15 000 SUBSCRIBERS www.autolive.co.za Issue No. 82 | 26 February 2016 In-Depth Survey Report Published Glen Mollink, CEO of Innovation Group SA, opening the Automotive Future Now Report feedback conference at the Turbine Hall in Johannesburg. A comprehensive survey of senior motor industry executives, service providers and industry commentators in South Africa has appeared recently as an in-depth report. BY ROGER HOUGHTON months ago, followed thereaft er by in-depth, quali- services and technology solutions to the insurance, tative analysis of the information provided. fi nancial services, automotive and fl eet manage- Th e survey was conducted by Knowledge ment companies. (Th e author of this article was a Th e survey involved a round table discussion as Executive on behalf of the Innovation Group, member of the panel that was surveyed). well as one-on-one interviews conducted several a multinational provider of business process continued on page 2 Page 5 Page 13 Page 19 The pre-reporting debate Toyota’s brand new Hilux AARTO/e-Toll hots up is fi nally here marriage doomed Subscribe for free @ www.autolive.co.za Page 2 Editor and General Manager continued from previous page Th e need for the relaxation of Liana Reiners some labour laws was highlighted [email protected] A highlight of the presentation in the report’s forecast on Labour 083 407 4600 of the survey report, which took Forces: “Currently the perception place at the Turbine Hall, in the is that the South African govern- Contributors Johannesburg CBD, was a rivet- ment could provide more favourable Roger Houghton ing talk by accomplished speaker labour conditions for automotive [email protected] Michael Jackson on “Change”. He business. Expect to see greater lobby- stressed we must start to do and ing with government to relax labour 082 371 9097 see things diff erently and then go laws and make them more conducive Stuart Johnston forward consciously to create our for the automotive sector, while [email protected] own future. He added that the competitors, such as Nigeria, India 083 450 9255 challenge of change is in connect- and Th ailand, take advantage of this ing with people and here we must situation to entice OEMs to invest in Annelise van der Laan be leaders, not followers. Th e fi ve their countries.” [email protected] Forces of Change Jackson listed are Ricardo Coetzee, the Skills and development are 082 820 7546 a good guide of channels for change, Managing Executive: major challenges in South Africa being Computing, Convergence, Automotive in the Innovations these days, starting with the low Advertising Sales Collaboration, Connectivity Group, was an enthusiastic level of basic education. Th e report’s Liana Reiners and Communication. presenter at the report back on forecast on this subject is: “Skills and [email protected] A wide variety of topics are ana- the detailed industry survey. development are likely to remain an 083 407 4600 lysed in the survey report and in each area of concern in 2016 and govern- case a forecast or guestimate was as at dealerships. Major industry ment and industry engagement must Address made of a likely outcome or result. action could be catastrophic for be initiated to determine what skills 237 Rigel Avenue Although a myriad of industry the industry. the country needs and (to) incentiv- Waterkloof Ridge aspects were covered in the survey Here are some quotes from the ise in those directions in the future.” Pretoria it stayed away from some thorny report on the economic landscape Th ere are several pages covering PO Box 914 005 issues such as transformation/ and business climate: the ever-changing customer terrain, Black Economic Empowerment and “Poised between hope and automotive CRM, vehicle ownership Wingate Park pre-reporting. (See an article on disappointment, there is nonetheless trends and the like. 0153 the latter on page 5 of this edition agreement that a period of severe However, dealers will be 012 460 4448 of AutoLive). belt-tightening lies ahead for South particularly interested in the sec- Th e Innovations Group report Africa in 2016. Despite this the tion on Manoeuvring Frontward: Website has highlighted a number of tough terrain still contains the inherent Dealerships and Retail, which covers www.autolive.co.za challenges facing the various facets potential of natural resources, pock- evolving dealership models, online of the local motor industry. Th e ets of savvy business acumen and its vs. bricks and mortar, refi ning the Facebook industry has again entered a trying newly emerged middle class.” supply chain, multi-brand dealer- www.facebook.com/pages/AutoLive period similar to that experienced in ships, integration with OEMs and © 2015 WCM Media CC 2008/9 when one adds in the volatile Poised between hope dealer CRM. Th ere