The South African economy has navigated through a turbulent landscape, grappling with a multitude of global and local disruptions. The impacts of slowing global growth owing to geopolitical tensions, acute power challenges, inefficiencies in State-owned enterprises, supply chain disruptions and record high interest rates have reverberated across all sectors of the economy – the automotive industry included.

The automotive industry is a vital component of South Africa’s economy. Supported by incentives and various programmes, South Africa has successfully attracted major international automotive original-equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and suppliers to establish production facilities within its borders. These OEMs operate within global supply chains, sourcing components from various countries and integrating them into vehicles assembled in South Africa. The country also has a well-developed component manufacturing sector.

Despite these advantages, concerns are mounting about the prevailing infrastructure challenges that are eroding the country’s manufacturing sector’s competitiveness. This is particularly relevant considering the race to establish a presence in the rapidly expanding new energy vehicle market, in which South Africa is lagging.

Creamer Media’s ‘Automotive 2023: Navigating Change’ report places South Africa’s automotive industry in context. It discusses the effect that the semiconductor shortage has had on the sector, examines the country’s new-vehicle market and developments in the sector in terms of manufacturing and investment by the major OEMs, and considers the important role that the components industry plays in supporting vehicle production and aftermarket services. It also considers South Africa’s automotive policy regime, which has stood out for its long-term vision and unwavering consistency, the goal being to support the production of new-energy vehicles to ensure the sector remains a major contributor to the industrial development of not only the domestic economy but also the African continent.