Work had stopped on Thursday at ost of the around 200 member companies of the National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (Naacam), said Naacam president and PG Glass group CEO Stewart Jennings.

This was owing to a strike by members of the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa). (There was no strike at PG Glass).

The strike in the component manufacturing industry, now in its second day, had already taken its first casualty, with Volkswagen of South Africa (VWSA) announcing on Wednesday that it had been forced to close its Uitenhage plant, which produced the Polo model for the local and export markets, and the Vivo for the local market.

“This will result in a substantial loss of volume of Polos destined for worldwide right-hand drive markets, as well as Polo and Polo Vivo models destined for the local market,” said VWSA spokesperson Bill Stephens.

Jennings noted that vehicle manufacturers were bound to be affected by the component strike as they ordered parts according to the just-in-time principle, which meant that they did not hold large component stocks.

He added that negotiations between Numsa and Naacam were set to continue on Thursday.

The strike in the component industry followed hot on the heels of a crippling eight-day strike by Numsa at South Africa’s car and pick-up manufacturing plants last month, which cost the industry 17 000 units in new vehicle production.

BMW South Africa also announced on Thursday that all new vehicle production had ground to a halt, owing to the strike in the component industry.

The company’s Rosslyn plant produced the 3 Series model for the local and export markets.

Plant communication manager Hess Fourie said that, given the situation, “it is highly unlikely that production will continue tomorrow [Friday], and the planned Saturday shift will be cancelled without pay. This will result in a loss of production of approximately 800 units. Furthermore, should the strike continue, we will be unable to produce [any vehicles] next week.”

Fourie said that the Rosslyn plant already had to decline a request for additional volume in 2010, over and above its scheduled commitments, given the 2 000 units lost during the automotive industry strike in August.

“We had an extremely tight production schedule, with the plant scheduled to run at full production until the end of the year to make up these lost units, and this further interruption now makes it impossible to meet our annual commitment. The lost volume will be reallocated to other BMW 3 Series plants in Germany, and represents a loss of export volume from South Africa.”

Another big vehicle manufacturer and exporter, Toyota South Africa (TSA), indicated on Thursday that it could still continue production at its Durban plant for “a few days”.

“However, if the strike continues for a few day longer, we would have to halt production,” said spokesperson Leo Kok.

He added that TSA’s biggest concern was that the company was already using all the overtime available to make up for the production volumes lost during the August strike.

“If everything went according to plan, we would have made up for this lost production by the middle of October. Any further delays would push this date forward by some margin.”

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) warned on Thursday that prolonged industrial action could translate into employment losses, aside from the loss of production, turnover and profit within the local automotive industry.

"The effect of the ongoing strike action would undermine and compromise the industry’s already fragile track record as a reliable supplier of automotive products, vehicles and components, to international markets," the association said in a statement.

Naamsa reported that August new vehicle export sales showed a decline of 3 651 vehicles, or 15,7%, from the 23 254 vehicles exported during July 2010, and that this could be attributed to last month's strike action at the assembly plants.

TYRE STRIKE CONTINUES

Production at South Africa’s four major tyre manufacturers – Apollo Tyres (which owned Dunlop), Goodyear, Continental and Bridgestone Firestone – were still at a standstill on Thursday as a strike by Numsa and Solidarity entered its fourth day.

New Tyre Manufacturing Employers Association (NTMEA) chairperson Basil Smith said that there was no progress in negotiations, with no date set for further meetings.

The strike could affect the availability of certain product ranges first, with the possibility that general tyre stockpiles could run dry if the strike dragged on for a protracted period of time.

Numsa and Solidarity wanted a 10% wage increase, with NTMEA offering 8,5%.