Understand the business of cars

The Fourways Chamber of Commerce and Industry hosted its monthly Networking with a Purpose event for business owners in the area to meet, learn and share.

The event was hosted at Riboville Boutique Hotel in Kyalami, and the organisation welcomed Marq Roberts, the chief executive officer for the Fury Motor Group, as guest speaker. He was welcomed by Richard Lyon of the chamber.

Roberts was invited to give a presentation based on his years of experience in the field and shared insider tips with attendees on how to make their next motor purchase a pleasure.

He has about 20 years experience in the industry and used his time to discuss questions and issues he often gets asked about. “I don’t want to bore you with the facts and statistics of the industry, but I can tell you that [car sales] are a parameter of the economy,” he said during his presentation.

“It sometimes seems like how to buy a car is quite obvious, but looking at the questions I get from people it’s not so obvious.”

Roberts gave a number of useful tips to his audience, some of which are listed below. The day ended off with questions from the audience before an informal networking session began.

Understand what you need

Know what you’re looking for in a car. What is the vehicle going to be used for? What sort of price category can you afford? Do you want a new or used vehicle? Will it be used for business, personal use, or a mixture of the two? You should start your search with answering the broader questions which will help you make your decision.

Ownership isn’t everything

Roberts explained that to many South Africans, it seems important to be the owner of your car. This is not the trend in the rest of the world, where trends have moved away from ownership and towards long-term renting of vehicles. In places such as the United States and United Kingdom, about 80 per cent of the time people merely rent vehicles and consider them less of an asset and more of a cost.

Know the terminology

When making a big purchase, make sure you know what the jargon means so you don’t get caught unprepared. Roberts particularly stressed that one should know the difference between a warranty, maintenance plan and servicing plan when it comes to car ownership.

Understand all the costs

Roberts stressed that buyers needed to understand the full financial commitment they were making with their purchase: besides considering the monthly price for a vehicle, one should also be aware of costs such as insurance and fuel when looking at what you can afford.

The next Networking with a Purpose event will be held on the first Tuesday in August at Cosmo City Industrial Park and will be specifically geared towards businesses in the hospitality sector. For more information, contact the Fourways Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Our role as the chamber in Fourways is to connect small business to big business,” Lyon told the Fourways Review. “We want to bring businesses in the area together to do business in a way that is better for everyone.”

Details: Richard Lyon richard.lyons@fcci.org.za; 086 101 9218; 083 625 7721.

Related article:

https://www.citizen.co.za/fourways-review/309410/touch-perfect-football-club-raises-bar-soccer-kyalami/