Triton brings the challenge to competitors
The bakkie war has intensified with the local launch of Mitsubishi’s next-generation Triton, an evolution in the iconic bakkie’s 46-year legacy.
- Product News
- 21 November 2024
Martina Biene, Volkswagen Group South Africa’s (VWSA) Chairperson and Managing Director, takes over as President of the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) from Mike Whitfield who has been President since July 2020.
Mike will remain on the Executive of AAAM as the Immediate Past President.
The AAAM was established in November 2015 with Jeff Nemeth from Ford as the first President and Mike Whitfield as the Vice President. It is the only African body focusing on the expansion and deepening of the automotive industry across the continent, by working with governments to shape policies that will attract investors to unlock the economic potential of the continent and align a global network of stakeholders, committed to the development of the Automotive industry in Africa.
During Mike’s tenure at AAAM, a Continental Automotive Strategy and Implementation Plan was developed in conjunction with the AfCFTA Secretariat, Africa Union (AU), UNECA, Afreximbank and ARSO and this was adopted as a living document by the AfCFTA Council of Ministers at a meeting in Botswana in February 2023. An AfCFTA Automotive Task Force has been formed to oversee, guide and implement this Strategy under the supervision of the Council of Ministers with the immediate priority to resolve the Rules of Origin.
AAAM’s role and importance in developing the automotive industry have also been recognised by the private sector, which has resulted in AAAM’s membership growing from some 17 members in 2020 to the current 63 members.
Martina Biene, Chairperson and Managing Director of VWSA, who is also responsible for the Africa Region, has over 20 years’ experience in the automotive industry having joined Volkswagen in 2001 where she held multiple roles in the company in Sales, Marketing, Product Planning and Product Marketing for Luxury Vehicles and the Volkswagen Brand in Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg and South Africa.
In 2018, she was appointed as the head of the Volkswagen Brand in South Africa whereafter she returned to Germany in 2020 to take up the position of Head of Small and Compact Vehicle line up, returning to South Africa in November 2022 to take up her current position.
“I became passionate about Africa after completing an internship in Cape Town before joining Volkswagen in Germany. My career has allowed me to return to Africa to help with the industrialisation of Africa through the automotive industry, which will help to create opportunities and sustainable jobs.
“I am thankful for the work that Mike and the AAAM team have done to date, and I am humbled to be able to play a key role through AAAM to grow the automotive manufacturing industry from the 1.1 million vehicles a year today to some 3.5 million or even 5 million by 2035,” she says.
The Executive of AAAM is as follows:
President: Martina Biene, Chairperson and Managing Director of VWSA
Past President: Mike Whitfield, Managing Director Stellantis South Africa
Vice President: Andrew Kirby, President and CEO of Toyota South Africa Motors
Vice President: Markus Thill, President Region Africa, Robert Bosch
Vice President: Jeffrey Oppong Peprah, CEO of Volkswagen Ghana
Vice President: Dr Ahmed Fikry, Managing Director for East Port Said for Main Development Co (EP) and Managing Director of Egyptian German Automotive Co (EGA).
Chief Executive Officer: Dave Coffey
The bakkie war has intensified with the local launch of Mitsubishi’s next-generation Triton, an evolution in the iconic bakkie’s 46-year legacy.
Unlike in the past, when dealerships primarily waited for customers to come to them, we now take a more proactive approach, bringing our vehicles directly to places where people gather, allowing them to experience the product first-hand, including offering test drives,” says Gerrie van der Kaay, Dealer Principal at Supergroup Dealerships Jetour Midrand.
JAC Motors added ABS (Anti-lock Braking System) to its X200 2.8L TDI 1.5-tonne single-cab, enhancing safety for both the crew and cargo. This latest upgrade complements the ABS-equipped X200 1.3-tonne double-cab targeted at organisations with labour-intensive crews.
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