Market Trends of Africa & Middle East Airbag Systems Industry
This section covers the major market trends shaping the Africa & Middle East Airbag Systems Market according to our research experts:
Lack of Regulations and Rising Road Accident Deaths
In terms of road safety Africa is one of the worst hit regions in the world. According to WHO report, in 2018, the continent registered a road-traffic mortality rate of 26.6 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. South Africa continues to experience around 14,000 road deaths every year, making it among the countries that have the highest traffic death rate in the world.
There is a lack of regulations especially in African countries which makes airbag systems mandatory for vehicles in the region.
In 2017 Global NCAP and AA South Africa launched #SaferCarsforAfrica in Cape Town, with the first independent crash test assessment of some of South Africa's most popular compact and small cars. In the third round of the initiative in 2019, the results are better from the first edition of the initiative from 2017 but there is still some scope of improvements for the car makers in the country. The results showed reasonable safety performance for adult occupants, the vehicles' child occupant protection was revealed to be poor.
The Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) in 2017, made it compulsory for the car manufacturers to install frontal airbags in the vehicles, with an aim to improve vehicle safety, particularly in the light of increased horrific accidents.
South Africa is the Largest Market
Despite a decrease in sales figures in the year 2019, South Africa maintains its position as the largest car market in the region. During the year 2019, the factors that are affecting the market are subdued macro-economic environment, pressure on consumers' disposable income and fragile business and consumer confidence.
The country has many big OEMs present in its territory and the automobiles sector plays an important role in the GDP of the country. Many big players like BMW, Volkswagen, Toyota, Renault, Nissan and Ford manufacture vehicles in South Africa for fulfilling the local demand and for exports. Many of these players are making sizeable investments in the country, leading to a further increase in production and are launching new products which are equipped with more safety equipment like airbags and ABS, which can save lives during travel.
For instance, in June 2020, Ford Launched new Ford Figo Freestyle in the south African market, in two variants. The trend model has the basic safety features like ABS braking, Driver and passenger airbag while the Titanium version is equipped with basic safety features along with side and curtain airbags.
