Leather-seat firm aggrieved by withdrawal of export - leatherbiz: Lea Leatherbiz

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Leather-seat firm aggrieved by withdrawal of export incentive

23/02/2006
Leather-seat manufacturer Aunde South Africa has been severely prejudiced by the South African government’s decision to disallow Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP) incentives on leather seat-cover exports to Australia,” says MD Sieg-fried Kuhn.

We are the only exporter of automotive leather seat covers as original equipment to Australia and our future growth could be threatened, as could employment levels. The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has not responded to numerous requests for some sort of interim industrial support while the MIDP review is being undertaken.”

This follows as Australia last year threatened to challenge the MIDP at the World Trade Organisation, causing the restructuring of the MIDP as the South African government’s long-running programme to grow the local automotive industry. The MIDP is currently being reviewed, and one of the issues under investigation is leather exports to Australia. The review is due to be concluded at the end of April.

The National Association of Automotive Component and Allied Manufacturers (Naacam) reported earlier this year that automotive leather-seat and leather-product exports dropped from R3,7 billion in 2004 to R2,7 billion in 2005, according to International Trade Administration Commission of South Africa numbers.

Aunde SA manufactures leather seat covers for BMW’s One, Three, and Five series. These covers are exported to Germany. The company also manufactures leather and textile seat covers for Holden and Mitsubishi, in Australia. The company’s factory, just outside Durban, produces 1600 leather car sets a day.


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