RENAULT South Africa has clinched a six-year contract involving the export of catalytic converters worth R11bn to Europe. Andre Caussimon, Renault’s vice president for sub-Saharan Africa, said the project would begin in February 2001, and 14 million catalytic converters will be exported during this period. The converters are found in the exhaust systems of vehicles and change pollutant gases into less harmful gases. The components will be sourced from six Port Elizabeth-based suppliers. South Africa was one of Renault’s most important markets outside Europe, with 1,6% share of the South African passenger car market in 1999, up to five percent this year.