Ford CEO to ‘reaffirm commitment to SA’

FORD Motor Company CEO Alan Mulally is likely to reiterate his company’s commitment to SA when he speaks at the Johannesburg International Motor Show today.

This would contrast sharply with the stance adopted by BMW, which threatened this month not to expand further in SA due to labour strife.

But BMW has since met Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies in a bid to iron out the matter.

It maintains it remains committed to its major manufacturing production facilities in SA.

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) said yesterday that investment in SA’s vehicle industry would continue as multinationals work more closely with the government and labour to ensure stability.

Ford confirmed yesterday that Mr Mulally had arrived in SA ahead of the show to check up on the company’s substantial R3.4bn investment in the country.

Ford is banking on growing its export pipeline from its manufacturing plants in Pretoria and Port Elizabeth, and a source close to the motor show said it was expected that his message, when he speaks at the show, would be about further entrenching the company’s interests in SA, rather than disinvesting.

“Labour stability should prevail now that there is a three-year agreement. A number of international companies are invested in SA, and no doubt this will continue,” Naamsa director Nico Vermeulen said.

A three-year deal between unions and vehicle assemblers was signed late last month, after a debilitating strike that knocked automotive exports as much as 75%, while the retail motor sector yesterday signed off on its three-year settlement after four weeks of strike action.

Richard Leiter, MD of FAW SA, which is one of China’s leading global manufacturers of passenger cars, trucks, and buses and which recently invested R600m in SA, said he saw the country as an international portal for the manufacture and export of vehicles and components.

Many key players in the industry already use SA as a base to obtain components and to assemble vehicles for the local and foreign markets. “This sector has also been identified as a key growth area by the government, and I believe it is quite apparent that the motor trade industry is going to have a large part to play in growing the manufacturing sector,” Mr Leiter said.

He said SA had been plagued by labour disputes for some time, and labour disputes were a “general dayto-day concern”. “However, we are positive a healthy balance will be reached and the way forward will be beneficial to all parties concerned.”

Jakkie Olivier, CEO of the Retail Motor Organisation, said: “The industry can now focus on recouping the loss in production”.