Toyota South Africa will look to increase the local content of the vehicles it produces and its Durban plant, Johan van Zyl, president and CEO, said at the opening of a new parts distribution warehouse in Ekurhuleni.
Toyota makes the Corolla, Fortuner and Hilux at its 220,000 capacity Prospecton plant. Local content of the Corolla is around 40% and 60% for the Hilux, he said. Prospecton also assembles the Quantum minibus.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
Van Zyl welcomed the government’s Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) which comes into force next year and told reporters that it provided a stable backdrop for investments.
“When we review the APDP, we’ll have to look at how we can improve local content and how we can build in more benefits for component manufacturers,” he said.
“We’ll have to look at engines and gearboxes which would require large investments. And, we require these additional investments as the component sector is where the most jobs are created.”
Van Zyl added that exports to the rest of Africa from the Durban plant were growing as middle classes become more affluent.
“It is no longer only state and semi-state institutions buying vehicles,” he said.
