Alghanim Automotive wins GM technicians competition – 1960 dealer technicians in Middle East participate in event

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KUWAIT CITY, Nov 29: Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons Automotive, the exclusive distributor of both Chevrolet and Cadillac vehicles in Kuwait, adds a new entry in its achievement record by winning first place at one of the biggest automotive service competitions in the region. Organized by General Motors, the competition rated the skills and proficiency of 40 authorized auto technicians in the Middle East wherein Alghanim Automotive’s very own team came on top.

The annual competition, now in its eighth year, is inspired by General Motor’s “Fix It Right First Time” program, where the technician team at Alghanim Automotive service centers, as well as Chevrolet and Cadillac service centers across the Middle East, are considered to be certifiably competent to not only diagnose any fault or malfunction but fix it as well on the first time, thereby elevating the customer’s trust of their favorite automotive brand and peace of mind. About 40 top auto technicians from General Motors competed last week in Dubai for the honor to be named the best in the region. And it should be noted that this is not the first win for Alghanim Automotive in this esteemed competition, as they had placed 1st in 2014, and 5th and 6th in 2015.

The triumph of Yusuf A. Alghanim & Sons Automotive comes as a result of the comprehensive training opportunities that its technicians avail of all year long, in addition to them bring provided with the latest and most advanced service equipment that would ensure their job gets done on time while meeting customer service standards.

“Our main aim at GM is to be customer centric; so naturally, making sure customer vehicles are fixed to the highest standard possible is a critical part of this,” said Mario A. Spangenberg, President and Managing Director of GM Africa and Middle East. “This commitment to our customers is part of our culture at GM. This competition is one of the many ways we encourage our technicians to develop their craft in order to provide our customers with the best after sales experience possible.”

After having gone through a qualification process over the past year, the 40 finalists met in Dubai to compete in a series of tasks to test their technical skills, they diagnosed and fixed 40 purposely booby-trapped vehicles. The competition is refereed by 20 judges from General Motors as well as third party experts from several different areas of relevant focus.

The group collectively fixed 10 issues over 10 hours during the two-day event.

The winner of the competition was Sherwin Anthony Ribeiro, an Indian national, who is a technician for the Yusuf Ahmad Alghanim & Sons Co (Chevrolet and Cadillac), followed by his colleague in the company Willbold Bensley at 3rd position. Sherwin scored the most points for his accuracy and speed in diagnosing 10 difficult issues on various vehicles, be they from Cadillac or Chevrolet, and formulating the best course of action for a correct fix from the outset in the quickest time.

“After my first participation last year, I went back to Kuwait and decided that I will work harder for the following year, and here I am!” Sherwin enthused after Mario A. Spangenberg, President and Managing Director GM Africa and Middle East handed him his winner’s trophy during a gala dinner. He continued; “The Competition is full of challenging tasks, it pushes us technicians to work harder and fix a customer’s car right form the first time. It is an amazing initiative by GM, because it maintains a high level of skills and I hope to participate and win again.”

“Since the inception of this competition and its supporting training programs, there has been a significant improvement in the ‘fix it right the first time’ rate across the region. This year, GM Middle East, across its four brands’ service efforts, has the highest ever customer satisfaction levels in the region’s history, something that we are very proud of. Our dealer technicians’ skills, highlighted by this competitive tool is a major contributor to our customers’ satisfaction,” said Mohammed Al Fayyad, Director of Customer Care and Aftersales for General Motors Middle East.

It has been a long road to get here. 1960 GM dealer technicians from around the Middle East signed up for the competition in February.

Since then, they have been through training programs and five grueling elimination rounds consisting of online and written tests. This cut the field down to 300 and down to the top 40 who flew into Dubai to compete in the finals this week.

On a closing note, this win marks another proud achievement in a fulfilling year for Alghanim Automotive, whereby Abdullah Al-Khatib won first place at the General Motors Middle East’s 2015 Service Advisors Skills Competition, Gemiliano Cabalar was awarded the “Best TAC (Technical Assistance Center) Contact” award for 2015 during the General Motors TAC Seminar, and Ayman Ahmed Marie was declared the best wholesale person in the Gulf.

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