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Powerful 20 Performance Years
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The last 12 months have been fantastic for Subaru says Ashley Lazarus, marketing manager at Subaru Southern Africa, not least because it celebrated 20 years of operation within SA.
By Ian Armitage
hat a year 2012 has been for Japanese auto manufacturer Subaru Southern Africa (SSA). The brand kicked off with the launch of the allnew Subaru XV, which included a national TV advertising campaign that you can’t have failed to notice, and saw the firm smash all its sales forecasts and even run out of stock in the second month. “It was fantastic,” says Subaru Southern Africa’s marketing manager Ashley Lazarus. “Positioned below our bigger Subaru Forester, XV was launched into a very competitive crossover market. Backed by a strong advertising campaign, we exceeded our initial sales forecast, to the point of being out of stock in month two of launch. The XV has done well for us in opening up Subaru to a younger customer profile compared to our traditional older customer.” There was another benefit. “The XV also brought to market the new product development philosophy from Fuji Heavy Industries, reflecting Subaru’s new focus on interior refinement, sleeker exterior design and improved engine and transmission efficiencies, with improved performance dynamics and lower fuel economy,” Lazarus adds. “The same product developmental philosophy will follow through in the next generation 2013 Forester, due for launch in March 2013.” Subaru Southern Africa has been busy. In addition to the new vehicle launches and the introduction of its new “new product development philosophy”, it has also upgraded its dealership network, relocating and re-launching a new outlet in the Johannesburg suburb of Bruma. Lazarus says it was a “was a wonderful opportunity” for the brand to introduce a “new look Subaru retail concept”. “As it is known, Subaru Johannesburg, which is fully owned by Subaru Southern Africa, was relocated from its previous site to its current www.southafricamag.com
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bigger and more prominent location,” he says. “The opening ceremony of this flagship facility took place in March, and with it the new look-and-feel retail concept was launched. Customer feedback and experience with the new dealership has proved positive, but more importantly their satisfaction with the overall brand engagement from sales to aftersales has been enhanced – this being a core element of the Subaru brand experience.” Now as great as all this is, it is surpassed. 2012 has also seen Subaru Southern Africa celebrate 20 years of operation in South Africa. “We turned 20,” Lazarus 4
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Satisfaction with the overall brand engagement from sales to aftersales has been enhanced
says. “Recognising the important contribution from all stakeholders, such as our manufacturer (Fuji Heavy Industries), to our shareholder (the Toyota Tsusho Corporation), our dealers and service centres, and most importantly our loyal passionate customers, the celebration of this significant milestone provided the perfect opportunity to reflect on the company’s history and accomplishments to date, as well as to fervently strengthen the course and positioning for future success. “After 20 years it all boils down to what our customers think about us. To have also been voted as
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the number one most-loved cars in South Africa by Subaru owners according to the 2012 AutoBrand Survey is the highest honour we could receive. In a market with over 70 automotive brands, with many models and grades available, this is an amazing accolade for us to have achieved. This achievement follows on from us attaining the number one position in 2011 as well. The survey is considered the biggest automotive survey of its kind in SA, and is conducted for Ramsay Media, the biggest local auto magazine.” Part of the 20-years celebration campaign included the launch of a special edition Subaru Forester kitted out with an accessory package, specially tailored for use in South Africa’s off-road and bush context, Lazarus adds. “Also, Scoobyfest, an annual Subaru Owners Club event, culminated in close onto 80 owners converging for a funfilled day of varied challenges including skidpan activities, hillclimbs and race track
driving time trials,” he says. “The day bore testament to the love and passion, which our customers exhibit for our brand, and was a wonderful way to celebrate the brands 20 years of existence in South Africa. The day’s attendance is considered to be one of the biggest gatherings of any automotive owners groups in SA, for any one specific brand.” Now it doesn’t stop there (I told you Subaru Southern Africa had been busy!). 2012 also saw the Subaru team put in a great performance in the Bridgestone Production Car Championship, including a second place finish overall from driver Hennie Groenewald. Lazarus says that all within the Subaru Southern Africa family are “extremely proud” of their achievements. “Both our team drivers Hennie Groenewald and Richard Pinard did well despite very strong competition from the BMW and Audi teams,” he says. “Hennie managed to finish second overall in the championship, which is a great achievement www.southafricamag.com
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considering our competitors have a competitive edge due to newer race cars, compared to our cars being four years old. Hennie finished the season with the most number of wins by any driver, and expectation is high for 2013, as we will be racing a new pair of Subaru STI sedans.” It hasn’t been all good news, however. One big challenge for Subaru Southern Africa this past year has been the appreciation of the Japanese yen against rand. With all but one model fully imported from Japan, the strengthening of the yen has impacted significantly on its price competitiveness and positioning, and has also hampered Subaru Southern Africa’s ability to trade effectively at a retail level, due to lower levels of profitability. “Competition has been rife, especially against Japanese competitors who are sourcing vehicles from outside Japan, and those who manufacture in South Africa with import duty tariff reductions,” Lazarus says. “Across the entire automotive industry, even premium German luxury brands 6
