COMPANY PROFILE
2014
Williams Hunt
Speeding towards increased market share
company profile
Speeding towards increased market share
Editorial: Roland Douglas Production: James Clark As one of the oldest automotive brands in the country, Williams Hunt has undertaken a long and challenging journey to the top. Even though the company has seen much success there is still a drive to further increase market share. Ben Robertson, New Vehicle Sales Manager at Williams Hunt Fourways explains more…
The transport industry in South Africa is vital for the continued growth of the economy. The government has highlighted the industry as a key contributor to South Africa’s competitiveness in global markets. Transport incorporates many market segments from corporate logistics, people movement, market migration and international market penetration to name just a few sectors but probably the most recognisable and familiar of all of these is the private vehicle market; where the general public buy new and used cars and other vehicles. Without this sector what would business be? Employees need transport to get to work, customers need their cars to get to the shops, delivery companies need their vehicles – it is imperative that the automotive sector thrives. One of the industry leaders in this sector is Williams Hunt, a company that has been proudly serving the
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South African public since 1903 as part of the General Motors South Africa (GMSA) family. Williams Hunt provides full sales and after sales backing for all GMSA vehicles, including honouring all warranties, service and maintenance plans, parts supply and all other areas of after sales support for Chevrolet, Opel and Isuzu vehicles. The company also provides full after sales support for Hummer, Saab and Cadillac brands. New Vehicle Sales Manager at Williams Hunt Fourways, Ben Robertson tells IndustrySA that the business has its sights set firmly on increasing its market share throughout 2014. “What we would like to do is use our existing structure to grow our market share by 2-3% so we can meet our target share, set by the manufacturer, of 12%. We need another 2% of all cars sold in South Africa to be from our brands. This target market share is split, under the GM
Williams Hunt
banner, between the three brands that we sell; 8% for Chevrolet, 3% for Isuzu and 1% for Opel,” he says. This target will be achieved by leveraging Williams Hunt’s national footprint which comprises 19 GMSA franchise outlets and around 800 people. As for expanding this national footprint, the company has come a long way since its establishment and is looking for continued growth. However, the manufacturer does not want the market to become overly congested so there are limits to the amount of dealerships that can be opened as Robertson explains. “The amount of dealerships is determined by the manufacturer. We started out with six in Jo’burg, one in Cape Town and one in Durban and over the years we have acquired other dealerships along the way. “We’ve just taken over the Reeds Group which had seven branches in the Cape Town area but there’s a
limited amount of available points from one manufacturer and you can’t really go beyond that. Unless there’s a single point dealer who’s battling financially and it suits us to grow our footprint by taking them over, it’s not something that will benefit. “It’s not like a food chain; we don’t want to be on every corner. The manufacturer only allows a certain amount of dealers because each needs to be able to be profitable and have its own customer base so we don’t want to swamp the market.” When it comes to cross-border expansion, a strategy that is now almost the norm for many South African companies, Robertson says that the business is not currently looking to focus too much on Africa. “It is not currently within our plans to have a multinational footprint,” he says. “There are GM dealers across Africa but it’s not really on the cards for Williams Hunt.”
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Nevertheless, GMSA remains one of the top three car brands in the country with the Chevrolet Utility remaining ever popular and the Chevrolet Sonic making waves in its sector and the Williams Hunt outlets are a huge part of this success.
A LONG JOURNEY Williams Hunt has a long and fascinating history and its roots stretch as far back as 1886 and visionary of the time Henry Hunt, an Englishman who had moved to SA with the hope of making a fortune on Kimberley’s diamond fields. After struggling initially with various business ventures, Hunt moved to Johannesburg and saw a gap in the transport market; at the time the horse and carriage was the recognised method and if you couldn’t afford a horse you bought a bike. Hunt, along with a partner, opened a bicycle shop in 1903 in downtown Jo’burg, unwittingly creating the foundations for the success of Williams Hunt. In the beginning, the business was a great success but after time began to struggle and Hunt himself began to struggle; failing in attempts to bring his wife out from London. Eventually, two of Hunt’s three sons joined him in SA and helped with the running of the business but it still wasn’t enough. Finally, Hunt’s wife arrived in SA and bought with her a much needed cash injection of £300.
