CONTENTS
COLUMNS
03 . Driver’s Seat: Jakkie Olivier, CEO of the RMI
03 . Editor’s Letter: Reuben van Niekerk
32 . Tech Talk: Understanding the basics of vehicle suspension
34 . Busting wellbeing myths
35 . Finance: Red Flags are required for timeous fraud detection
NEWS
05 . News
12 . Industry News
21 . RMI News
26 . Association News
FEATURES
28 . Association: SAMBRA creating value and uplifting standards
30 . Interview: Eric Scoble looks back on a career filled with success
36 . Legal: Dodging contract catastrophes
38 . Labour: Understanding the parity principle
REGULARS
40 . New models: Toyota Vitz and Jeep Grand Cherokee
42 . Motorsport: Suzuki conquers Simola Hillclimb
43 . Member Update
44 . Sales: April 2023 vehicle sales figures
P12
P42
P32
www.automobil.co.za
June 2023
JUNE 2023
WWW.AUTOMOBIL.CO.ZA
THE DEEPEST BUSINESS REACH INTO THE SA RETAIL MOTOR INDUSTRY
Editor
Reuben van Niekerk
reuben@automobil.org.za
Sub-editor
Suzanne Walker
Regular contributors
Roger Houghton
Nicol Louw
Publisher
Wilken Communication Management
Tel: 012-4604448
Advertising Sales
Greg Surgeon
greg@automobil.org.za
Automobil is produced monthly by Wilken
Communication Management for the Retail
Motor Industry Organisation. The views and
opinions expressed in the publication are not
necessarily those of the publishers or the Retail
Motor Industry Organisation. While precau-
tions have been taken to ensure the accuracy
of advice and information contained in edito-
rial or advertisements, neither the publishers
nor the Retail Motor Industry Organisation can
accept responsibility for errors, misrepresenta-
tions or omissions, or for any effect or conse-
quence arising therefrom. Permission to repub-
lish any article or image or part thereof must be
obtained in writing from the publishers.
Cover image courtesy of SIB
www.automobil.co.za
www.automobil.co.za
June 2023
DRIVeR’S SeAT
For information on the RMI and its workings, visit www.rmi.org.za or call 011 886 6300
eDITOR’S LeTTeR
his month we are really proud to announce that the RMI
and the Tshwane University of Technology’s Department
of Marketing, Supply Chain and Sport Management have
made history by signing a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) to provide stakeholders within the Automotive Retail
Aftermarket with an opportunity to further their studies,
by enrolling for a customised Diploma in Retail Business
Management.
This first of a kind agreement in South Africa will allow
RMI members and their employees to enhance their
knowledge and skills by enrolling for a three year,
fully online qualification, that has been especially
developed for the Retail Motor Industry.
Although the MoU was actually signed some
time ago, due to the COVID-19 pandem-
ic, the accreditation of this programme
was unavoidably delayed. We are now
delighted that Dr Elizma Wannenburg,
Head of the Department of Marketing,
Supply Chain and Sport Management at TUT
has confirmed that everything is in place for the official commencement of
this programme on 1 July 2023.
The first cohort of students (employers and staff) will form part of an
historical event which represents a commendable achievement of which the
RMI is extremely proud.
Over the years professionalisation of the industry has been one of the
key focus areas of the organisation. We have always advocated for closer
collaboration between institutions of higher education and industry in order
to provide more industry-appropriate qualifications that will inspire learners
to educate themselves in a particular field. We hope that this is the first of
many programmes that we can develop together and encourage all employ-
ers within the motor sales, motor parts, equipment as well as the tyre sales
sectors to actively promote this unique opportunity by identifying potential
candidates that can form part of the first cohort of students.
Make sure to read the full article on page 22, which contains curriculum
information and guidelines on how to enrol. Applications will open soon
and space within this specialised qualification is limited so we encourage
employers to actively engage with staff to avoid disappointment.
Jakkie Olivier , RMI Chief Executive Officer
RMI and TUT sign landmark agreement
he South African motor industry is in an extremely weird
phase right now. The transport sector defied expec-
tations of under-performance in the fourth quarter of
2022 to be the best sectoral performer and all indications are
that the transport sector once again outperformed other sec-
tors of the South African economy during the first quarter of
2023. Statistics South Africa is expected to release the real first
quarter GDP growth rate on Tuesday 6 June, with expectations
of a small positive quarterly growth rate allowing the economy
to avert a technical recession.
Although we might just dodge the official recession classifi-
cation the average South African is certainly feeling the pinch,
a situation that is only being made worse by a variety of ad-
ditional factors including political instability and widespread
loadshedding. However, for some reason the local motor in-
dustry remains largely unaffected.
The recent Simola Hillclimb was one of the best supported
iterations yet and this event has without a doubt become the
pinnacle of South African motorsport. The quality of entrants
was world class with competitors investing massive amounts
of money to improve their times up the hill. The event also at-
tracted support from a large number of manufacturers, who
used the event to showcase or even launch new performance
derivatives. Public support was great too with almost 20 000
spectators descending on the small town of Knysna to witness
the spectacle.
Vehicle sales reflect the same with Lightstone reporting
that overall sales for the first quarter of 2023 were 1.7% higher
than for the comparable period in 2022, and 20% above sales
for the same window in 2021. Probably more significantly, new
vehicle sales are, so far in 2023, 3.1% ahead of the Q1-2019
volume, a sign that the market has essentially recovered to
pre-COVID levels.
Dealer sales represented 83.9% of the 138 571 units sold
between January and March, while passenger vehicle sales
were down 1.4% year-on-year for the three months and sales
of LCVs grew 9.1% compared to 2022.
While the South African economy might be a difficult place
to survive and do business in at the moment, people need to
move and businesses need to move goods and the automotive
industry seems to be more resilient than other sectors for the
time being.
Reuben van niekerk, reuben@automobil.org.za
Automotive industry continues
to outperform the economy
Take the Automobil
reader survey here
View the April
sales figures
here
enter the
Automobil reader
competition here