GM warehouse set to drive exports into Africa

General Motors South Africa (GMSA) has opened the doors to an export drive for GM and Isuzu brands into Africa with the opening of a 38 000 m², R250-million Parts Distribution Centre (PDC) within sight of the port of Ngqura. “Our main customers are the GM dealerships throughout Southern Africa, but growth into other sub-Saharan countries is definitely on the cards, and this facility places us in a strong position to support this,” says John Astbury, GM South Africa’s vice president of after sales. Isuzu announced at the opening of the PDC in the Coega Industrial Development Zone that it would be expanding its sales efforts into Africa. FTW understands that the focus will be on commercial vehicles, powered by Isuzu diesel engines designed for less sophisticated developing world conditions. General Motors has been given the rights to market Isuzu into some African markets by the Japanese company for the first time. The availability of parts through the new PDC will support GM marketing efforts in Africa, Malcolm Gould, GMSA vice president of sales and marketing told FTW. GM and other suppliers of new vehicles are competing against imports of secondhand vehicles, which are effectively being dumped on the African market after being taxed off the roads due to their age mainly in the East. The disadvantage of the cheap vehicles is that they have no dealer or parts support – which GM sees as an opportunity. According to Astbury, GM currently processes around 5 500 order lines per day – at present from both the new facility and the old warehouses in Port Elizabeth. Annual turnover of the GM parts business is expected to “exceed R1,2-billion” in 2010. Once fully operational, the facility will ship around 300 tons of parts a month. Stock management is through a system developed by GMSA, and is a mix of manual and electronic controls. Over 3 000 man hours were invested in training the team for the PDC, which started operating in August this year.