Manufacturers forfeited
R1-billion a week in lost turnover, writes Alan Peat
THE THREE week motor strike has been an extremely costly affair for the car makers and their associated suppliers; the economy; and, while little realising it, the workers themselves.
That's the direct effects.
But the indirect off-shoot is even more serious, according to Nico Vermeulen, director of Naamsa (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA). That's the reputation of SA as a "reliable supplier" going further down the tubes, he told FTW, and an adverse perception of the country for foreign investors.
For the car companies, the direct effect is the loss of production. While they will try to make up for some of this loss, Vermeulen sees little hope of them hitting their annual output quota for this year in the few months left.
Asked about the cost, Vermeulen released the following estimates to FTW.
The strike lasted for three weeks - from August 6 - 27. In that time, the manufacturers (and the economy) forfeited R1-billion a week in lost turnover. Profit losses amongst the seven OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), said Vermeulen, is impossible to quantify.
Output loss is estimated at about 2 100 cars a day. Of the exports, about 2 000 cars (worth an average of R100 000 each) "missed the boat" each week. It was a loss to the country of R200-million in foreign exchange each week of the strike, according to Naamsa calculations.
At the same time, the fiscus faced a loss of R14-m in VAT every week, and an estimated R1-m of PAYE tax every day.
For the workers, some 22 000 of them lost R5-m a day in wages while on strike.
