General Motors, the world’s largest carmaker, said it hopes to receive final approval by month’s end to buy the remaining stake in South African automotive company Delta.
GM bought 49% of Delta in 1997, when it returned to South Africa after 11 years. The US automaker, like many other United States companies, pulled out of the African nation in the mid-to late-1980s because of US sanctions imposed against the apartheid system of white dominance and racial segregation.
Financial terms of the GM-Delta deal were not disclosed. The only remaining hurdle to GM’s takeover is government approval, the companies said.
Delta controlled nearly 11% of the South African automotive market in 2003.
GM spokesperson Natalie Johnson said the Delta network entails more than 180 Delta dealers and 17 Chevrolet dealers selling Opel, Isuzu, Suzuki and Chevy brands.
South Africa is part of GM’s Latin America/Africa/Middle East division. Johnson said South Africa accounts for about 350 000 vehicle sales a year, making it the largest market in Africa and the second-largest in GM’s Laam region behind Brazil.
GM reported on Tuesday that its Laam division lost $112-million in the fourth quarter, compared with a loss of $7-million in the year-ago period. For all of 2003, the GM division lost $331-million, $150-million more than it lost in 2002.
The automaker said results were hurt by a weak economy and an asset write-down in Brazil.
Upon completion of the Delta takeover, GM said Robert Socia will become president and managing director of GM South Africa. Socia will succeed Willie Van Wyk, managing director of Delta, who GM said has elected to leave the company to pursue other interests.
Socia (49) has been a vice president at GM Europe in charge of worldwide purchasing in Germany since 1999. – Sapa-AP