2019 Haval and GWM Top Technician Competition

On the 10th of October, the 2019 Top Technician Competition final, organized by HAVAL Motors South Africa was held in Johannesburg to pit the top technicians from dealer level against each other to select the top technicians representing the brand in SA. Three maintenance technicians, Hardus Vermaak from HAVAL Pinetown, Eldrich Laubscher and Bradley Wright from HAVAL EAST LONDON, won the top three positions of the competition and in doing so have become the leaders of after-sales skills in the HAVAL Motors South Africa dealer network, setting a new benchmark of maintenance skills.

Echoing the mantra of the holding company, Great Wall Motor Corporation “Improve little by little every day” Haval Motor South Africa has instilled the commitment to improve quality through continuous training and set elevated standards through skill and proficiency competitions.

The 2019 competition marks the third year that Great Wall Motors runs HAVAL DELIGHT, the customer satisfaction program as set out by the holding company. Adhering to the concept of “Continuously improving customer satisfaction and high levels of expertise as the most responsible Chinese auto brand”, HMSA constantly improves the implementation and execution of all work performed during the ownership cycle. In order to continuously improve the maintenance skills of dealer technicians, allowing them to accurately and quickly discover vehicle problems and find solutions, HAVAL Motors South Africa has held monthly training since 2018. With new contents in each training session, it ensures that each dealer is qualified and each vehicle problem can be solved timeously and thoroughly. HMSA won the Bronze Award in 2018 and the Gold Award in 2019 on Dealer Satisfaction Index Survey Awards organized by South Africa National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA), which is the most powerful endorsement of dealer satisfaction toward their OEM supplier.

In order to measure and verify the after-sales training effect of secondary dealers and discover their real-time problems in after-sales maintenance and further discover their strengths and weaknesses in their maintenance skills, HMSA changed the training format from that of passive infusion to that of active learning and promotion of second-class technicians. In September 2019 the Top Technician Competition began setting the standard for vehicle maintenance skills, starting a trend of active learning, realizing the rapid diagnosis of problems and timely finding solution of faults and improved customer satisfaction.

The competition was divided into three rounds adopting an elimination system. The first round of mass selection adopted pure theoretical testing to confirm the training effect on technicians. The group was then whittled down to the top 15 technicians selected for the semi-finals. In the semi-final, a theoretical knowledge assessment was adopted as well as a time-limited practical assessment in the form of solving of a simulated real vehicle fault created by the adjudicators. From this exercise, the top 3 technicians were selected to participate in the final round. In the final, the three technicians were required to explain through troubleshooting methods to confirm the compliance of their automobile in a theoretical basis, maintenance skills and operating steps. Finally, the ranking of the three finalists was determined.

Adhere to integrity and professionalism, and create strong service assurance

After the event, Mr Charles Zhao, General Manager of HAVAL Motors South Africa, presented the awards to the winners. After-sales service plays an important role in the operation of HAVAL Motors South Africa and the dealer. Adhering to the concept of “Continuously improving customer satisfaction and creating a pleasant experience for customers as the most responsible Chinese auto brand”, HAVAL Motors South Africa will continue to offer sincere, professional services whilst providing strong support for the after-sales service levels to the dealer. HAVAL Motors South Africa will continue to build the integrity system with service providers through the end consumers acquisition action, never forgetting the original intention of customer satisfaction and create greater value for South African motorists with the added peace of mind.