Name of the Project
Volkswagen Kariega manufacturing plant upgrade.

Location
Kariega, in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

Project Owner/s
Volkswagen Group Africa.

Project Description
Volkswagen announced an investment in its Kariega manufacturing plant in April 2024.

The investment is aimed at preparing the plant to manufacture a third model from 2027. The model, which will be a sports utility vehicle, will be manufactured on the same production platform as the Polo and Polo Vivo – Volkswagen’s top-selling passenger car brands in South Africa.

The bulk of the investment will be allocated towards production facilities, manufacturing tooling, local-content tooling and quality assurance. Nearly R877-million will be spent to enhance automation in the body shop and R418-million will be used to buy new press tooling for the press shop.

Potential Job Creation
Polo and Vivo have 46% and 58% local-content levels respectively. The trend is set to continue with the new model, which aims to achieve an estimated 40% local content through a R1.2-billion investment.

Capital Expenditure
R4-billion.

Planned Start/End Date
The first phase of the plant facility upgrade will start at the end of 2024 – during the plant shutdown.

Latest Developments
None stated.

Key Contracts, Suppliers and Consultants
None stated.

Contact Details for Project Information
Volkswagen Group Africa head of group communications Andile Dlamini, tel +21 41 994 5042 or email andile.dlamini@vwsa.co.za.