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CONSTRUCTION WORLD
AUGUST
2015
EQUIPMENT
Port Elizabeth Truck & Bus (formerly
AAD Truck & Bus) has been an inde-
pendent MAN new vehicle sales and
service dealership since 2008 and is located in
Algoa Park, just off the N2.
Geoff du Plessis, managing director of MAN
Truck & Bus South Africa, who headed up MAN
TopUsed world-wide from 2010 to March 2013,
states: “MAN has always recognised the impor-
tance of a proprietary used-vehicle division as
a value-driver in the sale of its new trucks and
buses. Having an MAN TopUsed dealership
in Port Elizabeth linked to one of our most
successful private-capital dealer partners will
significantly enhance our market offering in the
Eastern Cape region.“
According to Port Elizabeth Truck & Bus
dealer principal, Sash Mitchell,“Since the re-turn
of Geoff du Plessis to South Africa in 2013, nego-
tiations commenced to grow the Port Elizabeth
Truck & Bus franchise into a comprehensive
MAN dealership, offering not only new vehicle
sales and after-sales service, but also to include
the international brand of MAN TopUsed.”
FIRST INDEPENDENT USED FRANCHISE
With its parent company, MAN AG, in 2013 assigning priority status
to its TopUsed vehicle divisions in Europe and South Africa, MAN
Truck & Bus South Africa has issued its first independent TopUsed
franchise to Port Elizabeth Truck & Bus, a subsidiary of AAD Group,
bringing MAN‘s national TopUsed footprint to six dealerships.
From left: Malgoshia Shub – brand image
specialist, MAN Truck & Bus; Gert Fourie
– asset manager, planning & steering, MAN
TopUsed; Sash Mitchell – dealer principal of
Port Elizabeth Truck & Bus Centre; Deon
Otto – national key accounts manager of
MAN Truck & Bus SA and Emir Solapgir –
head of MAN TopUsed SA.
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As an extension of the MAN brand, MAN
TopUsed has well-defined quality management
guidelines to ensure customers purchase with
confidence, says Emir Solapgir, head of MAN
TopUsed SA.“There is 100 percent transparency
on the status of every TopUsed truck or bus,
with every vehicle on offer having undergone
thorough checks to ascertain overall condition
and to ensure the mileage is genuine.“
To further differentiate itself from competitor
used truck and bus dealers, MAN TopUsed sales
personnel are skilled to offer fleet consultanting
services to customers, including optimum
vehicle selection and the sourcing of trailers,
especially to start-up operations, which form
the bulk of TopUsed’s market base. Financing
facilities via MAN Financial Services is another
key market differentiator for TopUsed dealers,
adds Solapgir.
“Customers have easy accessability to the
MAN TopUsed website and are able to view our
range of quality certified vehicles. Each MAN
TopUsed Centre has access to the full range of
the used vehicles in the Central Stock of MAN
TopUsed SA and customers can purchase any
unsold vehicle. Our vehicles are readily trans-
ported countrywide to customers fromanyMAN
TopUsed Centre,“ says Solapgir.
Integral to improving the performance of
MAN TopUsed dealerships is the positioning
of the brand in the used commercial vehicle
market, which is dominated by private (non-
OEM) dealerships. The solid track record Port
Elizabeth Truck & Bus has established over
the years and its high-visibility location along-
side the N2 will serve well in establishing the
TopUsed brand in the region, says Solapgir.