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The Mercedes-Benz Pinetown dealership has been given a brand new facelift. Designed for high visibility and situated along Caversham Road in Pinetown sits the brand new facility.
Owned by NMI-DSM, a joint venture company between Barloworld and NH Partnership, this enterprise is a family business run by the Akoo Family, who are a mainstay in KwaZulu-Natal, with numerous other successful business entities throughout the province.
Associated with this dealership is the flagship Mercedes-
Benz Brand Centre centrally located in state-of-the-art facilities in Umhlanga. Operating as one of the five pristine Mercedes-Benz Brand Centres countrywide, with dedicated new and pre-owned showrooms, service facilities and dedicated customer interaction hubs, including digital and online services, the dealership is a beacon to excellence throughout the country.
“We have just had our annual Dealer of the Year awards function and once again congratulations are in order for Garden City Motors within the same Dealer group for winning: Best Sales Performance and Medium Volume dealer of the Year. Congratulations are also in order for Mercedes-Benz Brand Centre Durban for winning the MBFS Chairman’s Award. These awards are affirmation of the commitment and passion that our dealers dedicate to our business,” said Florian Seidler, Co-CEO Mercedes-Benz South Africa & Executive Director Mercedes-Benz Cars.
The dealership is extremely proud to set Mercedes-Benz Pinetown apart with its state-of-the-art facility on almost 14 500 m2 of prime business property. The business is easily accessible with over 350 parking bays and includes a covered stock-yard for the safekeeping of customers’ vehicles.
“The total capital cost for this development amounted to R125-million, excluding furniture and fittings, that truly portrays the Mercedes-Benz modern luxury philosophy,” Wilanda Stubbs, Dealer Principle, Mercedes-Benz Pinetown, said.
“We are pleased to have further contributed to the job market where 250 direct and indirect construction jobs were created through the main contract. Local suppliers and sourced construction material throughout the course of the project. We actively participated in achieving the contract participation goal which included the removal of approximately 50 000 cubic metres of soil being removed from site, 7 200 cubic metres of concrete being cast and 510 tons of rebar and 100 tons of steel being used,” added Stubbs.
Currently Mercedes-Benz Pinetown employs 85 full-time personnel, within two separate facilities. One is a dedicated Mercedes-Benz showroom and service centre with dedicated Mercedes-Benz staff. The 21 workshop bays are fully staffed with skilled technical service staff and are able to service and repair around 55 cars per day. There are dedicated workshop spaces for glass replacements and tyre fitment by the in-house experts.
“It is pleasing to see that despite challenging times we are seeing dealers willing to invest in people and facilities to continue growing their business to world-class standards,” Seidler said.
The Aftersales business is paramount to the success of the dealership and to ensure efficiency the Parts department is also fitted with a goods hoist to assist in keeping panel parts, windscreens, tyre stocks and bulk parts, effecting the delivering of a “one-stop-shop” solution. The parts warehouse is fully stocked with a capacity of more than 10 000 line items at any one time. Parts deliveries are made twice a day to facilitate a fast turnaround of vehicles within the workshop.
“Mercedes-Benz After-Sales South Africa was overall winner in the Champions League – Global After-Sales Market Performance Award – Market of the Year 2015. We are delighted with the achievement of our dedicated After-Sales team, and I am confident that Mercedes-Benz Pinetown will benefit from the expertise and know-how that our After-Sales team will impart,” Seidler added.
Environmental matters are of great importance to the management team of NMI-DSM and at Mercedes-Benz Pinetown there is no exception. From onset of the construction of the new building, crushed and recycled materials from the original building that was unfortunately destroyed in a fire, was used. Electricity is supplied onsite through a 300 KVA generator to assist with emergency power, thereby allowing business to continue without disruption, during those dreaded power-cuts. Water is also treated with respect as 80% of water being recycled for use in toilets, washing of cars and waste areas, and rain and ground water is also harvested where possible. The buildings are energy efficient with the latest green technology in lighting and air conditioning.
A fully functioning waste centre onsite, with a dedicated staff member allows for the recycling of 75% of all waste including paper, cardboard, metals and other raw material including used oil and any hazardous waste.
Currently in the process of completion is a vehicle lay-bye which will allow for new cars to be delivered directly and safely to the dealership.
Plans are also underway to host an auxiliary centre for the fitment of Smash and Grab and tracking systems.
The all-important security aspect is taken care of with a manned 24-hour fully visual camera system, aided by security control.
“We are excited that the extensive planning and final construction has now been completed and the hard work of winning new and loyal and trusted customers to benchmark levels,” Stubbs maintained.
