CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Volkswagen’s African unit exported a record 131,485 Polos to European and Asia-Pacific markets in 2024, Europe’s biggest carmaker said on Wednesday.
That was a big increase from the previous export record of 108,422 vehicles in 2019 from its manufacturing plant in Kariega in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, Volkswagen Group Africa said in a statement, without giving figures for 2023.
As of July 2024, Volkswagen Africa is the sole exporter of the Polo for European and Asia-Pacific markets, delivering the model to 38 countries.
Overall, these Polos accounted for 88% of exported vehicles from South Africa last year, the company said.
The Polo hatchback also performed strongly in the local market last year, selling 12,253 units and taking fourth place in the segment, it added.
The locally-built Polo Vivo claimed the top spot in the segment, with 25,914 units sold.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the annual Africa Mining Indaba, Martina Biene, the chairperson and managing director at VGA, said the auto industry had been benefiting from lowering interest rates, availability of constant power supply and improvement at South Africa’s ports and rail network.
“There is a positive movement, although it’s not like sky-rocketing, I would say,” she said, referring to the performance of the industry.
Power cuts have been a drag on South Africa’s economic growth for more than a decade, impacting businesses including manufacturers.
Until Jan. 30, there had been none since March last year after a sudden turnaround in the performance of power utility Eskom’s generation fleet.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Mark Potter)
