Relationships – whether business or personal – are built on trust. In the motor industry, customer loyalty is built from two elements of trust: in the vehicle itself and in the dealer network. For Durban operator Donovan McGill, of Don’s Deliveries, his relationship with his Iveco vehicles has been forged from both of those pillars of trust.
His family of Ivecos have given him the sort of reliability and economy of operation which is vital for a transport business, where volumes are high and margins are low.
“Any downtime means no money coming in” and, therefore, a severe impact on the profitability of the business, says Donovan. And that is why he appreciates not only Iveco, but the company’s operation in KwaZulu-Natal, KZN Iveco.
Part of the Larimar group of companies, KZN Iveco is the official dealership for both light and heavy commercial vehicles in the province. Donovan says he gets “exceptional service” from KZN Iveco, and in particular from Brenden Duthie, who is the General Manager of that operation.
“Brenden and his team know my business and understand how important it is for us to keep our vehicles on the road. And he goes above and beyond, he goes that extra mile in helping us out.”
On occasions, when Donovan has had vehicles out of commission , Brenden has stepped in immediately and offered to loan him a vehicle to tide him over. “Once, one of my vehicles had been in an accident when it was in Johannesburg and Brenden got us one of his demos so we could complete the trip. “That’s the sort of thing you don’t forget. That’s what has made us friends. And that’s what makes me buy Iveco vehicles again and again.”
For Donovan, the service he gets from KZN Iveco far surpasses that of any other manufacturers in the commercial sector.
“There is really no comparison. These days, to be honest, many of the vehicles in the same category are quality vehicles, but what really makes the difference with Iveco is that service.” As far as Donovan is concerned, “Brenden could show the rest of the industry how you should do customer service.”
Donovan’s Stralis vehicles do the linehaul work to and from Durban, as well as all around KZN and further afield to East London and Port Elizabeth.
“One of our Daily vans clocks up about 11 000 km a month – which is about five times what a normal motorist does – and they give us no problems.”
At the same time, Donovan is also impressed with the fuel consumption on all his Ivecos, but especially the vans: on the long hauls they return around 10.5 litres per 100km and, even in dense, stop-start city driving, they seldom go above 12.5l/100km. The Ivecos are also comfortable vehicles for the long haul, which is important for safety. But, when summing up his relationship with Iveco, Donovan returns again to Brenden and KZN Iveco.
“They are part of my family now…”
