Racing towards the Arctic

Six months since its inception, the “Arctic Challenge” campaign is steadily gaining momentum. Launched by Standard Bank’s Vehicle and Asset Finance (VAF) Department the campaign is geared at awarding top vehicle salesmen and dealerships countrywide with a nine day trip to Iceland. The winners will have the opportunity to cruise in 4×4 vehicles at one of the world’s last frontiers, the Arctic. Recently, the sponsors announced the names of the best performing auto houses and salespersons to date. There are 12 categories in total: New Vehicle Mega Dealership, New Vehicle Mega Salesman, New Vehicle Macro Dealership, New Vehicle Macro Salesman, New Vehicle Country Mega Dealership, New Vehicle Country Mega Salesman, New Vehicle Country Macro Dealership, New Vehicle Country Macro Salesman, Used Vehicle Mega Dealership, Used Vehicle Mega Salesman, Used Vehicle Macro Dealership and Used Vehicle Macro Salesman.
The Economist caught up with one of the salesperson from the category of Used Vehicle Mega Salespersons to get his take on the action. Tumaini Mchombu, who has been a salesperson for four years, firstly gave his take on the overall competition, “The competition is indeed a great motivator, and it is actually an honour to be compared (i.e in the same category) to a company as big as Imperial Select cars.” He then explained, “This is the third Nomination that has come from Standard Bank, and we’ve (Auto One dealership) been awarded top dealer in our respective category for the past two years. Personally, I’ve tried to follow advice given to me by two other nominees in this competition who I feel do quite well, that is, Jurgen from Novel and Jaco from Select. Some of the suggestions and advice they have given me has proved to be invaluable.”
When asked about his chances of grabbing the main prize, this is what Tumaini had to say, “All I know is that anything is possible. I am lucky enough to be under the mentor-ship of individuals who have been in the business world for many years before me and for that I am forever grateful to them for everything that I have ever learnt and still learning.”
Standard Bank Namibia’s New Business Manager in VAF, Eugene Junius, explained how each nominee in the various categories will compete with his/her fellow nominees, “They all have a minimum target to meet per month during this campaign. The salesman who comes 1st in each category will be included in the trip to Iceland, while the 2nd and 3rd prizes will win cash prizes,”  The top performing Dealerships will also be recognized at the Annual Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance Gala event later this year.
The ‘Arctic Challenge’ follows on from the success of last year’s VAF campaign namely the “Four Nations Rugby Challenge” to Argentina and in 2011 the ‘F1 Racing Challenge’ to Italy.