Garnet Meyiwa started working as a salesman at Nissan Empangeni in 1983.
Seeing that in the motor trade some salespeople can be found working at three different companies in the space of a week, this must be somesort of record.
In his 30 years at Nissan, Garnet has seen about just as many salesmen come and go on the showroom floor as he had sold cars.
He recalls the early days clearly and the vehicles he sold back then – Datsun Stanzas, Laurels, Pulsars and 1400 bakkies.
Then, what is known today as Imperial Nissan Empangeni, was called Intercity Nissan.
Hailing from Mtubatuba, he is a Zululander at heart and remembers being sent by his father on a bicycle to sell pineapples in town.
He could carry 20 pineapples at a time, says Garnet, and sometimes a few would fall off and he would be at a loss.
Selling fruit as a boy taught him that there was money to be made in sales.
He initially worked for the Mtubatuba Nissan dealership before being approach by Piet Louw from Intercity Nissan.
Having heard stories of sales people being given the sambok, he was reluctant at first to join the Empangeni team, but Piet assured him that it happened only in cases where company cars were being abused.
He decided to take Piet up on his offer, and since then have sold approximately 4 500 vehicles.
Gratitude
Ten years ago he became somewhat sought-after as a key player in the local motoring field.
The opposition recognised his valuable skills and a number of dealerships made him offers which were hard to refuse.
But in the end it was his dedication to his clients that made him stay put.
In his own words, ‘After so many years selling Nissans, what would my customers say if they see me driving something else?’
Selling cars had taught him that a man is able to write his own paycheck and while Garnet is planning on retiring soon, he says he first want to sell some of the new Nissan Almeras which has just arrived.
He is also extremely thankful to the thousands of people who bought cars from him during his 30 years at Nissan.
All the staff and customers of Imperial Nissan Zululand would like to congratulate Garnet on his achievement.
‘Thank you for your excellent service through all the years’
