Regional component market wide open

COMPONENT AND spares manufacturers in South Africa have a large and largely unserviced market in the rest of the African continent, said Roger Pitout, chief executive of the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers of South Africa (Naacam). While some 19% of South African new vehicle exports were sold into Africa, Africa accounted for only 6% of component exports. This despite the fact that there are 6.5 million vehicles on the road in South Africa, but around 20 million in the whole of Africa. This shows there are significant aftermarket opportunities, he said. Government is assisting the industry through the Industrial Policy Action Plan which, according to Pitout, “confirms support beyond 2012 through to 2020, with increased support for component production”. The plan is designed to boost the country’s component industry as the auto sector gears up for production of 1.2 million vehicles a year by 2020.