Indian car manufacturer Mahindra and Mahindra has successfully opened its first assembly plant in South Africa.

The new modular assembly plant, which imports car parts and builds the final product, is located in Durban and according to Rajesh Gupta, chief executive of Mahindra SA will have an annual capacity of 2 500 Pik Up trucks. This could later be increased to assemble up to 4 000 Mahindra vehicles each year.

Gupta says the automaker views the opening of the plant as a launchpad to export vehicles to the rest of the continent.

“The last five years was a wonderful time for us. We could demonstrate growth which pushed us into the category of the top five fastest-growing OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) in South Africa,” he explains.

Gupta notes that other models, such as the Bolero SUV, could eventually be assembled in Durban and exported to sub-Saharan Africa.

Mahindra, which is the world’s largest tractor maker by volume, is also considering introducing its tractors into the South African market.

“Anything that we try to do we will try to localise and assemble them,” he says, adding that this could include construction equipment and heavy-duty power generator systems.

The factory started trial production this month and is expected to see full production in July this year.

Reuters