Foton and Chery Top AMH Dealerships of 2015

2015 was a good year for the Chery and Foton dealerships in Windhoek as they were announced as dealerships of the year for most units sold.

This might come as a surprise to many as the two Chinese brands operating under Associated Motor Holdings (AMH) are fairly new on the market and could possibly face stiff competition from the more well-known names in the car industry.

Chery has been operating since 2008 and Foton since 2009.

Regional sales manager for Chery Eric Brodie explained that Chery and Foton offer the same features as the big names at a lesser price. Where other brands serve for a very niche market, these brands are for everyday people, whereas for other cars you often pay for the badge.

“They are not giving you anything more than what we are giving you,” Brodie said.

He also mentioned these cars’ safety ratings are at level in any executive motor vehicle, yet their pricing is less than their competitors’.

“Our product is offering the safety, it’s offering the features, it’s offering the comforts and the reliability of other cars at a lesser price to the customer,” he said.

“This is the first time this dealership has kicked some of the bigger dealerships with regards to units they’ve sold,” he added.

Brodie credits the success of Chery to the way the sales team deals with their customers.

“The customer is always made to feel important,” he said.

Sales manager for AMH, Andre van der Merwe, speaking on winning the award, thanked Brodie and the importers team and said that without their assistance, achieving this feat would not have been possible.

“They have never shied away from the importer’s side to assist us in doing some special deals. That’s the way you build an emerging brand,” Andre said.

“I would like to say a big thank you to the whole team here. If it wasn’t for you guys, none of that would have happened, because you are driving the process and you’re passionate about this brand,” he added.

For Van Der Merwe, it was an honour to have won dealership of the year, although it did come as somewhat of a surprise.

“Obviously we did not expect to be dealership of the year for these two brands, but it is extremely rewarding and certainly gives you a feeling of achievement and acknowledgement from our company for all the hard work me and my sales team put into marketing and sales of our brands,” he said

He credits the success of the sales team to the support they receive from AMH. “AMH is now well established and looks well after its staff.

We, as a team, are well trained and incentivised in order to ensure a super performance. We are getting sufficient opportunities to develop ourselves and to be promoted within the company; for instance some of my current sales staff started off as drivers in our company,” Van Der Merwe said.

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