Written by Siyanda Mthethwa, a student at the University of Witwatersrand -
Leaderquip is one of the biggest automotive service companies attending Automechanika. The company deals in alignment and balancing equipment for sub-Saharan Africa.
Leaderquip automotive is also an exclusive supplier, as it supplies panel shops, fitment centres and dealerships. The company also exports to sub-Saharan Africa and it sells, services and trains technicians in the same products.
Leaderquip also does more than exporting and supplying equipment as it also trains apprentices to become proficient qualified in doing wheel alignments. For people who are interested in the company’s products, Leaderquip also drives to potential candidates and to give live demos on its premises in South Africa.
Despite being regular exhibitors at Automechanika, Leaderquip has not attended it since the COVID-19 pandemic because the shows were a lot smaller, according to José Domingues, the director of Leaderquip. Despite that, it would regularly attend Automechanika and even attended Automechanika Frankfurt in September.
Despite having no expectations for this year’s Automechanika, Domingues is “pleasantly surprised by the number of flows and trade customers” who visited the company’s stand. Domingues further stated that they want brand awareness and would have liked to see more people coming in from Africa, especially East Africa, because they have a lot of customers there.
The Leaderquip stand at Automechanika has a few surprises for visiting customers, stating that they have new innovations such as the new road force balance, which he believes to be the most robust product despite it not being the cheapest on the market. The company also provides a three-year warranty on the product.
Domingues acknowledged the challenges that Leaderquip has faced. “We all had our challenges throughout, but we can’t complain [because] we’ve got a very powerful brand.” Nevertheless, Domingues and Leaderquip have high expectations for 2025 and they hope that the market can open up in the upcoming year as it did in 2024.
