Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) has reached a new milestone, with the 200 000th unit of the current Volkswagen Polo for the export market having rolled off the production line at its Uitenhage plant on January 31.
This milestone also brings the total number of exports for the company by the end of January to 1.09-million vehicles.
The Uitenhage plant has been manufacturing the current generation of the Polo since September 2017. The company exports the Polo to all right-hand-drive markets and supplements production for certain left-hand-drive markets as well.
This export milestone follows a year of records for VWSA in 2019.
The company manufactured 161 954 vehicles in 2019, surpassing its previous record of 137 758 vehicles produced in 2011.
Moreover, VWSA also ended the year with a 23.4% passenger vehicle market share – which means that nearly a quarter of all cars sold in the South African market are brands belonging to VWSA.
“As a company, we had many reasons to be proud in 2019, and this milestone sets the tone for another strong year ahead.
“We intend to build on our strong performance in 2020, both in the local and export markets, and we remain committed to delivering excellence to all our customers and the larger community,” said VWSA chairperson and MD Thomas Schaefer.