I'd like to thank Renault South Africa for their unfailing service and support to their dealer network."

Congratulating Roux and the Renault Worcester team on their win, Leslie Ramsoomar, vice president of sales and operations at Renault SA said: "André has been on board with Renault for 12 years now and he continues to be consistent in running an absolutely first class dealership at all the requisite levels across-the-board. His commitment to customers is genuine and always top-of-mind and it's no problem for him to open the doors on a Sunday to accommodate a client. For Renault Worcester and André and his team, this is a truly well-deserved win!"

Looking back on 2013, Ramsoomar reported that while the dealer channel passenger car market had been 'pretty flat' compared to 2012, Renault's dealer channel sales had grown by 26%. "Our dealer channel sales outgrew the market by 25.8% to be exact, which clearly underscores the incredible levels of commitment and performance shown by Renault's dealer network during 2013," he concluded.

Renault's annual dealer challenge is highly contested throughout the year by its dealer network countrywide and, with an additional three dealerships in the pipeline for 2014, this year's Dealer of the Year competition will be stiffer than ever.