Donald Trump
Photo by: Bloomberg
BMW Group South Africa (SA) on Monday said it would not suffer any negative effect from US president-elect Donald Trump’s threat to implement a 35% import duty on German cars.
BMW Group SA exports the 3 Series from its Rosslyn plant, in Tshwane, to the US.
Group communications GM Diederik Reitsma said Trump’s threat was only aimed at vehicles imported from Mexico.
He added that BMW Group SA would, in the near future, move to production of the X3 model, which would not be exported to the US.
The German car market is investing R6-billion to produce the sports-utility vehicle in South Africa.
In an interview with German newspaper Bild, published on Monday, and reported on by Reuters, Trump criticised German carmakers for failing to produce more cars on US soil.
“I would tell BMW that if you are building a factory in Mexico and plan to sell cars to the USA, without a 35% tax, then you can forget that,” Trump reportedly said.