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have pursued strong price discounting and incentive campaigns. For Subaru Southern Africa, competing in such a price-driven market has proven challenging against the backdrop of higher importation costs due to the strong yen.” Just as well then that Subaru is a brand South Africans have grown to trust. Subaru Southern Africa places a strong emphasis on ‘superior customer service and satisfaction’ and is known for its brand promise of “Confidence in Motion”. Being ranked #1 in Dealer Service ratings across the industry in the 2012 AutoBrand Survey, which Lazarus mentioned earlier, doesn’t hurt either. “That is a remarkable achievement for us, considering our brand size in SA and the stiff competition especially from the premium luxury brands who pride themselves as being superior in the arena of customer service,” he says. “Being recognised for our superior dealer service is a great demonstration of the dealer network’s commitment to our brand in South Africa, and our on-going
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“Through the use of state-of-the-art bulk tankers, we pride ourselves in unmatched levels of service and industry expertise gained from our industry leading partnership with Faith Wheels tankers.” “Elegant Fuel always strives to put the customer first by introducing industry-leading cost-cutting measures and passing these savings on to our customers.” “It is interesting to note that in these financially troubled times, Elegant Fuel is still seen as a lucrative investment opportunity with low risks and high rewards by investors from both the public and private sector.” Elegant Fuel also enjoys a Level 4 BEE rating and is certified by the Department of Energy, speaking volumes of its commitment to transformation within the petroleum industry. Doing business with Elegant Fuel has now become even easier, with online orders allowing increased ease of purchase. Also available online is a list of representatives that cover the various areas. The company prides itself on its 100% no contamination record, which speaks volumes of the quality of the products and the integrity of management. Given the integrity, expertise, passion, hard work and commitment produced by the Elegant Fuel team, our market-leading performance comes as no surprise.
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pursuit of enriching the customer experience with us. Of course, there are still areas for improvement within this, but at least we know that the investment put into this is already paying off and certainly heading in the right direction.” The future is bright for Subaru Southern Africa. The automotive market has experienced double-digit growth compared to 2011, with strong growth especially within the entry-level segments, in passenger car, SUV and crossover segments. Lazarus says the market is very price conscious, with a lot of price discounting, discounted monthly finance deals with residuals and trade cover assistance deals being offered continually. South Africa has around 70 automotive brands all fighting for a slice of a market, which is no bigger than 700,000 units annually, he says. “Right now the customers are in the best position, as they are spoilt for choice
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in terms of automotive brands on offer, and their numerous discounted offers available,” Lazarus explains. “Based on recentlylowered economic growth expectations for SA at levels around three percent, the automotive market forecasters are predicting single digit growth for 2013 of around seven percent, which seems reasonable.” Indeed, while those figures might not seem high, I’m sure automakers in Europe are green with envy. “There is a lot on the agenda for 2013,” Lazarus adds. “From a product perspective, our next generation Forester is our biggest product launch in 2013. Representing 50 percent of total sales for Subaru Southern Africa, this model is significantly important as the key product within our Subaru Lifestyle product line-up. “In 2012, we worked on building awareness for our Forester name-plate through TV and print advertising, in preparation for our 2013 Forester launch. For 2013, we will look to harness the heightened
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We will also continue to delight our customers with superior service and outstanding satisfaction levels
awareness around Forester and leverage this strength to build demand for the new model. “Our key communication goal in 2013 is to grow brand awareness around the Subaru brand DNA. Together with Porsche, we are the only other automotive brand to use the Boxer® engine layout, providing a lower centre of gravity, resulting in a higher level of driving balance and stability. Our Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive™ system, which is standard across our current model line-up except in the BRZ, is renowned for its impeccable levels of handling and grip. This year marked the 40th year of Symmetrical AWD anniversary since its first introduction. Subaru is also synonymous with having received arguably the highest safety ratings across the industry. In combination with the engineering safety dynamics of Symmetrical All-Wheel Drive™, active and passive safety tools such as our RingShaped Reinforcement™ technology, it is easy to understand the five-star EuroNCAP, ANCAP and JNCAP safety ratings across the line-up. “Dealer network expansion is also vital for us to grow our physical footprint across Southern Africa. Presently, we are represented by 11 dealerships and four service centres and evaluation of further brand representation is underway in order to reach new market locations. Subsequent to this, we will also continue to delight our customers with superior service and outstanding satisfaction levels. It is important for us as a smaller player within the overall market that we capitalise on our ability to interact and engage directly with our customers on a deeper level. There has been strong growth specifically within the rental and fleet segments of the automotive market. This has not been an area of focus for Subaru Southern Africa, due to limited product offering suitable for these sectors. With our new XV and the soon-to-be-launched Forester, we will look to focus on these sectors with the total cost of ownership being a strong factor in our favour.” Subaru has always been associated with powerful performance vehicles. The brand wants to offer Subaru owners adaptive ways to enrich their lives through a uniquely satisfying driving experience. END To learn more visit www.subaru.co.za. www.southafricamag.com
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