D.Comm. / The South African automotive sector and its various role-players are caught in a battle for survival. A variety of national and international challenges are being faced. The international change agents are in the form of globalisation and trade liberalisation. These are forcing the country to open up its previously protected automotive industry and become exposed to global competition. These and other developments are laying bare the reality that South Africa and its automotive industry will, in its current format, not be able to withstand the competitive pressures. South Africa's national competitiveness is generally weak, with the country exhibiting particular shortcomings in the area of human capital development, human capital deployment, the inability to sustain growth and attract investments, as well as the creation of wealth in general. The local automotive industry is also under significant pressure through global automotive developments as well as its own lack of competitiveness. The lack of competitiveness is mainly due to historic protectionism and disadvantages of a small local market. Survival depends increasingly on a rise in South African automotive exports. This will, however, require that a variety of particular weaknesses are dealt with effectively, such as the poor industrial relations prevalent in the industry and the widespread lack of Best Practices. South Africa has no choice but to transform on a national, industry and organisational level if the automotive industry is to survive or prosper in the new millennium. The local automotive industry is unlikely to survive if the country's national competitiveness is not significantly improved
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2697 |
| Date | 17 August 2012 |
| Creators | Teifel, Harry Hans Hein |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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