Volkswagen SA will henceforth be known as Volkswagen Group Africa (VWGA), according to the company’s chairperson and managing director, Martine Beine, who addressed the media during the firm’s inaugural VW Indaba media briefing recently in Kariega, Eastern Cape.
As part of this rebranding, the outfit’s ambitions to upscale into other African markets are something that Biene had previously lamented. Now those plans are firmly afoot, starting with the name change. In 2023, the company exported 101,557 Polos, some 3,500 more cars than the previous year. Of course, there were some challenges along the way, no thanks to the delays experienced at the Durban port in particular at the end of 2023, which caused immeasurable delays due to rising cargo volumes and limited capacity.
This has resulted in exporters, including VWGA, opting for freight transport, which is significantly more expensive, impacting operational efficiencies. As the export market for ICE (internal combustion engine) vehicles softens, particularly in the EU, VWGA will also have to adjust its sails to the changing wind conditions. According to Biene, Africa’s new vehicle sales are projected to be in the region of 3 million vehicles per year by 2030, and the company cites its growth plans as being firmly rooted in Africa. The African Free Trade Agreement came into effect in 2019 under the auspices of the AU. It officially began in January 2021, eliminating tariffs over 5 and 13 years, depending on the country’s development and goods. It also allows a single, liberalised market and reduces barriers to capital and labour – a great initiative to allow Africa’s economy to breathe and grow to lofty levels.
Volkswagen, as such, looks poised to be part of the cog in the huge trade wheel. In addition, the company also made us privy to some of its new models coming to our shores this year. These include the updated T-Cross to land in the second half of 2024 which features an extensively updated front-end, while the new Tiguan and the new Touareg will also make a windfall in the second half of the year. This side of the year will see the first test fleets of the company’s electric car range in the form of the ID.4 touch down as part of the manufacturer’s feasibility study.
We were hoping that the company would make the imminent announcement of its third model to be built at its Kariega plant, which will help it claw back some lost ground on the sales charts. Alas, it seems that we’ll have to wait a little while longer, but if the January 2024 sales figures are anything to go by, the Wolfsburg brand is keeping a beady eye on the brands that are snapping at its heels.
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