Andrea Moz, CEO at Auto Industrial Group and NAACAM Vice President
Andrea Moz, CEO at Auto Industrial Group and NAACAM Vice President, was born in Port Elizabeth and exposed to the motor industry at a very young age, as his father worked for Ford Motor Co. Following graduating from Wits University, Andrea qualified at Ernst and Young as a CA (SA). He first joined Auto Industrial Group in 1994 as Group Financial Manager, became the Chief Financial Officer in 1998, and took on the role of Chief Executive Officer in 2006. 2020 therefore marks Andrea’s 26th year at Auto Industrial.
Andrea has held many positions outside of Auto Industrial, including Vice President at NAACAM, President of the Italian SA Chamber of Commerce, ASCCI executive, and Vice President of SEIFSA, amongst others.
Auto Industrial has gone through many changes over its history, including being foreign owned between 2000 and 2013. The company is now in its 51st year. In 2014 Auto Industrial was acquired by a private equity led Management buyout. Trinitas is now the joint owner with Management. Auto Industrial is proudly 100% South African and procurement is 95% South African. Additionally, they are a Level 4 B-BBEE contributor.
Considering Auto Industrial’s support for SAAM 2035, Andrea notes that the Masterplan has been fundamental in ensuring continued investment in the South African automotive sector, whilst at the same time, it puts obligations on suppliers to localise and transform. This localisation is key to job creation. Auto Industrial proudly produce over 95% of their components with 100% local content, however, they still challenge themselves to localise the remaining 5%. With the assistance of the AIS scheme, Auto Industrial continues to invest to support new vehicle programmes launched in SA.
In addition, Auto Industrial will introduce new technologies to support the ever changing needs of their customers and thereby ensure additional localisation opportunities in the automotive sector.
Andrea’s advice for emerging suppliers in the sector; “This sector is not for the faint hearted. It is extremely competitive, unrelenting requirements for delivery and quality, and HR Challenging. However, it can be extremely rewarding to be part of a global supply chain and globally competitive. The secret is Investment, Investment and Investment in Equipment, Technology and Skills. Being “connected” with global trends and best practices is key to enable a long term view in the technology space.”
