Could (more) manufacture of affordable vehicles help lift the country’s automotive sector?
Affordability was a key factor driving consumer behaviour in South Africa, and it affected the auto industry as much as any other, Paul-Roux de Kock, Chief Analytics Officer at Lightstone, provider of comprehensive data, analytics and systems on property, automotive and business assets, told a recent Automechanika Johannesburg CEO event.
The CEO breakfast attracted senior executives from the private and public sectors, and de Kock was one of three speakers to flesh out opportunities and challenges facing South Africa’s automotive sector.
De Kock highlighted two insights from South Africa’s retail landscape which underscored the country’s “affordability” focus. “In our new normal we see that average dwell time at malls are back where they were before the Covid lockdown in 2020, but interestingly the number of visits has dropped by 20%”, he said...more