South Africa’s government is working with its partners to ensure that by the year 2020 some 1.2 million vehicles will be produced in the country.
Trade and Industry Minister Dr Rob Davies revealed the ambitious figure during the African Automotive Week Conference held in Port Elizabeth this week.
He said: “The realisation of the target of producing 1.2 million vehicles per year by 2020 depends on the contribution of all the stakeholders in the automotive sector.
“It is not just the target of the Department of Trade and Industry, but it is a target that has been agreed upon by all stakeholders in the motor industry.
“It is the target that guides the implementation of the new Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) that is administered by the department but its realisation depends on us working together."
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Final discussions are due to be held next week on the new APDP which is hoped to be implemented from January 2013.
Davies said: “We are attaching special significance to this year's conference because we are confident that the deliberations and discussions at this conference by the industry stakeholders will enable us to work together in order to achieve the set target, as well as boost the automotive components manufacturing sector and generate employment, all of which are set to be achieved through the new development programme.”
He added that the automotive manufacturing industry was the most dynamic sector at present and its supply chains were significant in generating growth in other manufacturing areas.
