The number of fleet management (FM) systems in active use in SA is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 10.8% from 0.9 million units in 2015 to 1.5 million by 2020.
This is according to a recent Berg Insight report which says fleet management (FM) in SA is in a growth phase that will continue for the next few years. The report further revealed that the penetration rate in the total population of non-privately owned fleet vehicles used by businesses is estimated to increase from 21.5% in 2015 to 32.5% in 2020.
The report states this is a relatively high penetration from an international perspective as SA is a relatively mature telematics market. A notable share of the installed fleet telematics systems on the SA market is represented by comparably low-end tracking systems such as light FM solutions including SVR systems extended with basic FM features.
Berg Insight analyst Rickard Andersson says: "The South African fleet management market is dominated by five players with broad telematics portfolios which are all headquartered in the country and have installed bases of more than 100 000 FM units."
Andersson ranks vehicle tracking company MiX Telematics as the largest provider of fleet management solutions in SA with an estimated installed base of around 150 000 active units in the country.
"We are delighted to be recognised as the largest provider of fleet management solutions in SA - a key market for us as a global telematics company," says Brendan Horan, MD of MiX Telematics (Africa).
MiX Telematics services customers across various market segments in SA including transport and logistics, oil and gas, agriculture, rental and leasing, cold chain and fleet & mobile asset management, government/municipal, security, construction and mining.
"SA is where it all began for us in 1996, and we are grateful to not only have grown substantially in this market over the years, but to have industry experts note this growth and the contribution we have made to the local fleet management landscape," continues Horan.
Discussing the drivers of the fleet management businesses in SA, Grant Fraser, Product and Marketing Director at MiX Telematics says: "Despite the numerous challenges facing the fleet management sector in SA, the road freight industry is considered to be one the biggest contributors to the economy.
"One of the key market drivers in the fleet management industry is the fact that freight movers in SA still prefer to transport goods by road instead of rail - in fact 88% of goods are transported by road - a significant increase from 76% of freight transported by trucks 20 years ago."
He points out the industry in SA is currently facing an increase in road traffic accidents, and that advanced technology is needed in order to monitor and manage this reality in an advanced manner especially within the fleet sector.
The runner-up of the five players dominating the fleet management market in SA was Cartrack followed by Altech Netstar and DigiCore (Ctrack). TomTom Telematics follows: the company has powered more than 100 000 active systems in the country which have been provided by Tracker.
In addition to identifying the top performing fleet management solution providers dominating the South African fleet market, the report also explores the overall state of the market including fleet management infrastructure, market drivers and barriers, as well as future market trends.
Other renowned international providers active on the market include Pointer Telocation and Geotab. The report says foreign telematics players have however generally not managed to achieve any significant market shares on the South African fleet management market so far.
Additional examples of domestic aftermarket players include GPS Tracking Solutions (Eqstra Fleet Management), Global Telematics (Pointer SA), Autotrak, ACM Track and Digit Vehicle Tracking. Commercial vehicle OEMs including Daimler, Scania, Volvo Group and MAN have moreover introduced fleet telematics solutions in South Africa, though the adoption levels generally remain relatively modest so far.
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