Vehicle industry looks to logistics to contain costs

Motor industry logistics is coming under the spotlight in South Africa and the rest of the world as the industry battles to survive in the face of falling sales. There are parallels between the Russian auto market, which has seen a more than 50% drop in sales in some segments, and South Africa – both of which had years of record sales accompanied by shortages of some models. “The issue for us today is no longer the lack of (road transport) fleets or capacity,” Natalia Petrenko, vehicle logistics director for Ford in Russia told the Automotive Logistics Russia conference in Moscow recently. “Our job has actually become more difficult as we have to improve lead times to meet our customers' expectations.” Electronic voting by delegates at the conference put government policy, including customs, as the most significant current challenge for logistics in Russia, above issues such as infrastructure or investment. South African organisations putting pressure on government to fight corruption are cautioned to plan for unintended consequences: Vladislav Zaslavskij, president of the Association of Car Importers and Customs Brokers, said that Russian customs was stifled by bureaucracy and hampered by efforts to quell possible corruption. “Anti-corruption measures have made it difficult for the customs officials to initiate any new measures,” he said. “The managers of the federal customs feel as though they are participants in a reality TV show, as all of their offices and cars are bugged and being recorded.”