Cape Town - Over the next four years, South Africans can expect to start seeing fewer Caltex garages and fuel forecourts now that the Astron Energy rebrand is officially under way.
On Thursday, Astron Energy unveiled its first rebranded Caltex forecourt at Macs in Brooklyn, along Koeberg Road, Cape Town.
Astron Energy manufactures and sells Caltex-branded lubricants under licence from Chevron, but last year the fuel company announced that it would be completely rebranding all Caltex service stations to Astron Energy service stations with a new look and feel.
Astron Energy CEO Thabiet Booley said: “The rebrand from Caltex to Astron Energy is the most significant change in the South African liquid fuels industry in three decades. It is also a key milestone in Astron Energy’s ambition of becoming the next biggest fuel brand in South Africa.”
With more than 850 service stations to be converted across the country and then in Botswana, a total of 20 regional teams will be working simultaneously to rebrand forecourts and are expected to clock an estimated 741 888 resource hours on site, install 1.3 million LEDs, manufacture 63 shipping containers (27 soccer fields worth of orange and charcoal forecourt canopy cladding), and utilise 6 224 securing bolts for forecourt pylons.
Macs in Brooklyn is the first of the rebranded sites in Cape Town. So far the only other sites are Chuenespoort along the R37 in Limpopo, KwaMakhuta in eManzimtoti and Nandi in eThekweni, KwaZulu-Natal.
“As part of the new brand, we are launching a new rewards programme that gives forecourt visitors the chance to redeem daily rewards, and a new Astron Energy Quartech 4-in-1 fuel technology that fills smoother, protects longer, runs further, and keeps cleaner,” Booley said.
He said customers would still be able to earn and redeem Standard Bank UCount rewards points while participating in Astron Energy’s new rewards programme.
Mac Mukadam, owner of Astron Energy Macs Brooklyn, said: “We are excited to be a part of Astron Energy’s flagship launch and look forward to exciting times in the future. Our customers have been very upbeat about the new look.”
The fuel company is also expecting to safely restart its Cape Town refinery, which experienced a deadly explosion in 2020, in the coming months, with the process of rebuilding the affected sections almost done.
“There is extensive work under way at the refinery. It is our intention to start up the refinery before the end of this year,” Booley said.
After filling up their vehicles and hearing about the new rewards programme, numerous customers shared their excitement over the new look.
Astron Energy head of marketing, Cambridge Mokanyane, said they conducted extensive market research with consumers which fuelled the rebrand, with service stations offering everything from fuel to food options, bathrooms, banking facilities, online and e-commerce services and dropboxes for collecting deliveries.