is a similar political environment to the current section on aft er-sales which provides and disappointment, Production economic woes – especially the interesting and informative reading. Marketing Support Services weakness of the rand. there is nonetheless Of course the future of cars as +27 (0)12 346 2168 Adding to the uncertainty agreement that a personal transport and new tech- [email protected] for the motor industry is the fact period of severe belt- nologies are other topics that came that this year is the year in which under scrutiny. Disclaimer tightening lies ahead for industry representative bodies and If you would like a digital copy While reasonable precautions have the relevant trade unions negotiate South Africa in 2016. of this enlightening Innovation been taken to ensure the accuracy wages and working conditions, usu- Group report, “Automotive: Future of the advice and information given Now Report 2016, Preparing the to readers, neither the editor, the ally aiming at a three-year term for “While the local business climate proprietors, nor the publishers the agreement. is tough many realise the cyclical na- automotive industry for the next can accept any responsibility for Unfortunately this oft en means ture of downswings and are focussed decade,” send a request to Marelize any damages or injury which may a period of strikes at the vehicle and on fi nding smarter strategies for van den Berg at vandenbergm@ za. arise therefrom. component manufacturers as well sustainability and future growth.” innovation-group.com. ■ MONTHLY SALES STATISTICS The growing amount of advertising in AutoLive has made it necessary to relocate the four pages of detailed monthly vehicle sales analysis to the website www.autolive.co.za. CLICK HERE to access Subscribe for free @ www.autolive.co.za Page 3 Slow Start To Sales in 2016 Editor’s Note Worse Than Expected Another month down the New vehicle sales and exports of built-up vehicles were lower than generally expected in line and still no miracles. In January. Total sales for the month were 48 615 units, which was a decline of 6.9% compared fact, we might even be worse to the 52 228 units retailed last January. However, one must remember that pulling forward off than we were at the end of sales into December and pushing some December sales into January always tends to distort January. What with the State sales reported in these two months. of the Nation Adress and According to NAAMSA, export sales of built-up units showed an unexpectedly large student unrest and violence decline of 21.9% compared to the situation a year previously. Logistics and shipment issues grabbing the headlines over evidently contributed to the disappointing export performance. the past few weeks. Sales to the rental companies provided a much needed boost to sales in January, amount- Unfortunately the situation in the motor and related ing to 18.4% of total sales. Dealers sold 75% of the units, 4.4% went to industry corporate industries is no better. New vehicle sales are still dismall fl eets and 2.2% to the government. and of course the ripple eff ect means that everyone in the Th e passenger car market declined by 6.1% month-on-month with 24.6% of the cars sold industry continues to suff er. Th e only bit of good news (if going to the rental industry. Domestic sales of light commercial vehicles declined 8.3%, while you can call it that) is that sales of used vehicles at least are medium truck sales tumbled 15.6%. Heavy truck and bus sales dropped 12.5% compared to still on the up. the corresponding month last year. It’s time to get creative people! Simply put, we need to NAAMSA is forecasting a drop of about 9% in new car sales in the 2016 calendar year, upturn more rocks. Th e days of good fortune falling in our going from 412 826 cars in 2015 to a predicted 375 000 units in 2016, while new commercial laps are long gone. For any business to survive in the current vehicle sales are expected to perform better, with a decrease of between 3% and 5% expected restrictive economic conditions it to do things diff erently. in the calendar year. As far as AutoLive is concerned, good news or bad, Th e association expects a substantial increase in vehicle exports from March onwards there’s still plenty for us to report on. Once again we have and industry projections for 2016 indicate expected growth of 12% over 2015 to an antici- fi lled these pages with the latest news from the automotive pated 375 000 units. ■ industry, ranging from changes to the local Car of the Year competition to the proposed AARTO/e-Toll marriage. In-between you can read about the launch of the long awaited new Hilux, the upcoming Formula One season and Used Market Gains Momentum as New Car Sales Decline the state of the commercial vehicle sector of the market.