South Africa - International Franchise Association

the race to individualize and distinguish their vehicles from others, enthusiasts constantly
seek innovative, authentic specialty components and accessories with little regard to
price. In this lucrative segment, South Africans are highly receptive to U.S. brands and
often follow trends set in the U.S.
Sub-Sector Best Prospects Return to top
The following performance products are sought after by dragsters in “the race to be the
best”: intercoolers; ball bearing turbos; octane boosters; gauges; racing bolts;
performance water injection systems, high flow injectors; racing clutches; metal headgaskets;
racing tires, nitro fed boosters, racing pistons; calipers and racing disk kits; high
pressure fuel kits; gas flow cylinder heads, dynanometers.
A constant need to distinguish and individualize vehicles creates opportunities for U.S.
suppliers of automotive interior and exterior accessory products such as body styling
kits; racing seats; alloy wheels; lowering-suspension kits; graphics; steering wheels;
gear and hand-brake pouches; boot spoilers and wings; aluminum pedals; xenon light
kits.
Opportunities Return to top
South African specialty equipment and accessory wholesalers and retailers constantly
seek to expand their product range and welcome opportunities to establish
distributor/agent agreements with U.S. firms. Majority of the performance products are
imported directly from the U.S. United Kingdom, Italy and Germany. However, these
imports may not necessarily be purchased from the manufacturer and without any
exclusivity and/or distributor agreements. This scenario leads to “rogue distributors” and
fierce competition amongst wholesalers and smaller retail-customizing and performance
shops. South African companies are interested in acquiring U.S. distributorships,
however, U.S. companies seldom reply to their inquiries or the U.S. company’s minimum
requirement to ship is too large for the South African importer. This leaves the South
African importers without much choice but to engage U.S. agents who consolidate and
ship U.S. specialty products that are purchased from “third parties”, to them.
South African aftermarket importers and wholesalers often attend international
exhibitions such as SEMA, AAPEX, Performance Racing Industry and Automechanika to
meet and partner with foreign companies not represented locally.
Exhibitions Return to top
South African Automotive Week (SAAW)
Date: October 10-13, 2012
Port Elizabeth
http://www.saaw.co.za/
Automechanika South Africa
Date: March 8-11, 2013
Venue: NASREC, Johannesburg South Africa
Website: http://www.automechanikasa.co.za/
Johannesburg International Motor Show (JIMS)