Naamsa’s boardroom in Johannesburg felt the weight of a looming crisis as the association announced Mncane Mthunzi as its new chief executive. The appointment comes at a moment when South Africa’s vehicle export business is under unprecedented pressure.
According to the announcement, Mthunzi takes up the role on Monday, ending a vacancy that began when Mikel Mabasa stepped down abruptly in April after more than six years in the post. The industry body said Mabasa left “to pursue personal interests outside the organisation”. Interim chief operations officer Shinny Gobiyeza, who filled the gap, returns to her substantive role.
Mthunzi’s résumé includes a stint as chief executive of the Consumer Goods Council of South Africa, a previous chief operations officer position at Edcon, and a strategy lead role on the presidency’s red-tape reduction project. Those experiences give him a mix of association leadership and operational know-how that the sector now demands.
Sector under tariff pressure
The United States Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act, a law that allows tariffs for national-security reasons, imposed a 25% duty on imported vehicles in April 2025 and on components a month later. Naamsa warned at the time that the measures could create a socioeconomic crisis in the making. Vehicle exports to the US fell from 25 544 units in 2024 to 6 530 units in 2025, a 74% drop, and Naamsa’s own half-year figures show a further 36% decline in the first half of 2026.
Almost all of the lost volume is Mercedes-Benz C-Class cars built at the East London plant, a facility that suspended production for two months in mid-2025 and that anchors the Eastern Cape economy. The recent two-year extension of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (Agoa) does not override the Section 232 duty, so the 25% tariff remains in force.
Before the tariffs, the automotive sector generated R28.6-billion in export revenue in 2024 and accounted for 64% of all Agoa trade between the two countries. Manufacturers have tried to offset the loss by selling to other markets, total exports still reached a record 414 268 units in 2025, but the cushion is thinning. Exports fell 5% year on year in the second quarter of 2026 and were 7.6% down across the first half, with port congestion so severe that some suppliers have resorted to air-freighting components to keep production lines running.
The tariff shock arrives alongside a second challenge: the transition to new energy vehicles (NEV), a term that covers battery-electric and hybrid models. The industry has long asked the government for a coherent policy framework, but only fragments have emerged. Toyota South Africa CEO Andrew Kirby warned in February that without urgent action the local motoring industry faced deindustrialisation.
Domestic demand is also shifting. Chinese brands have captured a substantial share of the sub-R400 000 segment that most South Africans buy, while battery-electric sales have accelerated sharply this year after a fuel price spike. Almost none of those electric vehicles are built locally, adding pressure on the supply chain.
Naamsa president Peter van Binsbergen, who also serves as CEO of BMW Group South Africa, said in a statement that the appointment comes at “a defining moment”. “We are entering a period that will fundamentally determine the future structure and competitiveness of our sector, and we require strong, decisive and strategic leadership to navigate it,” he said. Mthunzi echoed the tone, noting that “we cannot assume that the successes of the past will automatically secure our future” and that South Africa must compete for investment, technology, skills, markets and opportunities that will define the next generation of mobility.
The association has set out eight strategic priorities for the new CEO, covering competitiveness, investment retention, localisation, the NEV transition, export market development, skills, transformation and closer coordination between industry, government and organised labour. For the 44 companies that Naamsa represents, manufacturers, assemblers, distributors and importers, those priorities translate into a need for a unified voice that can engage constructively with government, challenge where necessary and push practical solutions.
In macro terms, the automotive industry contributes 5.2% of South Africa’s gross domestic product and 23.8% of national manufacturing output. Export revenue reached R291-billion in 2025 across 154 markets, and the sector directly employs about 113 000 people in manufacturing. The current leadership change therefore matters not only to the big car makers but also to the thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises that supply parts, logistics, tooling and services.
For SME owners, the immediate takeaway is clear: the combination of US tariffs and the NEV shift will reshape demand patterns, pricing and supply-chain logistics. Companies that can adapt to stricter import duties, diversify export markets and position themselves within the emerging electric-vehicle ecosystem will be better placed to survive the turbulence. Keeping an eye on Naamsa’s strategic initiatives and engaging with the association’s advocacy efforts could provide the early warnings and collective bargaining power needed to navigate the next few years.
