arasa

NADA Newsletter | The Dealers’ Voice | April 2021

It was encouraging to see stronger retail sales in the South African vehicle market in March. Potential buyers were wary in January, cautious in February and, now that the second wave has passed and the country’s economy is stabilising, people are looking to buy new vehicles again.

Helped by interest rates remaining low, it is evident that the delayed replacement cycle is starting to catch up. The used vehicle market remains strong, which is good for the overall health of all sectors of the industry. Two months after a semi-hard lockdown, consumer confidence is improving. Additionally, the rate at which the commercial vehicle market is growing is also good news, as this signifies improvements in the general economy with the promise of an increasing number of infrastructure projects. This project pipeline will certainly boost the all-important commercial sector of the market.

Sales reported by Naamsa last month totalled 44 217 units, which reflected a substantial 31.8% increase over March 2020. An estimated 85% of the total represented retail sales through dealer channels. The rental industry, which is belatedly re-fleeting after cutting back drastically on fleets in 2020, took up 8.7%. Rental sales accounted for 12.3% of the passenger segment in March. Government took 3.7% of total sales and corporate fleets accounted for the remaining 2.6%.

At 27 330 units, the passenger car market was up 23.4% on sales in March last year. Domestic sales of commercial vehicles are also increasing, with light commercial vehicles improving by a substantial 52.4%, medium truck sales by 11.6% and heavy trucks and buses up 35.2% compared to the corresponding month last year.

Looking ahead we believe there will continue to be a shortage of certain new models, with an ongoing global shortage of semi-conductors, or computer chips. Hefty increases in fuel prices which took effect this month, will be another factor on vehicle sales going forward as this puts more strain on household budgets. Much will depend on the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic which is still negatively impacting many of the countries that supply built-up vehicles and components to South Africa.

All in all, we are hopeful that this year may be better than expected for the local motor industry.

Please continue to be safe and implement the safety protocols within your dealerships as well as in your personal lives. Mask up, maintain social distancing and continue with all hygiene requirements.

Take care and be safe.

image016.jpg@01D73095.D82B84B0” src=”https://arasa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/image016.jpg” style=”max-width: 100%;”>

MSX NADA Business of the Year Awards finalists and winners announced

The winners of the annual MSX NADA Business of the Year 2020 Awards (BOTY) were announced via live broadcast on YouTube recently.

Now in its 22nd year, the MSX NADA Business of the Year Awards honour the exceptional performance of managers and their teams at automotive dealerships across the country. It is the only independent validation of dealership profitability. MSX International (MSX) measures the financial performance of over 1,500 South African franchised dealers and recognise the top performers across five categories:

Top 10 client sins to avoid

By Greg Mason

The concept of client service gets thrown around in most companies and businesses. However, in many cases it’s simply lip service. Client service is of critical importance to your business. It’s key to retaining customers and extracting more value from them. It helps to build a loyal customer base that will refer friends and family and provide testimonials. Satisfied customers are more understanding when things go wrong and less sensitive to price increases.

Sometimes it’s not about what you should do, but what you shouldn’t do. Greg shares 10 common mistakes that businesses make that result in losing customers due to poor service.

2021 NADA Dealer Satisfaction Index (DSI) Survey

We are happy to announce that the 2021 NADA DSI is back on track and will take place this year, marking the 25^th Anniversary of the NADA DSI. We appeal to all dealer principals to once again complete the survey as and when they receive the online questionnaire from our research house Lightstone.

South Africa Automotive Retail Financial Performance Trends

July 2019- February 2021

The ability of dealers to adapt to changed business circumstance is ably demonstrated in the percentage returns earned pre covid compared with those produced post covid. In the eight months between July 2020 and February 2021 (Fig 1). The performance of dealers in each of the three major auto retail segments were well above the prior eight-month averages. Heavy commercials less buoyant because of infrastructure related low demand. Short term economic prospects for South Africa are coupled to global auto retail demand and supply and the worlds’ ability to have a unified vaccination strategy and implementation plan.

image026.png@01D73095.D82B84B0” src=”https://arasa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/image026.png” style=”max-width: 100%;”>

The Main Agreement – An Explanation of the recent Increases in Wages & Related Matters

An RMI on-line seminar

When: Thursday 15 April 2021

Time: 09h00 – 12h00

Cost: No charge to RMI members

Platform: Microsoft Teams

Presenter: Johanita Olivier

You are invited to secure your attendance by completing the registration form in the attachment here:

The POPI Act is almost upon us, are you ready?

All South African businesses, including franchise vehicle dealerships, have until 1 July 2021 to ensure compliance of the long-awaited Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) – or face fines of up to R10-million and possibly even jail sentences of up to 10 years. POPIA begins on 1 July and we hope that you, our members, are gearing up for this.

It is not merely the policies that need to be ready but also some very important processes need to be implemented and prepared for the go-live date of 1 July 2021. Here are eleven steps to Day 1 compliance:

1. Raise awareness

2. Document the data you currently store

3. Draft privacy notices

4. Check individual’s rights.

5. Consider data access requests

6. Review the lawful basis for processing personal data (8 lawful conditions of processing)

7. Refresh your existing consents, note justifications and update POS documents.

8. Take into account child data Sure-up defences

9. Familiarise yourself with Privacy Impact Assessments

10. Assess international implications (cross border data transfers)

11. Appoint an Information Officer

Then there are the risks associated with Further Processing and the requirements around Prior Authorisation. On top of this, there is a requirement to document all of this.

The RMI, in conjunction with its attorneys Barnard Incorporated has developed a compliance manual for members in respect of the POPI Act. The purpose of the compliance manual is to assist and guide members in establishing the correct structures, processes and procedures in their business in order to ensure that they are compliant with the requirements of the POPI Act.

The compliance manual is not to provide a bespoke solution for all businesses, and we recognise that certain members may wish to obtain further assistance in ensuring that their businesses are compliant with the POPI Act.

To this extent, the RMI has secured a special consulting rate from Barnard Incorporated, which will assist members that desire a more bespoke compliance manual, at an additional cost to the member. The details hereof are included below.

The RMI POPI Toolkit is suitable for all enterprises and is designed for anyone wanting to manage their own POPI implementation but who require some guidance on what to do and how to go about it.

In association with RMI, Barnard Incorporated provides an exclusive POPI service for all members by providing guidance and limited implementation assistance.

Should any RMI member require additional assistance to amend or review contracts with third parties; amend or review internal policies, draft disclaimers or consent forms, or arrange training for your Information Officer, legal experts are able to provide a bespoke quotation on an RMI preferential rate.

Members seeking advice on the implementation of the guidelines may contact any one of the RMI’s senior members of staff, who will be able to assist.

Contact Heike Endries from Barnard Incorporated via 087 255 5503, email or for more information visit their website.

image029.jpg@01D73095.D82B84B0” src=”https://arasa.org.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/11/2021/04/image029.jpg” style=”max-width: 100%;”>

This message contains privileged and confidential information intended only use of the addressee. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, you are hereby notified that you may not disseminate, copy or take any action based on the contents thereof; and are kindly requested to inform the sender immediately. Any views expressed in these messages are those of the individual sender, except where the sender specifically states them to be the view of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation. While every care has been taken in preparing this document, no representation, warranty or undertaking (expressed or implied) is given, and neither responsibility nor liability is accepted by any member of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation as to the accuracy of the information contained herein, or for any loss arising from reliance on it.

Mail Us

Find a

arasa

NADA Newsletter | The Dealers’ Voice | April 2021