News From the Auto Industry

GMSA markets Opel, Isuzu, Suzuki, Chevrolet and SAAB. The company’s Port Elizabeth based assembly plants manufacture the Corsa, Corsa Utility, Isuzu KB and Isuzu N and F series trucks. Automotive Industries talks to Robert Socia. President and Managing Director of GM South Africa.

AI: Why does General Motors retain an assembly operation in South Africa?

Socia: The component industry shares many of the same strengths as the vehicle assembly industry, such as low utility costs, an established transport infrastructure, etc. Apart from the MIDE a number of government incentives also contribute to the development of the industry. These include: the Skills Support Program, Productive Asset Allowance, Foreign Investment Grant, etc. In terms of the Nelson Mandela Metro, obvious advantages are the close proximity to a port, the emergence of the Coega IDZ, the localization of three major OEMs and also the fact that, the metro has become a catalytic converter hub for export with major overseas suppliers having invested in the region e.g. Coming, Engelhard, Delphi, Umicore, Tenneco to name a few.

Brazil: State of the Industry (presented by the IAB) will be hosted and presented by Mauricio Palermo, Vice President of IAB Brazil. This session brings together leading industry experts from across the Brazilian marketing, media and agency landscape to discuss how digital media and technologies are transforming the business and discipline of marketing communications.

The State of Search in Latin America invites you to hear from leading search experts talking about the state of search across Latin America as they provide tips and tactics on how to identify where search marketing fits into the overall marketing mix, as well as ways to maximize search engine positioning and how to calculate ROI.

Going forward we will be aiming to further grow our share and in support of this we have implemented GM’s Global Manufacturing System (GMS).This ensures that we operate according to one common global system and that our efforts are geared towards producing high quality products. We have also placed a dedicated focus on improving our levels of service to our customers.