Just like the All Blacks have done in Rugby, a Kiwi truck dealer has trumped the Aussies by winning the 2017 Kenworth Dealer of the Year.
Southpac Trucks triumphed against an outstanding field of top dealers across the region demonstrating exceptional sales, service and support according to Paccar Australia’s press statement.
The award is open to Kenworth dealers across Australia, New Zealand and P.N.G, and acknowledges excellence in overall dealer performance, truck sales, parts sales, finance and customer support and is judged on a points system across the five main areas.
It is the first time Southpac has won the Kenworth award and was its second award for the year after winning the Paccar Service Dealer of the Year for outstanding service and support.
Paccar Australia’s director sales and marketing, Brad May, congratulated Southpac’s CEO Maarten Durent and Graeme Gibbons CEO of parent company The Colonial Motor Company at the Paccar Awards event last week in Port Douglas commending the benchmark standards in sales, service and support and the impressive overall performance.
“The Kenworth Dealer of the Year is the result of many factors, not just about who sells the most trucks, but which dealer provides the best overall performance for the customer and the award recognises many achievements over the year. Southpac Trucks is an exemplar of how, when a team works together to deliver superior value for its customers, it can achieve great results. This dealer continues to be successful because of its single-minded commitment to customers.”
“They had a really big year and while they did all the things that were expected, in the end it was the way the team at Southpac supports its customers, providing superior service and doing everything right by the customer in every facet of the business that made the difference.”
“Their continued investment in new dealerships, facility upgrades and training their people is outstanding and the results are evident. It would be difficult to find another group that has the culture of success and growth mindset that Southpac Trucks has,” Brad said.
“Southpac Trucks is most deserving of this award and is an excellent Kenworth dealer,” he added.
Southpac Trucks CEO, Maarten Durent, said he was pleased to accept the Kenworth award on behalf of all his staff.
“There was a huge effort put in by everyone across the entire company and the New Zealand Dealer Network and it is great for them to be recognised for all their hard work. We are so proud to win this and are looking forward to sharing it with everyone,” Maarten said.
Graeme Gibbons, Southpac’s Chairman and CEO of The Colonial Motor Company LTD added:
“This wasn’t achieved by just one or two people; it was achieved by our entire team. We love what we do and love trucks and to receive this award makes a great thing even better,” he said.
Southpac has its head office in Manukau City and branches in Hamilton, Rotorua and Christchurch, further supported by 18 Parts & Service dealers across New Zealand. Its modern, custom-built sales, new truck preparation, service and parts complex features an expansive showroom as well as a yard stocked with a full range of Kenworths. Highly trained parts and service staff who work with the latest diagnostic equipment are available flexible working hours to meet customer demands.
Meantime Kenworth DAF Melbourne won the 2017 DAF Dealer of the Year award, taking the accolade for the third time having also won before in 2007 and 2012. Brad May, congratulated the dealership for winning the DAF prize saying the dealership had made a significant contribution to DAF’s collective market share.
“The dealership continues to exceed customer needs by investing in staff training, specialist equipment and maintaining modern facilities.” said Brad.
Brad Motteram, General Manager Kenworth DAF Melbourne, said he was proud to again win DAF’s highest award.
“We had a really strong year back in 2012, and it’s great our ongoing commitment to the brand has resulted in the dealership winning this award in 2017. We’ve been able to find new customers along the way while keeping the rest of the DAF family happy.”
“This award is for everyone in our dealership,” Brad said. “Our hard-working staff believe in the product and they’re dedicated to delivering the highest level of support to our customers. As a result, throughout 2017, we saw an increase of 18% in DAF order intake compared to the previous year, which reflects both the number of new customers, and strong sales from existing customers expanding their DAF fleets.”
