| Published 3h agoCompanies that build cars in South Africa have a great deal to celebrate at present, but soon they may not.
"The automotive industry is widely regarded as one of the industrial policy success stories of South Africa’s democratic era,” Naamsa says of the industry that exported a record 399,594 vehicles in 2023.The first car to reach South Africa, a Mercedes, was demonstrated to the public in Pretoria in 1897.
The late 1940s also saw SA Motor Assemblers and Distributors setting up a factory in Uitenhage, now Kariega, to produce Studebakers and Austin A40s, but that operation would eventually become Volkswagen SA! The local content requirements were in part necessitated by South Africa’s lack of foreign exchange but they did also protect the local industry from imports.
By 1980 Toyota had surpassed Datsun to become the country’s number one selling brand and the rest is history. This, combined with access to international markets through South Africa’s Free Trade Agreement with the European Union and the USA’s African Growth and Opportunity Act has seen local exports thrive since the early 2000s.
Of particular concern is that the European Union, which is our largest export destination, plans to ban the sale of petrol and diesel powered vehicles from 2035.
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