Pupkewitz Motors appoints from within

A year after launching its internal management development programme, the Pupkewitz Motor Division yesterday celebrated the first fruits of the programme. At a press conference held in Windhoek, the company introduced a number of new management appointments resulting from its Pupkewitz Motor Division cadet programme. “This programme involves a vigorous curriculum, training candidates in all the various departments involving a motor dealership, from HR, parts, sales, after-sales and service, administration and marketing,” Pupkewitz Motor Division MD Ekkerd van Wyk said. “These candidates were selected after intense interviews and psychometric profiling,” he said, citing the benefit of the programme not only to the company’s own employees, but in addressing the local skills shortage within the motor industry. In the first instance, the company announced the appointment of Ankia Greeff as branch manager of Pupkewitz Motors Swakopmund. In the second instance, Jean-Francois Gahutu was appointed branch manager at Pupkewitz Motors Ongwediva, after almost two years of heading the marketing and specialist projects division at Pupkewitz MegaTech. Finally, the company introduced Jaun Nel as the newly appointed dealer principal at Pupkewitz Nissan Walvis Bay and Pupkewitz GWM. Yesterday’s event also saw the company pay homage to the man it said “gave rise to the cadet programme”, its current dealer principal at Pupkewitz Toyota Rundu, Kornelius Lukas. Lukas, who joined the company in 2010 as a trainee dealer principal, was promoted to the head position in 2011, following the company’s internal training efforts. Van Wyk said yesterday that the company would take in a second round of candidates for its cadet programme in June.