Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Labour Court has dismissed an application by the Motor Staff Association (MISA) to interdict Motus from proceeding with a retrenchment process or from consulting directly with its employees.
This decision was handed down by the court on 6 February, almost bringing to an end a process that began in the middle of 2025.
Motus’ SA Retail division said the Labour Court’s decision provides clarity on the way forward during a challenging period for it and its employees.
SA Retail said in a statement following the dismissal that it remains committed to engaging with its employees to explore reasonable alternatives.
The company believes this matter could have been resolved through constructive engagement rather than a legal process.
“Instead, SA Retail proposals, which included the realignment of incentive structures and company car benefits for administrative and support-related employees as an alternative to forced retrenchment, were not accepted,” it said.
“MISA refused this offer and, instead, opted to withdraw from engagements and take the matter to court, rather than working with SA Retail to minimise the impact on affected employees.”
Motus, through SA Retail, has worked to reduce the potential impact of the efficiencies created on employees by exploring alternative cost-cutting measures to retrenchments.
“Through SA Retail’s efforts, the number of potentially affected employees has been reduced to fewer than 200, with the changes limited to the restructuring of incentive structures and company car benefits,” SA Retail CEO Gideon Jansen van Rensburg said.
SA Retail confirmed that it has not implemented any unilateral changes to the terms and conditions of employment, in line with the court judgment.
The company said it remains committed to the long-term sustainability of the business and engaging constructively with affected employees.
SA Retail has undertaken to engage individually with employees who accept the revised offer to review skills, revisit career development plans, and identify opportunities within Motus.
A generational shift
Motus has explained that the job cuts are in response to a once-in-a-generation shift in South Africa’s new car market caused by the surge in popularity of Chinese vehicles.
In response to this surge, Motus has overhauled its dealerships to create multi-franchise outlets with Chinese brands, resulting in some efficiencies being created with regard to back-office and support functions.
As a result, Motus has had to consider job cuts for these various positions, a reduction in benefits for certain employees, and other measures to maintain profitability.
Motus has been a relatively late mover in adapting to the rise of affordable Chinese vehicles, opening only a few dealerships under these brands.
Furthermore, Jansen van Rensburg explained that despite growing sales volumes, the rise of affordable Chinese cars has impacted the company’s margins.
“The market has become more competitive, with new entrants, particularly Chinese brands, that have intensified the pricing pressures Motus faces,” Jansen van Rensburg said.
Motus has been a victim of the hunt for value from South African consumers, with many moving into lower-priced vehicles with slimmer margins for dealerships.
As a result, while sales volumes of new cars have risen, the average value of the vehicles sold has declined. This means the average selling price of a vehicle has risen below inflation in recent years.
Some consumers have also completely shifted to the used-car market to save money and no longer buy new cars.
“This is placing pressure on the margins of the business. In response, we were required to rationalise our business by implementing back office synergies,” Jansen van Rensburg said.
He explained that this restructuring has also included changes to the incentive structure of back office employees and administrative staff.
Motus has so far retrenched 67 employees who it could not find other positions within its business, with some others taking up to a 30% salary cut to remain employed.
“Our senior staff took salary cuts of up to 30% in our retail division, and now we are seeking to realign the incentive structures and company car benefits of our admin staff,” Jansen van Rensburg said.
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