VWSA to introduce first full-electric vehicle to South Africa in 2014
Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) will introduce the e-Golf in South Africa in 2014 as the German brand’s first full-electric vehicle in the country, says VWSA MD David Powels.
He says VWSA will first test the vehi- cle’s acceptance and its practical use in the local market by means of a pilot programme, before introducing the vehicle to showrooms.
Powels says there are three considera- tions before VWSA can commercially introduce alternative-drive vehicles to South Africa. These are the availability of the vehicle in a right-hand-drive version, sustainable customer demand and the availability of enabling infrastructure to allow the effective use of the technology in South Africa.
The Polo model is reaching the middle of its life cycle, with VWSA in discussion with its parent company to produce the successor model at its Uitenhage plant, in the Eastern Cape, confirms Powels.
VWSA produces the current Polo model for the local and export markets.
Powels notes that recent labour turmoil, in the form of a seven-week strike in the automotive industry, is of concern to the company, but notes that Volkswagen has been producing vehicles in South Africa for six decades.
“We want to continue production in South Africa. We must use our energy and our leadership to try to create a more stable platform in South Africa so that we can convince our shareholder, [Volkswagen, in Germany], to again invest in the country.”
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