2. Overview of Wheel and Tyre Services Market in Swaziland
2.1. Demand of Wheels and Tyres in Swaziland
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roads are being narrowed, unusual traffic jams are becoming famous and the ever-anticipating government is improving the road infrastructure with endless highway roads constructions and roads expansions that declares growth in all spheres of the automotive and transport industry.
2.1. Demand of Wheels and Tyres in Swaziland
The wheels and tyres industry in Swaziland looks prominent. Cars, bakkies, buses, trucks and lorries have been flooding the Swazi roads and narrowing them as if to incite government to do something about the road infrastructure. The Swazi government on the other hand rose to the occasion and have not disappointed. During the year of 1998, the highway from Mbabane to Manzini was constructed and its completion came at the time where most Swazis felt the country had wasted resources. This came after the realization that most Swazis felt the highway was under-utilized looking at the number of motorist that used the road and when one did an impact study and looking closely at the benefits that came with the highway. In a few years’
time to the year 2005, things started changing. The country gradually started to gear up towards the right direction in terms of development transition and in economy growth.
Figure 2: All registered vehicles around Swaziland from year 2014 to 2018 Source: Motor Registry, All Motor Vehicle Report, 2018
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Figure 2 above depicts a steady growth in the number of vehicles that were registered with the Swaziland Motor Registry Department. According to the motor vehicle report of 2018, Swaziland had a total of 184,009 units of vehicles by year 2014, recorded 212,554 by year 2016 and 234,215 total vehicles in Swaziland by June 2018. The report shows and average growth of about 8% annually on the number of vehicles that are registered in the country. The sudden growth in the automotive industry and car sales came after having many Asians settling in the country and bringing business from abroad. They started by operating supermarkets, wholesale shops, electronic shops, restaurants and groceries. As years passed by, importing cars from Japan became the order of the day. As more and more Japanese imported cars hit the country, car dealership businesses were established along the Mbabane - Manzini corridor.
As a result, Swazis flocked the Matsapha industrial site to own one or two cars from Japan at competitive prices that beat the local industry prices. Competition became stiff for the local companies that were dealing in international cars as people preferred the Japanese cars to the local ones. The Japan imported cars industry grew so fast such that not even Swaziland Revenue Authority (SRA) introduction of heavy import and customs taxes on the cars could deter the growth of the industry. By year 2016, the very same highway was narrowed, traffic jams leading to frequent and undesirable accident started making statistics on the highway and by year 2018, the highway had witnessed about 150 fatal accidents that claimed about 170 peoples’ lives.
(Ministry of Public Works, 2018).
Almost every Swazi citizen on the middle to high income earners group has become an owner of a car. Unlike in Taiwan and most Asian countries where the use of bikes and railway transportation is ideal to move from one place to the other, Swazis prefer driving cars as means of transportation. There are no public trains and no train stations. Bikes on the other hand are
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regarded as luxurious and are for a certain group of people with a taste for loud sounds, racing and high-speed driving. Having highlighted the growth in the demand for cars in the country, one should note that a systematic growth in the car industry equates to a proportional growth to the wheel and tyre services industry. Safe driving and accident free roads emanate from the availability of good wheels and tyres, quality tyre repairs services, wheel alignment and balancing services.
The prospects of the continuity in the industry is good considering that the construction of roads in anticipation of further growth in the car industry still continues. The construction of the King Mswati III International Airport by year 2016 on the other hand has opened up many opportunities and favorable demand for cars in the country. As a result of the airport, a freeway from Manzini town to the airport about 60km away is under heavy construction and projected to be fully operational by year 2020.The industry’s future therefore looks bright considering the new vehicle registrations made through the years 2014 to 2018. Table 1 and Figure 3 below respectively depict that more than 12,000 new vehicles are registered every year across Swaziland. By June 2018, about 63,062 new vehicle registrations were recorded since year 2014. Qina Wheels and Tyres being strategically located under Hhohho district will be targeting Both Manzini and Hhohho motorist that account for about 70% of the new vehicle registrations around the Kingdom of Eswatini.
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Table 1: New Registrations of all new vehicles by District for the years 2014 through 2018 Source: Ministry of Public Works report automobile survey, 2018
Figure 3 New vehicle registration by district in Swaziland (2014-2018) Source: Ministry of Public Works report automobile survey, 2018
The company’s future can never be brighter without the ability of the players to educate motorist through vigorous marketing campaigns about the benefits of having safe driving wheels and accident free roads for all in the country. The ability to provide distinctive quality wheels and tyre services for customers in an industry that is still on its growth stages as shown below will enable the business to have a competitive position in the market. Through branding and image building, the company will have the opportunity to establish and retain customers that are loyal to the company
District Year 2014 Year 2015 Year 2016 Year 2017 Year 2018 Grand Total Distribution Hhohho 2 886 3 669 3 141 4 393 1 722 15 811 25%
Manzini 4 603 6 389 8 233 6 105 3 016 28 346 45%
Shiselweni 3 222 2 462 1 770 2 216 1 020 10 690 17%
Lubombo 2 145 1 844 1 037 2 106 1 083 8 215 13%
Total 12 856 14 364 14 181 14 820 6 841 63 062 100%
New Registrations of all vehicles by District for the years January 2014 through June 2018
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