MOTORING NEWS - Two significant foreign vehicle brands players have expressed very different views on SA's attractiveness as a manufacturing base for Africa and beyond.
Chinese motor company Beijing Automotive Industry Co (BAIC) laid to rest doubts about its previously stated commitment to the SA market when executives turned the first sod at a new 48ha vehicle assembly plant in the Coega industrial development zone, near Port Elizabeth.
The R11bn venture, in which SA’s Industrial Development Corp (IDC) is a 35% partner, is expected to start producing vehicles in 2018 and will eventually have annual capacity for up to 100,000 cars and bakkies.
A day after the Coega ceremony, however, Datsun’s global head, Vincent Cobee, poured cold water on the idea that his Nissan-owned car brand could also begin production in SA, by saying the "time and circumstances" were not right for such a decision.
Investment stages
The BAIC investment will happen in two phases. The first, costing R4.2bn, will take production capacity to 50,000 by 2022. The second, which will mop up the remaining R6.8bn, should take the plant to its 100,000 maximum by 2027. BAIC officials say the plant will start with small cars, move on to sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and finally add one-ton bakkies.
IDC chair Busi Mabuza says the plant, once completed, will take the motor industry’s contribution, including retail, to over 8% of GDP. It is now just over 7%. The plant will be export-based. BAIC officials say long-term plans call for 40% of production to be sold in SA and 60% elsewhere. Africa is a natural target: Coega, the first full-scale BAIC assembly plant outside China, will be a production base for the rest of the continent.
But there seems to be uncertainty about other destinations. Group chairman Xu Heyi says they will include Australia. Other BAIC officials say they won’t. Likewise, the latter discount an IDC suggestion that SA could also supply South America. "We have independent supply plans for Australia and Latin American countries," says one.
There appears to be more consensus on the idea that SA should supply Europe, though only with what the Chinese call "new energy" models - mainly hybrid cars, powered by a combination of petrol engine and electricity.
A day after the Coega ceremony, however, Datsun’s global head, Vincent Cobee, poured cold water on the idea that his Nissan-owned car brand could also begin production in SA, by saying the "time and circumstances" were not right for such a decision.
Investment stages
The BAIC investment will happen in two phases. The first, costing R4.2bn, will take production capacity to 50,000 by 2022. The second, which will mop up the remaining R6.8bn, should take the plant to its 100,000 maximum by 2027. BAIC officials say the plant will start with small cars, move on to sports utility vehicles (SUVs) and finally add one-ton bakkies.
IDC chair Busi Mabuza says the plant, once completed, will take the motor industry’s contribution, including retail, to over 8% of GDP. It is now just over 7%. The plant will be export-based. BAIC officials say long-term plans call for 40% of production to be sold in SA and 60% elsewhere. Africa is a natural target: Coega, the first full-scale BAIC assembly plant outside China, will be a production base for the rest of the continent.
But there seems to be uncertainty about other destinations. Group chairman Xu Heyi says they will include Australia. Other BAIC officials say they won’t. Likewise, the latter discount an IDC suggestion that SA could also supply South America. "We have independent supply plans for Australia and Latin American countries," says one.
There appears to be more consensus on the idea that SA should supply Europe, though only with what the Chinese call "new energy" models - mainly hybrid cars, powered by a combination of petrol engine and electricity.
