saaw update
Saaw Tradeshow – powerful
showcase on sa manufacturing
Big brands, sector pavilions and innovative showpieces look set to project the full spectrum of major players
in South Africa’s manufacturing industry at South African Automotive Week from October 13-17 at Gallagher
Convention Centre, in Midrand.
T
“
he Week is building up to be one of
the most dynamic networking and
trading platforms for automotive
manufacturers and suppliers. What is most
encouraging is the scope and scale of
quality organisations that have taken up the
opportunity” says SAAW director Andrew
Binning.
Global brands like T-systems, Bentler,
Savino del Bene, Federal-Mogul and Inno
Textiles will join 350 local and several major
foreign exhibitors from the UK, Namibia,
China, Malaysia, Iran, Germany and the
Visegrad in Halls 4 and 5 at Gallagher,
spanning up to 10 000m². Binning says in
addition to individual companies, pavilions
had been acquired by the AIDC, Eastern
Cape Development Corporation, and
Kwa-Zulu Natal Invest to profile the key
government and industry players and
developments in Gauteng, Eastern Cape
and Kwa-Zulu Natal, respectively.
Special showpieces include the Tooling
Association of South Africa stand and
the Aluminium Federation of South Africa
stand, which aims to demonstrate the use
of aluminium in vehicle manufacture and
will feature the newest C-class Mercedes.
Mercedes’ all-new C-Class is about
100kg lighter but bigger than the model
it replaces, which means it needs less
energy to make it move. Overall content of
aluminium has increased from 10 percent
to 50 percent, and suspension, body and
chassis components that were previously
heavy steel are now lightweight alloy.
Another key focus area of the tradeshow
is Electric Vehicle Production which has
a pavilion dedicated to innovators and
suppliers in this rapidly growing area.
Project director Binning says very limited
space is still available in the exhibition
which runs concurrently with
a match –making programme,
Automotive Industry
Conference, Workshops and
networking functions.
buyers in Africa and the globe, Binning
adds. Over 10 000 trade visitors from
20 countries, some of whose travel costs
have been subsidised by the dti’s EMIA
scheme, are expected to attend.
Binning says indications from very early
online visitor registrations indicate that
attendance would double for the 4th
edition of South African Automotive Week
in its first year in Gauteng.
The AIDC, an agency of GEDA,
successfully facilitated the 4th edition of
South African Automotive to be hosted in
Africa’s economic capital.
South Africa is increasingly
viewed as a base from which
to access African markets,
as a result the exhibition
is a premium platform for
manufacturers and parts
suppliers to connect with
➲ Seen at the previous SAAW, held in Port Elizabeth in October 2012
| words in action
8
august 2014