From left: Andrew Hadjikakou, managing director PACCAR Australia, Maarten Durent, CEO Southpac Trucks, Graeme Gibbons, dealer principal Southpac Trucks, and Brad May, director sales and marketing PACCAR Australia.

Against a field of more than 26 top dealers across Australasia, New Zealand‘s Southpac Trucks has been crowned Kenworth Dealer of the Year 2017 for outstanding sales, service and support.

The Kenworth accolade is widely regarded as the industry‘s most sought-after prize for dealers. Open to Kenworth dealers in Australia and New Zealand, the award acknowledges excellence in, and is judged on, a points system across five main areas – overall dealer performance, truck sales, parts sales, finance, and customer support.

This is the first time the dealership has won the highest Kenworth award and was their second award for the evening after winning the PACCAR Australia Service Dealer of the Year 2017 for outstanding service.

PACCAR Australia‘s director sales and marketing, Brad May, congratulated the owners, Southpac‘s CEO Maarten Durent and Graeme Gibbons, CEO of The Colonial Motor Company LTD, at the PACCAR Dealer Awards dinner last week in Port Douglas, commending them for their outstanding standards for Kenworth sales, service and support, and their overall very impressive performance.

“The Kenworth Dealer of the Year is the result of many factors, not just who sells the most trucks, but which dealer provides the best overall performance for the customer, and the award recognises many achievements over the year. Southpac Trucks is an exemplary example of how, when a team works together to deliver superior value for its customers, it can achieve great results. This dealer continues to be successful because of its single-minded commitment to customers.

“They had a really big year and while they did all the things that were expected, it was the way the team at Southpac supports its customers, providing superior service and doing everything right by the customer in every facet of the business.”

May says Southpac‘s continued investment in new dealerships and facility upgrades and training their people is outstanding and the results were clear, and that it would be difficult to find another group that has the same culture of success and growth mind-set.

“Southpac Trucks is most deserving of this award and is an excellent example of a Kenworth dealer,” he says.

Southpac Trucks CEO, Maarten Durent, says he was pleased to accept the Kenworth award on behalf of all his staff.

“There was a huge effort put in by everyone across the entire company and the New Zealand dealer network and it is great for them to be recognised for all their hard work. We are so proud to win this and are looking forward to sharing it with everyone.”

Graeme Gibbons, Southpac‘s chairman and CEO of The Colonial Motor Company Ltd, added that when they took over the business 25 years ago they made a commitment not to let the factory get in the way of providing exceptional customer service, they just work to solve all customer issues upfront, and worry about the detail later.

“This wasn‘t achieved by just one or two people; it was achieved by our entire team. We love what we do and love trucks and to receive this award makes a great thing even better,” he says.