Discussing the new vehicle sales statistics for the month of December 2020 naamsa said that the new vehicle market continued to edge higher, albeit at a slower pace, during December 2020, with aggregate industry new vehicle sales at 37 493 units recording a decline of 4 190 vehicles or a fall of 10,1% compared to the total new vehicle sales of 41 683 units during the corresponding month of December, 2019.

Export sales ended the year on a positive note recording a welcomed increase in December, 2020 and at 18 479 units reflected a gain of 4 919 vehicles or an increase of 36,3% compared to the 13 560 vehicles exported during December, 2019.

Following the year-on-year decline in new vehicle sales of 2,8%, in volume terms, in 2019, the crippling effects of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a massive decline in new vehicle sales of 156 163 units, or 29,1%, from 536 612 units in 2019 to the 380 449 units in 2020.

Vehicle sales are linked to the strength of the economy and the pandemic not only deepened an existing economic recession, but its severe impact resulted in that the domestic new vehicle market in 2020 dropped back to the levels of two decades ago.

2020 Vehicle exports had also registered a massive fall of 29,8%. COVID-19 has impacted economic activity in every region of the world and South African vehicle exports had subsequently been affected by the fall in global vehicle demand because of the impact of the pandemic.

Manufacturing is one of the sectors that can best assist in growing South Africa’s economy and, therefore, the manufacturing sector’s growth must be accelerated. The automotive sector has proved to be a reliable partner and dependable ally for government to position manufacturing as a catalyst to development and inclusive growth in the country.

Download the full NAAMSA media release below as well as the December 2020 Industry New Vehicle Sales. 

Trade, Investment and Policy Specialist, Thabo Shenxane has been appointed CEO of the AIDC Eastern Cape.

Mr Shenxane joins the AIDC Eastern Cape (AIDC EC) from his position as Head: Trade, Investment & Innovation at the Eastern Cape Development Corporation (ECDC). He holds a Master’s degree in Economic Policy from the University of Stellenbosch.

In a statement announcing the appointment, AIDC EC Board Chair Mr Phumzile Zitumane said Shenxane’s deep experience in unlocking development funding would “assist in lifting the lid on the AIDC EC’s contribution to the growth of the region’s automotive and manufacturing sectors and the Eastern Cape economy in general.”   

Specialising in Policy, Investment and Trade development, Mr Shenxane has also served in executive leadership roles at South Africa’s national Department of Trade and Industry, the Department of Economic Development in the Western Cape, Amathole Development Agency and the Umsobomvu Youth Fund in a career spanning 23 years.

At the behest of the Minister of Finance he had been appointed a Board Member of the Co-operatives Banks Development Agency (CBDA) between 2013 and 2016. 

In his role at the ECDC over the past four years Shenxane and his team at the ECDC secured investment revenue worth R3.6billion for the Eastern Cape, but he has always balanced high-level trade and investment with the priority of supporting small enterprises.

In the private sector as the MD of Chumisa Consulting, he completed successful strategy development and skills related contracts for, among others, the Department of Economic Development and Environmental Affairs of the Eastern Cape to develop a Provincial SMME Strategy in 2009. Other studies include “Challenges facing Youth Co-operatives in Gauteng” for the Gauteng Youth Commission, a Review of the Implementation of the Gauteng B-BBEE Strategy in partnership with ECI Africa and a review of the North West 1998 Provincial SMME Strategy.

Shenxane said he was relishing the opportunity of serving the AIDC EC team and growing its impact.

“I am looking particularly forward to working with the AIDC EC team who are industry-involved industrial and manufacturing specialists, while also maintaining the high governance standards that have marked the AIDC EC’s 18 year history. We are planning to bring the issues of the automotive sector as part of policy priority to the Eastern Cape Provincial Government”.

“As a responsive and focused government agency that works to achieve both industry and government priorities – which are not mutually exclusive – the AIDC EC will continue to support inclusion and growth in the automotive and manufacturing supply chain, which is essential to the socio-economic development of the Eastern Cape,” Shenxane said.

Zitumane said former industry-steeped CEO Hoosain Mohamed who “remained a vital asset” would complement Shenxane’s appointment in the new role of business development. 

The AIDC EC, founded in 2003, is an Eastern Cape Provincial government subsidized agency mandated to assist the region’s important automotive and manufacturing sectors become more globally competitive.  

For more info see www.aidcec.co.za