Selling cars can be a funny business

In a world – the automotive world – where marketing in most cases follows the rather boring picture and price recipe, Wayne takes a different approach.

With his humorous and catchy TikTok videos Wayne does not only breathe new life into the marketing side of the car business, but one of his videos received 147 000 views. Now if that does not have serious brand influencer written all over it, then nothing does.

Wayne is the Sales Manager at the dealership, and with 18 years of experience under his belt in the car sales business, he has decided to take the marketing of the product and dealership to the next level.

“It is a competitive business with new brands entering the South African market constantly. I believe in doing things to get people’s attention to what we have on offer. Looking at the response not only to my videos but also regarding the product, and boy oh boy, I sincerely believe Foton is going to make big waves,” he tells Dealerfloor.

The idea of the videos is shared with his “video director”, Nqobi Dlwati, the dealership’s lead master, looking at marketing and following up on every lead they get. Between the two of them, their creativity has no boundaries.

“Although an idea may suddenly pop up in our minds, we plan and execute it carefully as the message and image we want to get across are of vital importance to us. We are also careful not to lose our unique approach.

“Yes, funny draws a lot of attention, but we also make more serious videos demonstrating specific aspects of the vehicles. It is not only to entertain, but also to inform and educate,” Wayne says.

Wayne says the Foton brand is becoming very popular even with customers who still have the previous generation from way back then are looking very positively at the latest incarnation of the Chinese brand’s offering.

“It is not only the price aspect and value for money that the Foton offers that attract buyers’ attention,” he says. “The fact that under its skin, Foton uses well-known mechanical hardware like the famous Cummins engines to Mitsubishi-originated engines, gearboxes, diffs, transfer cases and other equipment all provided by the best in the world, makes the product popular. It is a case of tried and tested,” he says.

Wayne tells Dealerfloor there is also a growing interest in the minibus taxis Foton provides, and besides the bakkies and other products, the taxis are really taking off. In terms of bakkies, he says they have a healthy mix between workhorse and leisure bakkies, which is always a good sign for a brand.

And how did he get into the vehicle retail business? “In my younger years, I moved to Mbombela as I felt I needed a change of scenery and there I found my first job in the motor industry by begging a dealership non-stop for an opportunity. After the fourth day of asking, I got the job and I have never looked back,” he tells us.

Wayne worked at different dealerships with various brands over the last 18 years and in a number of capacities, building up his knowledge about all aspects of the business. He became a Mazda specialist and worked at several Mazda dealerships, before being asked to take the lead as Sales Manager at the multi-franchise of which Foton is now part.

“I just got a good vibe about Foton from day one, and I knew this brand was going places. I am going to play my part in making it happen,” Wayne concludes.