Mamohlakola Letuka
NEDBANK Lesotho last Saturday held an automotive show at the Maseru Mall in an attempt to strengthen the relationship between car dealers and its clients.
Over 10 car brands were on exhibition with the financial institution saying it was pleased with the response after “at least 40 clients expressed interest having found their dream cars at the show”.
Nedbank Lesotho Head Retail and Distribution, Moeketsi Mafereka, said the show was also necessitated by the immense competition in the vehicle loan market.
“Given the tight competition in the banking industry, and in particular the Vehicle Loan market, it is essential that we continue to introduce innovative product offerings,” Mr Mafereka said.
“We therefore launched an asset-based finance campaign which will run for the next two months. The auto show was therefore part of this much bigger campaign, but had specific objectives as outlined below among them to increase brand awareness and retain existing customers.”
He said the show was also aimed at enhancing working relationships with car dealers and increasing vehicle and asset finance sales volumes for current and new customers.
“In addition, the auto show was also intended to bring car dealers to showcase their new models to our clients, both current and prospective,” Mafereka said.
“Furthermore, we were bringing delightful clients experiences to our beloved clients by doing credit assessments and application approvals on the spot. We brought services closer to our clients, which included insurance brokers, shortening the lead time to complete the entire credit application process.”
Among the brands on display on the day were Mercedes Benz, Toyota, Kia, Volkswagen, Renault, Audi, Ford, Jaguar, Isuzu and BMW.
It was however the BMW X2 Sport 2019 edition that stole the show. The lustrous model bullied most of the cars at the show with its 2.0litre petrol that was on display.
The car fits well into the BMW family with its astounding take off of about 100km/h in just 6.4 seconds while it has 260km/h dashboard. It is an all-wheel drive turbocharged 4-cylinder engine and has an eight 8-speed automatic transmission.
A representative from the dealership attested that they had so far sold only two cars at their Bloemfontein showroom. The car comes in two engines, the petrol and the diesel which are both 2.0litre and the sport version has a base price of M800 000.
The car has a deceptive seemingly small size from the outside while it has extensive legroom for both the rear and front passengers while the driver’s seat has three pre-set position profiles.
The headroom and luggage space slightly smaller that of its predecessor, the X1.
