Gerber said the motor industry had struggled to attract people interested in full-time careers in the industry, especially in the after-sales segment, which includes repairs and maintenance.
Among the sector's biggest challenges was constant automotive technology shifts. "If we don't have the skills, South Africa's motor industry will be in trouble," he said.
Hyundai has undertaken various projects at schools around SA to encourage careers in the motor industry and to inform pupils about what the industry offers.
Other car manufacturers have made similar investments to facilitate training in SA.
"We have had good success with that and we are now seeing a trend where people are interested in a career in the motor industry," Gerber said.
Dropout rates in Hyundai's apprentice programme, which operates under the auspices of the Imperial Technical Training Academy, had reduced from about 45% a few years ago to between 6% and 10% at the moment.
This indicated that more people were taking careers in the after-sales segment of the motor industry more seriously.
"After completing Hyundai's programme, the company absorbed about 60% of those apprentices who wanted stay in the industry," said Gerber.
Nico Vermeulen, director of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa), said the motor industry had taken a "sensible" and proactive approach in ensuring it had the necessary skills. In addition to government-backed training authorities, local manufacturers and importers of vehicles had established in-house training academies and centres for development of skills.
"The manufacturers and importers - who recognised the industry's challenges some years back - all took decisions that from a strategic point of view, they had better make sure they had the necessary skills in place to be able to look after, maintain and service their vehicles," said Vermeulen.
This ensured that the professional skills that were required in the future would be available and that skills shortages were not a material issue.
Source: Business Day via I-Net Bridge
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