Engen, a leader in the supply of lubricants to the franchise service fill workshop sector of OEM dealerships, wowed customers from around the country at its recent Engen Xtreme Service Programme Roadshow, held at the Killarney Race Track in Cape Town.

Guests at the invitation-only event were treated to a pulse-racing lap around the raceway, after a morning of soaking up the unique insights of racing professionals Terry Moss and Michael Stephen, who shared the floor with Engen officials in an entertaining panel show format led by celebrity TV presenters Hendrik Verwoerd and Lindsay Vine.

The Top Gear-styled panel looked back on five years of success for the Engen Xtreme production car team, uncovering some rare gems about the importance of lubricants in racing, Engen’s involvement in the exciting sport, its leadership in the service fill sector and its promise of value.

“The information that came from the panel was very well received – especially the racing part,” said Verwoerd. “The audience was fascinated to hear about the way Engen works with racing teams to develop its products, and very receptive to information about the company’s offering.”

Oiling the machine of racing
Moss said the importance of lubricants in racing is even more manifest than in day-to-day motoring – both in the context of pre-season engine testing and preparation, and in actual racing performance.

25 years of racing excellence
Engen’s involvement with motor sport goes back some 25 years, revealed Jason Heath, lubricants product strategist at PETRONAS Lubricants Africa. (PETRONAS, the Malaysian national Oil and Gas Company, is the majority owner of Engen.)

“It all started in 1989 when Engen was a fuel sponsor to the Rothmans Audi team. In 1996, Engen became the full Audi works team sponsor, a role it revived in 2005 when the production car formula was reintroduced after a two-year lapse. Throughout this time, Engen partnered with Terry Moss – first as driver and later as race team principal. Since then, the partnership has continued on various platforms.”

Committed service-fill leaders
Heath said Engen’s commitment to the automotive service fill sector goes across the board. “We are committed to being the leading supplier of lubricants to service fill workshops, and have added new value-added offerings to our product and service portfolio in a world-class new service programme known as the Engen Xtreme Service Programme.”

He says the programme is structured around high service levels in various key areas:

• ease of ordering (enabled by the introduction of a key account desk in Engen’s customer service centre);
• product availability (backed by dealership-specific product requirement analyses);
• on-time deliveries (made possible with the country’s largest national distribution footprint);
• no-charge access to workshop consumables, in line with contractual commitment;
• maintenance of equipment loaned to trade, in line with contractual commitment;
• efficient communication (regular and effective sales calls, rigorous customer database management and regular customer communication);
• exceeding the latest car manufacturer requirements; and
• consistently providing comprehensive training, product and technical support

Promise of quality
Engen automotive lubricants are designed with a wide variety of vehicle types in mind, operating in conditions unique to their purpose as well as the South African market.

“Depending on the use and purpose of a specific vehicle, the formulation of its oils will vary greatly,” says Heath. “For the demands of the race track, Engen Xtreme 5W-40 offers superior performance with a unique and extremely stable molecular structure that exceeds the demands of new and older high-performance cars.”