The evolution of Lucas Taruvinga as a brand
WITH a cumulative 20 years of experience as a financial professional in Zimbabwe, I have continually evolved to stay relevant, innovative and competitive both as an individual and a businessman at the helm of Amtec Motors. I have always ensured that the business is on a growth trajectory by meeting our customers’ current and future motoring needs, thus it has seen us expanding into the agribusiness, opening Amtec Tractors division under the TAFE franchise, and BPI and JBH for farming implements. The automotive industry and the operating environment at large is very dynamic and hence the business that I had to lead and adapt due to the demands of the environment. We are continually innovating all facets of our business, from business strategies to systems and most importantly including our staff. We are trying to be as innovative as we possibly can in order to remain relevant in this dynamic environment and a brand to reckon with in the motoring industry. At Amtec Motors we believe in taking responsibility for our results. We say ‘An excuse is not a result’.
The uniqueness of Amtec Motors, as a business I have led for the past 10 years, emanates from our ability to identify and build on competitive advantages that have differentiated us from other players in the industry. My strategic focus in this regard has been on achieving the lowest staff turnover possible, superior customer experience and satisfaction whenever a customer interacts with any of our dealerships and the highest customer retention levels attainable. The reason being that as players in the automotive industry we are basically selling the same products and what separates us from everyone else and retains the customer is their experience with our brand. Our uniqueness lies in our people whom we keep upskilling in order for them to be able to give our customers great experiences in turn.
I took over as Managing Director of Amtec Motors when the company was at its lowest in terms of the market share across all the business segments. The whole business was on a downward trend. The business had lost key skills. I had to start all over, rebuild the Amtec brand, re-skill the personnel and to date we have reclaimed our lost market share. The storm is over and we are rebuilding a world- class dealership.
During my tenure as the Managing Director of Amtec Motors we have seen our share of the Total Industry Volume ( TIV) growing from 0.81% in 2014 to a current share of 8.25% YTD 2020. The Amtec Motors share of Nissan in Zimbabwe has also risen from 6% to 34% during the same period and branch footprint has grown from 4 branches in Harare, Bulawayo, Gweru and Mutare to opening new branches in Masvingo and Victoria Falls. All this has been achieved by quality customer service and retention, staff development, engagement, retention, enterprise efficiency, growth and innovation plus the shared vision that Amtec Motors is a going concern with a bright future, despite the many hurdles and challenges we faced.
The key factors in keeping a brand relevant includes brand evolution in a way that differentiates it from competitors at the same time meeting the needs of its customers. That is exactly how Amtec Motors has been evolving over the years. A decade from now Amtec Motors will remain an innovative market leader with a wider national footprint, a wider customer base possibly with more international franchises under its stable, hopefully vision under my leadership.
Over the years, I have learnt effective communication is the key ingredient in leading an organization. The role of the Head of the organization acts as the bridge between the organisation and its key stakeholders. I have learnt that our uniqueness as a business does not lie in the goods and services that we sell. Those can be found in our competition. Even our technology and infrastructure is duplicated in our highly competitive industry, but our human resources are unique to Amtec Motors. Within our personnel lies great business ideas hence my greatest focus has been on building our human capital. With happy personnel, customers and all the other stakeholders are naturally taken care of.