Errol Richardson, one of the icons of the South African motor industry and a long-time collaborator with CAR, died from a heart attack over the weekend. He was 66.
Richardson served with General Motors and Ford before spending a quarter of a century with retail giant McCarthy. He is a former chariman of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), served as president of the Motor Industries Federation (MIF) – later the Retail Motor Industry organisation (RMI) – and he was the retail member of the Motor Industry Task Group, which set in motion the formulation of the groundbreaking Motor Industry Development Plan that promoted the South African automotive production sector to an integral part of the global vehicle industry in the Nineties.
RMI chief executive Jeff Osborne described Richardson “a vibrant, passionate and extremely hardworking comrade who would be sadly missed by all.” In addition, CAR magazine will always be grateful for the contributions that the amiable Richardson made to our biannual CAR Conferences as well as his column and blog contributions to the magazine and CARmag.co.za in his capacity as our “Industry Insider” during 2009 and 2010.
His funeral will be held on May 16 in St Michael’s Anglican Church, Umhlanga Rocks, Durban at 2pm. In lieu of flowers, a donation box will be at the Church to be distributed to Errol’s choice of charity.
