FOREIGN motor companies planning to build vehicles in sub-Saharan Africa would be taking huge risks looking beyond SA, according to Jimmy Dando, regional head of sales and operations for Japanese manufacturer Nissan.   Most companies that had set up operations in other countries on the continent had been forced to either cut back drastically on planned production or mothball assembly plants, Dando said. SA, despite a fall in.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 31st August 2016

 SUPER Group, which dubs itself a "transport logistics and mobility group", bucked the trend in South African vehicle sales, reporting a "solid set of results" for the year to the end of June.   CEO Peter Mountford said on Monday that South African market conditions were expected to remain challenging and competitive. But that did not stop new vehicle sales by its dealerships from jumping 6.8%, as National.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 31st August 2016

 Pretoria Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies on Friday announced the biggest automotive investment in Africa in the last 40 years.   As part of the investment, the Coega Industrial Development Zone will get a record R11-billion upgrade from the Beijing Automobile International Corporation (BAIC).   The Coega Development Corporation signed a deal with BAIC for a completely knocked down automotive manufacturing plant in.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 30th August 2016

 Beijing Automotive International Corp. (BAIC) signed an agreement to build a new automobile manufacturing facility in a Port Elizabeth, South Africa industrial development, multiple news outlets reported.   The move by the Chinese state-owned auto maker represents the largest investment in the African continent’s automotive sector in four decades, a CNBC Africa report noted.   “The size of this investment.... Read more »

Posted on : Tuesday , 30th August 2016

  African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) aims to unlock the economic potential and promote automotive sector across the continent   - Focus on driving investments in infrastructure, skills development, promotion of investor friendly regulatory frameworks and sustainable manufacturing   - Top-level engagement with government and industry leaders in Abuja, Nigeria   THE development and promotion of a.... Read more »

Posted on : Monday , 29th August 2016

  Toyota Tsusho will take on nearly twice as many trainees at its vocational education center here in the Kenyan capital, seeking to develop human resources to benefit the region's economy and the company's operations.   Some 381 students learned skills such as automobile repairs in 2015 at the Toyota Kenya Academy, an institute opened in 2014 by a subsidiary. An enrollment increase to at least 750 is planned starting this year,.... Read more »

Posted on : Saturday , 27th August 2016

 International car companies are looking at Africa as the last frontier for automotive growth, beginning a scramble for market share.   South Africa is the only country south of the Sahara with an established motor manufacturing industry and some of the world’s biggest car makers hope to use it as a base from which to expand sales around the continent.   German brands such as BMW and Volkswagen; Ford, Chrysler and.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 26th August 2016

 China’s government-owned Beijing Automobile International Corporation said it plans to invest $823 million in a new automotive manufacturing plant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. The new facility in the Eastern Cape’s Coega Industrial Development Zone is expected to produce between 40,000 and 50,000 cars a year, with capacity to double in a later second phase, The Brics Post reported.   This cars will be sold in South.... Read more »

Posted on : Friday , 26th August 2016

 JOHANNESBURG - The global automotive industry produced more than 91-million vehicles in 2015, 1.1% up from 2014.   Of that number, Africa accounted for 960,527 units, with SA producing the bulk of these at 615,658.   In 2016, Ford announced a R2.4bn investment in SA to build its Everest sports utility vehicle (SUV). BMW is spending R6bn to switch production at Rosslyn from the 3 Series to the X3 in 2018. Chinese car maker.... Read more »

Posted on : Thursday , 25th August 2016

 An ordinary bus-turned computer lab is boosting digital literacy among thousands of youths in Nairobi’s slums.   Inside the bus used by Craft Silicon Foundation as a classroom for computer classes in Kawangware, Nairobi. The vehicle had its interior customised, its seats removed and replaced with 64 chairs and 32 reading tables. Each table has a computer desktop, modifications that have turned the ordinary bus into a typical.... Read more »

Posted on : Thursday , 25th August 2016

The Coega Development Corporation signs a historic R11 billion investment with the Beijing Automobile International Corporation (BAIC), the biggest automotive investment in Africa in the last 40 years   The Coega Development Corporation (CDC), operator of the 11 500 hectares of the Coega Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), has successfully concluded a deal with BAIC of R11 billion for a completely knocked down (CKD) automotive.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 24th August 2016

Indian automakers are slowly tightening their grip on new car exports to Africa as they square off with China, Korea and Japan for opportunities in the continent. Multinationals from emerging economies are hungry to go global, and in the past decade have been racing to the continent to fuel their growth. While Africa still sources the bulk of its new vehicles from traditional markets in Europe and America, India has been making pronounced.... Read more »

Posted on : Wednesday , 24th August 2016