Stellantis plans to establish a large manufacturing facility in South Africa as part of a plan to sell 1 million vehicles annually in the region by 2030.
The automotive conglomerate recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Industrial Development Corporation and the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition for the factory. While Stellantis has not said how much the plant will cost nor exactly where it will be located, it did reveal that it will be in a South African Special Economic Zone that will include access to free ports, free trade zones, and various other incentives.
Stellantis intends on completing the manufacturing plant by 2025.
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“This is an important step in our Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan towards strengthening our leadership in the Middle East and Africa region and becoming a major player in South Africa,” Stellantis Middle East and Africa chief operating officer Samir Cherfan said. “The manufacturing site in South Africa will be a new building block in our industrialization strategy that includes the plan to sell one million vehicles in the region by 2030 with 70% regional production autonomy and will bring us closer to our customers’ needs in the region.”
Last year, Stellantis sold 426,000 vehicles in the Middle East and Africa and while speaking on the company’s most recent earnings call, chief executive Carlos Tavares said Ram and Jeep experienced particularly strong results in the region.
“We nearly doubled our profit against 2021, which demonstrates that there is a significant profitable growth potential in Middle East and Africa and we have been making many, many decisions to improve the sourcing in Africa for Africa and the Middle East,” Tavares said.
Given that Stellantis is still finalizing details of the factory, it is not yet clear which models will be built at the South Africa site.
