Volkswagen South Africa’s Engine plant in Uitenhage is again operating at full capacity after receiving an additional export order from China. The additional order of over 12 000 engines means that the Engine plant will now run at full capacity with three working shifts for the remainder of the year.
The plant is scheduled to produce 107 200 engines in 2012 of which 50 200 engines are for the locally built Polo and Polo Vivo models, whilst 57 000 engines will be produced for three export markets, namely India, Mexico and China which is Volkswagen South Africa’s biggest export market for engines.
“Exports are a key element of our business model and whilst our Polo exports tend to grab the headlines, engines and components form an integral part of our export strategy,” said David Powels, Managing Director of Volkswagen Group South Africa.
“This additional order confirms our ability to supply our Group customers. With the uncertainty in world markets at the moment, it is a welcome additional order for our plant,” concluded Powels.
The Engine plant, which opened in 1980, has to date produced over 1 662 000 engines. These include engines for icons such as the Citi Golf and T3 Bus apart from the other various cars produced at the Uitenhage manufacturing plant in the last three decades.
Operator assembling an engine at the Volkswagen South Africa’s manufacturing plant in Uitenhage.
