Volkswagen Group Africa has announced that it will invest R4 billion in upgrades to its Kariega manufacturing plant in the Eastern Cape.
The investment will be spent on upgrades in preparation for introducing a third model to its production line in 2027.
Most of the funds will be allocated to production facilities, manufacturing tooling, local content tooling and quality assurance.
A total of R850 million will be spent on new automation equipment in the body shop, and a further R400 million will be used to procure new press tooling for the press shop.
“Plant Kariega is an important manufacturing plant within the Volkswagen Group production network,” said Martina Biene, chairperson and managing director of Volkswagen Group Africa.
“Since 2011, Volkswagen has invested R10.28 billion in production facilities, manufacturing equipment, local content tooling and training of people.
“The new investment is a vote of confidence in the future of the plant.
“It also futureproofs jobs, not only for our people but also those employed in our supplier network,” Biene said.
A new model SUV will be manufactured on the same production line as the Polo and Polo Vivo.
Preparation for production will provide training and upskilling opportunities for local employees.
Volkswagen Brazil is leading the development of the new SUV and Volkswagen SA is collaborating with the Brazilian team to meet local and continental requirements.
Biene said that as most global vehicle markets transition to electric vehicles, African markets like South Africa will continue manufacturing vehicles with internal combustion engines “for the foreseeable future “ due to customer demand and the slow introduction of electric vehicles.
“However, for the Volkswagen brand the electrification journey begins this year with the introduction of our ID.4 test fleet in South Africa and Rwanda,” Biene said.
The first phase of the upgrade will start at the end of the year during a shutdown.
