OVERVIEW
On behalf of the naamsa National Office Bearers and our Executive Committee under the leadership of Mikel MABASA, I am very pleased to present the naamsa Annual Presidential Report. I would like to commend the naamsa Team for resiliently turning our association around and for delivering some significant and momentous public policy wins for the industry during 2020. Our new naamsa strategy has truly positioned us well underpinned by our robust lobbying and public advocacy engagement platforms the team drove relentlessly in the past 18-months.
In 2020, the team turned around what could have been a disastrous year for many of the businesses within our sector, with several companies already underperforming and under pressure even before lockdown restrictions were introduced. The automotive industry locally and globally has not been immune to the impact of COVID‑19 as Government restrictions to keep our communities safe impacted our customers’ trading activities, which led to changes in consumer purchasing behaviours and volatile new vehicle sales.
South Africa was especially hit hard with a five‑week hard lockdown which closed down all our businesses from manufacturing, retail and aftersales. I believe it was the tenacity of the naamsa team that enabled many of our companies to survive this year and achieve some stable financial results as we bring 2020 to a close.