SA has been a dominant vehicle production and consumption market on the African continent for the past 100 years, but might lose that position as early as this year.
This is according to Naamsa’s immediate past president, Neale Hill.
He was giving a presentation on the state of the auto industry in SA at SA Auto Week held at the Coega Vulindlela Village on Wednesday.
The automotive sector suffered a major blow with the recent closure of Goodyear SA’s Kariega plant, ending 78 years of production and resulting in the loss of 900 jobs.
However, industry leaders in SA are urging the government to implement policies that support the growth and competitiveness of the domestic automotive sector to prevent further job losses and maintain the country’s position as a leading automotive manufacturer in Africa.
“We are concerned to notice Morocco’s ambition of manufacturing one-million vehicles in 2025,” Hill said.
“Morocco just attracted an EV battery gigafactory from China to the value of R100bn.
“We are concerned that SA is losing a tyre plant, Goodyear SA, losing 900 jobs, while Egypt attracted an R18bn major tyre plant, and Kenya has also attracted a R15bn tyre plant.
“Naacam mentioned 12 plant closures with 4,000 job losses in the component sector while Egypt attracted a wiring harness plant with 10,000 jobs.”
In August, it was announced that Egypt had signed a deal with China’s Sailun Group to build an automotive tyre factory in the Suez Canal Economic Zone, with total investments of R18bn.
The plant is expected to produce more than 10-million tyres annually at full capacity, creating 1,500 jobs.
The announcement came about the same week as Goodyear SA permanently shut its doors at the Kariega plant.
“We are very concerned that our industry is falling behind Africa’s progressive automotive and industrial policy measures and proactive governments outpacing SA, and the rest of the world is running even faster.
“The continued success of the South African automotive industry as the backbone of manufacturing in the country remains critical for the country’s economic stability and long-term economic growth and development,” Hill, who also heads Ford SA, said.
Naamsa president Billy Tom said that though 2024 was a taxing year for the domestic automotive industry, the industry continued to perform.
“It was the first time since the 2020 pandemic that the automotive industry encountered a modest downturn in both domestic new vehicle sales and vehicle exports.”
SA’s vehicle and automotive component exports dipped slightly in 2024, dropping R2bn from a record R270.8bn in 2023 to R268.8bn, even as vehicle export value hit a new high of R205.4bn.
Exports totalled 390,844 units, down from 399,809 the previous year, reflecting shifts in the types of vehicles leaving the country rather than a slump in demand.
“The domestic automotive industry exported to 155 countries in 2024, up from the 148 destinations in 2023; with the export value more than doubling in the case of 39 of these countries from 2023 to 2024,” Tom said.
He said the sector, which was heavily reliant on stable supply chains for components and raw materials, might experience volatility in both costs and availability, necessitating strategic risk management and the diversification of supply sources.
“All these developments have also affected the domestic automotive industry, but for the first half of the year, the industry’s resilience persevered.
“Despite losing in the order of 25,000 vehicles to the US market in view of the 25% Section 232 import tariff imposed in April 2025, vehicle exports were still 3% ahead for the first half of 2025 compared with the same period in 2024.
“Vehicle production decreased slightly by 2.2% but this could be attributed to two major OEMs halting production for four and three weeks, respectively, to accommodate new model introductions.
“Domestic new vehicle sales increased by 14% for the first six months of the year compared with the same period last year, and this could be attributed to an influx of very affordable models as imports increased by 30.2% over the same period.”
Naamsa vice-president Thato Magasa said SA consumers in 2024 had access to an unprecedented range of vehicles, with domestic and imported models meeting demand for the latest technology at competitive prices.
“The essence of the automotive policy regime in SA is to encourage the OEMs to manufacture one or two high-volume models, export to obtain economies of scale benefits, and then import the low-volume models not manufactured in the country to satisfy consumer demand.
“As a result, the trading environment in SA remained extremely competitive, and in 2024, there were no less than 50 passenger car brands and 2,203 model derivatives, the greatest selection of market-size ratio found globally.
“Similarly, in the light commercial vehicle segment, for the same period, there were 26 brands with 599 model derivatives to choose from,” Magasa said.
The Herald
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