Melbourne dealer named Hyundai’s best

HYUNDAI Motor Co Australia has named Jefferson Hyundai in Victoria its ‘Platinum Dealer of the Year’ as part of the South Korean brand’s inaugural retail awards program.

Located in the south-east Melbourne suburb of Mentone, Jefferson Hyundai headed a field of 12 dealerships – from a national network of 160 outlets – that were recognised for their “exceptional efforts and consistent results” throughout 2013.

Dealer principal Greg Draffin described the award as “wonderful recognition for the enormous amount of work the team at Jefferson Hyundai have done” over the past 12 months.

“I am so proud to accept this award for the entire dealership team,” he said.

John Hughes Hyundai in Victoria Park, south-east of Perth, which has Gary Fitch at the helm, was also singled out for achieving the highest sales volume for the brand in 2013, with 5600 vehicles sold from the one dealership.

Other dealers to reach ‘platinum’ status were: Barry Smith Hyundai, NSW (Mark Fitzgerald) Booth’s Hyundai, NSW (David Booth) Castle Hill Hyundai, NSW (Brett Harrison) Gold Coast Hyundai, Qld (Brett Frizelle) JH Rosewarne, SA (David Rosewarne) Mantello Hyundai, Vic (John Solarino) Moorooka Hyundai, Qld (Todd Kibsgaard) Paul Wakeling Hyundai, NSW (Scott Wakeling) Peter Stevens Hyundai, Vic (Brett Fitzpatrick) Phil Gilbert Hyundai, NSW (Edwina Gilbert) and Stillwell Hyundai, SA (Shaun Swift).

The awards program involves monthly assessments across a number of key areas including customer satisfaction, dealership facilities, service and parts, individual business and sales targets and, Hyundai says, compliance with the car-maker’s “operational and business standards”.

HMCA chief operating officer John Elsworth said the company was “extremely proud to have the Hyundai brand represented in the Australian market by a network of dealers of this high calibre who continually strive for excellence and best business practice”.

“The Hyundai Platinum Dealer Program provides an opportunity to recognise and reward our outstanding retail business partners without whom our brand’s success would not be possible,” he said.

Hyundai sold 97,000 new vehicles in Australia last year, up 6.0 per cent on 2012 and enough for an 8.5 per cent share of the total market. It was the fourth-top-selling brand in the land, deferring only to Toyota, Holden and Mazda.