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This resulted in a change of fortunes for the business but the real turnaround came when the Hunt’s helped introduce the Indian Motor Cycle to SA. Previous attempts to introduce motorbikes to SA had failed mainly because they were difficult to maintain and could not handle the rugged SA conditions. The Indian however,
“We need another 2% of all cars sold in South Africa to be from our brands” was sturdier and the Hunts’ popularised the vehicle with innovative marketing stunts. Following the success of the bike, the first Williams Hunt branch was opened in 1914 in Durban and more followed. Even though the Indian was popular, times were changing and the future of transport was the car. After dipping into the market, the Hunts found the perfect vehicle for SA terrain during a trip to the USA - the Chevrolet 490. This sparked the beginning of a long standing relationship between the two companies. Today, Williams Hunt is under new ownership. “It has changed hands a number of times over the years. It has been part of the Unitrans Group for quite someGrain time,Silo
Williams Hunt probably around 20 years now, and recently Unitrans was taken under the wing of Steinhoff International and that is our holding company,” explains Robertson. The set-up of each of the motor businesses under the Unitrans brand has its own targets and its own management and Robertson says that everything is geared towards increasing market share. “Unitrans has many divisions including a dedicated motor division. Within the group we have different franchises including Nissan, BMW, Mercedes Benz, General Motors, Toyota and even a MAN truck dealership. Each of these franchises has a Franchise Director who heads up the brand within the group and then each branch is run by a Dealer Principal. “You have targets that are set by the manufacturer on volumes and purchasing of parts, then you have financial targets that are set by the cost structure of your business and by Unitrans. It’s all based on a market share penetration strategy,” he says.
PEOPLE POWER Under the Dealer Principal and Franchise Director, there is a mix or expertise and skills. Williams Hunt is very keen to harness these skills and develop them to ensure that customers get the best possible service. This means
training employees to the highest of standards. “We are very open to training new people in the industry” says Robertson, “however; a large amount of our workforce is on the technical side which means they need to get a technical qualification that will allow them to work on the vehicles. “We have a very strong apprenticeship programme across the country so we take on people and train them up so they can filter into our workforce.” Robertson also explains that the company is very active in the community and, together with GMSA, places a large emphasis on upliftment. He says that a very aggressive affirmative action plan to grow the business’s BEE component is in place and the company is also open to working with individual dealers to support worthy projects. “Together with GM we are involved in schooling projects where we provide food for children and we are also involved with individual dealers in the local community; whatever the need may be in the specific area, we identify it and support it best we can,” he says.
DRIVING FORWARD The future holds much promise for Williams Hunt. Using its vast and wide ranging experience, the company
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Williams Hunt has managed to position itself amongst the leaders in the industry. When asked which part of the business is the most important for growth over the coming years, Robertson suggests that each division supports the next but sales and service remain prevalent parts of the business. “Of course, there is certainly a drive for new car and used car volume” he says “but we wouldn’t have a business if it wasn’t for the service centre. Obviously, the parts centre supports the service centre and the finance and admin centres are the support structure for the other divisions so all parts of the business work hand-in-hand.” When it comes to marketing, the Williams Hunt brand is extremely recognisable; the shimmering blue lights that illuminate the Fourways dealership at night make it quite the sight but of course lighting is not the only promotion that goes on. The company is keen to let the products speak for themselves and actively encourages customers to get behind the wheel. “A lot of the time, we will supply people with test vehicles for their honest and unbiased opinion. It’s something we do on an on-going basis; we like to invite the public to ‘ride and drive days’ so they can judge the cars for themselves. “We’ve had one recently in Kyalami and another
coming up in Nasrec. It’s a great opportunity for us the let the people see the vehicles, touch and feel, and experience ride quality so it is a strategy of ours and allows people to experience the brand first hand,” says Robertson. And it seems as though this strategy is working as Robertson says that Williams Hunt is a top player in terms of market share across the entire country. “There’s always a battle for the top three positions in our market. I would definitely peg us as a consistent player in the top five as far as market share goes in South Africa,” he says. With a dedicated and highly skilled team, an ambitious and aspiring leadership team and the quality and world renowned expertise of GM behind it, it seems that Williams Hunt has all the components to drive forward quickly and achieve its target of increased market share while delighting drivers along the way.
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“We have a very strong apprenticeship programme across the country”
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www.williamshunt.co.za/contact/fourways (011)557 3200
(0)1603 618 000 info@industrysa.com East Coast Promotions Ltd, Ferndale Business Centre, 1 Exeter Street. Norwich, Norfolk NR2 4QB