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Motoring: S.A in Danger Of “Losing” Auto Components Industry
Recent Gauteng Business News
His warning comes as the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) says in its report for the second quarter of 2009 that “as a result of low industry volumes and ongoing financial stress experienced by suppliers, availability and security of supply is increasingly at risk in certain instances.
“The ever present need for global cost competitiveness and vehicle manufacturers’ cost reduction targets continued to pressurise suppliers. The strengthening of the Rand also caused domestic components to become less competitive,” adds the Naamsa report.
Among the steps being taken by the industry is an Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) supplier forum, which will be hosted in Port Elizabeth on October 8 as part of SAAW, which runs from October 7 to October 10.
Da Costa, who has interests in component manufacturing, says one of biggest challenges facing the local components industry is that it is largely unknown outside of South Africa.
“Through my travels overseas, I have become very concerned about the level of what we can call naivety about the South African components industry. The industry overseas simply does not know what we have in this country.
SAAW includes a components trade expo, and a “Navigating the storm: A roadmap to vision 2020” conference organised by the Automotive Industry Development Centre (AIDC).
Delegations from a number of foreign countries have already confirmed attendance at SAAW, according to Da Costa, who says the expo is an opportunity to show the world “how sophisticated and competitive our auto components industry is”.
SAAW has the backing of the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers of South Africa (Naacam), as well as the AIDC and Naamsa.
For more information go to www.saaw.co.za
Business News Sector Tags: Motoring|