Profile: Mother City Car Company
From sportscars to super cars and sedans to convertibles, Mother City Car Company offers a wide variety of luxury and performance cars. We visited the dealership to chat with its proprietor about the business, from humble beginnings to where it is today.
With a variety of high-performance cars, a Ford Mustang, and even a classy Mercedes-Benz S-Class on its showroom floor, Mother City Car Company is an inviting place for any automotive enthusiast.
A few other elements grabbed my attention as I entered the premises (before proprietor Art Denisov walked over to shake my hand). These included a perfect W140-series Mercedes-Benz S320 with blacked-out details, as well as a Honda Civic race car. Indeed, Art and his staff are true petrolheads.
There are memorabilia and posters along the walls, as well as intriguing books and artefacts around his office space. I took a seat in the comfortable chair across Art’s desk and asked him about his journey.
Early beginnings
“At the end of 2009, a friend was working for Autohouse Angel (which has branches in Milnerton and Belville) – Marcel Angel’s business. He was working in Sea Point, where they had a little dealership that sold tiny convertibles. You know, Mazda MX-5s, Peugeot 206 CCs and MG TFs… those weird little cars.
“He was working there when I arrived back in South Africa after a year-long stint in the Russian Navy (where he served in the Polar Circle). I needed some sort of job, and my friend suggested that I sell cars.”
“My response was: ‘Ugh, a used car salesman? I don’t want to get any of that muck on me.’ I was all too aware that it was a vocation with a less-than-favourable reputation (rightly or wrongly), but I gave it some thought. I spoke to some people whom I trust and whose opinions I value. They told me: ‘Look, Art, you are 23 and you’ve loved cars since you were a child. If (the role) doesn’t work, you can just move on.’
“I started with Autohaus Angel at their (then) Claremont branch. It was around October 2009. At the time, Mini was their core brand. They were across the road from Auric Auto, which sold BMWs and Minis. We’d often drive and sell examples of those brands’ models… it was one of the main perks of the job.
“Within a couple of months, I had several opportunities to drive cars such as the Mini Cooper S, which was such a thrill, because at the time I had a very mundane Volkswagen Citi Golf (a 1.4-litre carburettor variant). The Golf also had aircon, but it sapped all the VW’s power when you switched it on. Long story short, after a while, I decided that I’d persist with this car sales job because I was kind of enjoying it.”
Art admits that the opportunity to drive such a wide variety of cars was one of the biggest drawcards of his job. Apart from the Minis, he also found himself behind the ‘wheels of supercharged Range Rovers, and he fondly remembers the first time he got to drive a 986-series Porsche Boxster S.
“Little by little, I started selling some cars and began getting a knack for it. The team there was quite fun, and I thought: ‘This is a cool community.’ We moved to Paarden Island and shared a showroom with Cars Unlimited Cape, which was then Lourens Bester’s business that retailed used and classic Porsches.
So, I eventually worked on both sides of the showroom, the Porsche side and the Autohouse Angel side. In the last 12 months (or so) of the 3 and a half years that I worked with the group, I was sort of the golden boy. Between our 4 branches, I would consistently be the top-performing salesman.”
“In the final year, I did a little deal with Marcel (Angel), who is a very shrewd businessman. I suggested that he allow me to buy stock; let me find a car, bring it in, check and appraise it and do all that work. Then I’d bring the deal to him. If it’s good, he can buy the car – that started to happen quite often.”
Then the penny dropped
“In 2012, my employment with Autohouse Angel ended,” Art added, “but by then, I had already begun Mother City Car Company in my spare time, and it had been operating for a few months. Here’s how it began: I bought 2 Mini Coopers, because that’s the 1 thing I kind of adopted from Autohouse Angel.
“Stock unit one and stock unit two. I had start-up capital of R200 000 from my then father-in-law for a 50:50 profit share. He asked me several thought-provoking questions, and then the penny dropped…”
Today, Art has 2 staff members who assist him tremendously. “I have an approach with my staff where I try to pay them as much as possible. I like to create opportunities for JJ or Mandla to add more value to the business, because if they do, I make it worth their while. It has always been my aim to get the right people on board and incentivise them correctly. That is the environment that I want to work in.”
From 2013 until 2019, the Mother City Car Company was located in its initial premises in Paarden Eiland – growth was slow, and Art admits that he wasn’t focused and “too busy chasing (his) tail.” The business moved into its current premises at 5 Copperfield Road, Salt River, thereafter. It was just Art and Mandla at that point, and just on 1 side of the building – they didn’t yet have the 2nd section that they have now.
“We didn’t know where we were going to find the stock, but put yourself under a bit of pressure, and then you’ll have to work and make it happen. Otherwise, you’re just going to falter,” Art adds.
One thing led to another, and with the help of his small team, they were soon acquiring stock and honing their craft, while offering prospective clients helpful advice and, of course, the cars that they desired.
The inventory of Mother City Car Company
Art has strong opinions about some exotic car brands… and he is more than happy to share them.
“The Porsche brand carries all of this promise, which is backed up by good resale and residual values, decent reliability as well as good performance,” he says. “Porsches don’t sell for Aston Martin, Ferrari or Lamborghini money, but most Porsche models aren’t in that category anyway. A Porsche is not an exotic car; it’s a thoroughbred sportscar for serious enthusiasts, but there are more exciting cars out there.
“We have a perfectly specced 997-series Porsche 911 Turbo manual (shown above), and for a while, I thought: ‘this one might be a keeper’, but ultimately I decided against it. It is brilliant, but doesn’t offer a truly visceral driving experience. A Ferrari F430 (below), for a little bit more money than the Turbo, is a proper little race car for the road. Now that car is epic – it makes you smile and feel so many things.”
With a strong-growing business and many returning customers – a clear indicator of good client service – Art has several exciting plans in store for the Salt River-based Mother City Car Company.
As our conversation draws to a close, Art heads to the Honda Civic race car, which he urgently needs to get ready for the next race meeting. Evidently, he is invested in all things motoring, from dusk ’til dawn!
Watch Ciro De Siena test drive a BMW Z4 M Roadster from Motor City Car Company:
You can follow the Mother City Car Company on Instagram, its website and its YouTube channel.
Search for cars listed by Mother City Car Company on Cars.co.za
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