Autoworld Trade Centre Diversifies Market

Going down Hosea Kutako Drive in Windhoek, you might have seen the big red letters – Autoworld Trade Centre.

Lately you might have seen something slightly different at the same location. While the Autoworld Trade Centre logo still stands proudly, another big name in the motoring industry has joined its ranks.

Recently the owner of Autoworld Trade Centre Fred Oosthuizen explored the option of taking a Japanese brand on board.

Oosthuizen, who’s been in the motoring industry for roughly 30 years, explained that Autoworld Trade Centre, which was established four years ago, first started out as an auctioneering company with their South African partners. However, after discovering that retail was better business than auctions, the company shut its doors on auctioneering. They trade in all vehicles except imports.

The takeover of Suzuki is part of a plan to diversify the market, Oosthuizen mentioned. “At this stage, we have the car rental company, we’ve got the Autoworld Trade Centre which does the retail on used vehicles, and then we’ve got the ‘we buy cars’ concept where we do the wholesale of vehicles, and Suzuki which is now the new brand. These are all our divisions,” he said.

Suzuki’s past success also enticed the owner to take a risk on the brand. He mentioned that Suzuki won Brand of the Year 2016 in southern Africa, the Suzuki Celerio won Budget Car of the Year 2016 in South Africa, while the Suzuki Vitara won the Compact Family Car of the Year award.

While all other car brands dropped in sales last year by 40%, Suzuki was the only brand which experienced a 6% rise in sales despite economic hardships. Oosthuizen also mentioned that Suzuki was the top selling brand in the whole of Asai last year, adding that N$ 2,9 million units were produced globally in 2016.

Although the Suzuki dealership has been open in Namibia since 2010, Oosthuizen feels the brand will be more successful under his management because “in my case, we have a very big successful company which is running very profitable, and that is the reason why I thought ‘let me take this on’,” adding that he feels positive about the brand.

“I’m not the kind of person who compares myself to other dealers. I just do my thing and it’s been working for 30 years. At this stage, I can say we’re the biggest used dealership in the country,” he said.

Oosthuizen started out in the industry in 1988, when he started selling vehicles as a policeman. He worked at Kaiser Motors for only a year, after which he became a partner in Market Motors.

He then bought out the shares from the other partner, and started Autoworld, which later on became Autoworld Trade Centre.

Autoworld Trade Centre won the WesBank Highest Volume of Deals in 2016, second place in the Standard Bank macro division, and second best salesman, Wessel de Jager, as well as the Shooting Star of the Year in 2016.

Autoworld Trade Centre currently only has two branches, one in the capital and the other at Swakopmund, which also has its own Suzuki dealership.

The owner mentioned that plans on expanding are there, however for now Suzuki is the primary focus and once the motor vehicle sales have kicked off, they will start selling motorcycles and boats.

“We base our business on affordable prices. We are one of the dealers that you can actually buy vehicles for under their value. We have a market for everything. We have everything from N$20 000 to N$1,5 million. Anything you want, we can get it,” Oosthuizen said proudly.

The company receives their second-hand vehicles from dealerships, fleet owners, private individuals and trade-ins. They provide two-year auto plan which is optional, and a factory warranty on the new vehicles.

All vehicles are checked thoroughly before they go out. Oosthuizen mentioned that Suzuki has a full parts and service division as well as a workshop.

Despite current economic battles, Oosthuizen still looks at the silver lining. “There is definitely a downfall in our economy, however we have been blessed enough to have survived. From here it must just go up,” he concluded.

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