ELLIS MNYANDU, Johannesburg | Tuesday
A MASSIVE R1bn investment in South Africa motor manufacturer BMW SA by its parent company two years ago is paying off handsomely, with exports from its Pretoria plant expected to approach R6.5bn this year.
Thanks to the investment by parent group BMW AG, the BMW plant in Rosslyn now produces between 180 and 200 cars each day, compared to 40 cars a day in 1998, the company said.
BMW SA said 70% of its output was earmarked for export to Britain, Japan, Australia, the United States, Hong Kong, Singapore, New Zealand, Taiwan, Germany and Iran.
The bulk of the export output was in the 3.0 series BMW car range – individually tailored for specific markets.
”The Rosslyn plant will produce around 40000 vehicles this year and plans to increase this even further to nearly 50000 vehicles during 2001,” BMW SA said.
The automaker said its export drive had helped create 900 more jobs between 1998 and 2000. A further 18 000 jobs had also been created within its South African-based supplier network.
BMW SA’s leather business unit – SA Trim – also expects to export this year leather seat covers and trim sets worth around R1bn, putting BMW SA’s total annual export order at around R7.5bn.
A number of major South African-based automakers, among them Volkswagen South Africa (VWSA), have clinched exports contracts worth millions of rands from their overseas parent groups as they position themselves in a tough domestic market.
In 1998 VWSA won a contract from German parent Volkswagen AG to supply 50000 vehicles to Europe’s right-hand drive market, while last month global automaker Daimler-Chrysler switched production of its ‘C’ class from Bremen, Germany to the Eastern Cape.
South Africa’s auto industry is expected to grow by at least 15% this year, as it continues to recover from the 1988 economic downturn when domestic interest rates rose to 25.5% percent amid an emerging market currency crisis. – Reuters