Auto industry sets up forum to improve competitiveness

The link-up of the SA auto industry with the newly established stateowned companies’ (SOC) automotive industry competitiveness forum will play a big role in assisting the vehicle manufacturers to more than double their output before 2020, according to National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) director Nico Vermeulen. “Essentially, the motor industry production and development programme (MIPDP) which kicks in in 2013 and lasts to 2020, requires the industry to increase vehicle production of light commercial vehicles and cars from the current 550 000 a year to 1.2 million in 2020,” he said. “The MDIPD is a very important incentive in achieving that growth, but still more needs to be done to increase the industry’s international competitiveness.” The first thing the industry identified was that the logistics value chain was essentially uncompetitive. “That,” Vermeulen added, “is the efficiency and cost of the ports and railways operations. Quite apart from the value chain’s capacity expansion, there is a need to develop efficiency at the railways and ports.” He noted that port charges, in the form of cargo dues, were out of line with ports in other parts of the world. “We need to benchmark to these international norms,” Vermeulen said. “The SOC automotive industry competitiveness forum is aimed at that – reducing the cost of doing business.” CAPTION: ‘A need to develop efficiency at the railways and ports.’