Volkswagen South Africa Are In Big Trouble As Production Is Going Down Hill

Miscellaneous | Dean | October 12, 2009 at 14:20

Volkswagen South Africa has said that in order for the local auto industry to stay alive, the country has to act quickly. Dave Powels, head of VW South Africa and current president of NAAMSA, the SA auto makers association has said that, “The current worldwide situation has highlighted how uncompetitive we are,”

“Investment and transformation has to happen now. We need to create competitiveness in the next two years. Otherwise in seven to 10 years’ time, we might not have an auto manufacturing industry in South Africa.”

The 2009 year has seen a noticeable drop in local industry as there were only 330,000 units estimated for this year. The 2007 and 2008 year saw 497,000 and 527,000 units.

Powels said that VW is taking several actions to make sure that the market does not fall. There will be an increase in production figures from 50,000 units per year to 75,000 or even 100,000 units. The Port Elizabeth plant will then be upgraded to build the new Polo, which will replace all of the current models in the country.