Nissan swept the boards at the 2003 Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (Savrala) Awards recently, walking off with the overall title of Manufacturer of the Year and emerging as the gold award-winner in both the leasing and rental sections of the prestigious competition.
Nissan finished with a combined overall score for the competition of 70,9, followed by Ford/Mazda (67,8), Volkswagen (64,1), Delta Motor Corporation (63,2) and Toyota (61,6).
Nissan was dominant in the leasing section, winning the gold from Ford/Mazda (silver) and Volkswagen (bronze), and again in the rental section where the company took the gold ahead of DaimlerChrysler (silver) and BMW (bronze).
The rental and leasing industry currently controls or influences one-third of all new vehicle purchases in South Africa and the Savrala Awards reflect the market’s recognition of the hard work and effort being expended to deliver world-class service levels within the South African automotive industry.
“We consider this award as high recognition indeed and are honoured to receive it,” said Mike Whitfield, sales and marketing director of Nissan South Africa.
“Last year, after winning a bronze award in the rental section, we made a conscious decision to become major players in the provision of products and services to the leasing and rental industries and set about putting into place the people, systems and structures to reach this objective.”
Savrala is the only recognised national body within the fleet market, although it only represents the rental and leasing industry. The award and recognition within this important segment is also closely monitored by all major fleet users outside of that industry and is seen as an excellent representative sample of each manufacturer’s performance within the overall fleet arena.