As South Africa commemorates Youth Month, the South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA), a proud association of the Retail Motor Industry Organisation (RMI), is shining a spotlight on a new generation of industry leaders who are helping drive innovation, transformation and sustainability within the motor body repair sector. While many still view the industry […]
South Africa’s vehicle parc is no longer defined simply by its size or age profile, but by a rapidly deepening level of technical complexity that is fundamentally reshaping the motor body repair environment. While growth in vehicle numbers continues to influence workshop volumes, a more significant shift is occurring beneath the surface. Increasingly, every vehicle […]
The South African motor body repair sector faces an increasing skills pipeline challenge. Apprenticeship throughput remains constrained by provider capacity, geographic access barriers, limited workplace integration, and the operational realities of modern repair businesses. Development of a new framework At the same time, the industry possesses significant underutilised workplace capability in the form of experienced […]
On Saturday, 16 May 2026, industry members and SAMBRA Eastern Cape gathered for a highly successful and engaging Industry Insights Forum, where valuable discussions, presentations, and demonstrations highlighted the future direction of the automotive repair and refinish sector. The event brought together key industry stakeholders, suppliers, training institutions, and workshop representatives for a day focused […]
The inaugural South African Motor Body Repairers’ Association (SAMBRA) Junior Skills Competition was successfully held at Baysville Technical High School in East London on Saturday, 5 June, marking an important milestone in the Association’s commitment to developing future artisans for the motor body repair sector. SAMBRA is a proud association of the Retail Motor Industry […]
RMI’s efforts during May have continued to drive awareness and traffic to our member businesses. Results for the BusinessTech article, “SA’s Automotive Aftermarket – future fit or left behind” May demonstrated continued campaign momentum despite reduced support from launch period media activity: Key Insight Social media continues to drive meaningful traffic into the campaign ecosystem, […]
