Plant Introduction

10 July 2014 marked a momentous event in SA’s Automotive Industry history, as the first FAW commercial vehicle, built in South Africa, rolled off the assembly line at the FAW Vehicle Manufacturers SA (PTY) LTD production plant at Coega, in the Eastern Cape.

The decision to build the FAW plant in South Africa is very significant from a global perspective, as it is one of the most important and largest investments made by a Chinese entity in South Africa to date.

The total investment has been financed by China FAW Group Corporation and the China-Africa Development Fund (CAD-Fund). This collaboration speaks volumes to the growing interest from global Chinese Industry in unlocking the true Africa potential.

The first-phase of the Coega plant, covering 103 000m2 of land and a 28 000m2 plant, complete with training facilities, will allow the company to provide its client base with a sense of pride and patriotism by ‘buying local’.

Expected to ramp-up to produce 5 000 trucks per annum, the Coega assembly plant will supply trucks to the South African market, as well as to the rest of Africa, in both right-hand and left-hand-drive derivatives. The current projections are that 40% of production will be destined for the South African territories, while 60% will be exported.

FAW SA’s previous assembly facility in Isando, Gauteng, was transformed into a fully-fledged Service Centre which accommodates the Parts Warehouse and carries stock to the value of ZAR 38 million, while the Cape Town and Durban branches each hold an additional ZAR 20 million in parts, totaling ZAR 78 million to support SA and Africa customers.