Orange dealer named Volvo’s best

VOLVO Car Australia has named John Davis Motors in Orange, New South Wales, as its 2014 Dealer of the Year.

Dealer principal Ben Davis accepted the Swedish luxury car brand’s top retail award from Volvo Car Australia’s network director Greg Bosnich and brand ambassador Matt Shirvington at a gala event held at the Sydney Opera House last night.

The first Volvo DOTY award for the family-owned regional NSW dealership ended a string of three successive wins by Penrith’s Annlyn Motors, while John Davis Motors staff also took out three individual ‘Awards of Excellence’: top sales manager (Anthony Simmons), top service manager (Tony Dobnik) and top parts manager (John Marks).

The criteria for determining the DOTY covers customer service, sales and aftersales volume and market share. Annlyn Motors clearly finished close behind John Davis Motors, also taking out three key awards: best customer service, best customer experience and highest market share.

The award for highest new-vehicle sales volume went to Scuderia Veloce Volvo Cars in Lindfield, NSW.

In accepting the DOTY award, Mr Davis described the achievement as “testament to the hard work, dedication and professionalism of the entire team at John Davis Motors”.

“It reinforces our belief in the Volvo brand, and our desire to deliver on the brand promise to our customers every day through an outstanding level of service,” he said.

“I want to thank all of our staff and our customers, who have made winning this award possible.”Volvo Car Australia posted 4693 new registrations across its dealer network in 2014, down 9.3 per cent compared with the previous year, and after two months of trading in 2015 is down 26 per cent with 630 units sold.

The brand is looking for a sales boost this year on the back of new models such as the second-generation XC90 SUV.