R110-m Hyundai commercial vehicle assembly plant launched in Benoni
Hyundai Automotive South Africa (HASA) officially opened a commercial vehicle assembly plant, as part of a multi-million rand investment in its commercial vehicle division, in the local automotive market in Apex, on September 4.
HASA is a joint venture company between Hyundai Motor Corporation of Korea and Associated Motor Holdings, which is a division of Imperial Holdings.
The 32 000sq m plant, of which 19 000sq m is under roof, is expected to produce 5 000 units per year, focusing specifically on the six and 10 ton trucks – the Hyundai HD65 and HD72.
Director of commercial vehicles at Hyundai Automotive SA, Wade Griffin, said the opening of the assembly plant forms an ideal platform from which to strengthen their business strategy, both in terms of commercial market growth and sustainability, as well as an increasing commitment and investment in the South African economy.
Griffin said the rationale behind the semi-knocked-down (SKD) assembly plant in Apex, the industrial area of Benoni, was largely driven by a long-term strategy to grow Hyundai’s share in the South African commercial vehicle market, to be more competitive and to increase Hyundai’s investment in the country’s economy.
“We believe that there are strong opportunities through investment and local assembly for our business to capitalise on,” said Griffin.
This substantial investment is expected to also help to improve local skills and to create jobs in an economy that is in dire need of such opportunities.
The plant has already employed over 30 staff, with the vision of increasing this to around 60 people.
“By creating these initial 30 or so jobs, we are directly improving the lives of more than 230 people,” said Griffin.
The assembly plant will also house the tailor-made truck bodies and retail parts division.
At this stage, most of the trucks produced in the plant will be distributed within the South African market, but Hyundai Automotive SA is investigating options to export to markets in the Sub-Saharan region of Africa.
Of the vehicles assembled in the Benoni plant, 20 per cent will be exported to neighbouring Southern African countries such as Botswana and Namibia, as part of the immediate plans.
Hyundai Automotive SA CEO Alan Ross said Hyundai has embarked on the next journey, that stared in 2000.
“We were ranked at number 28 in 2004, but today we are in the top three, with the likes of Toyota; the 5 000 units per year to be produced here are a huge task, but we are up to it,” he added.
Ross said that Hyundai is a huge contributor to the economy.
The Department of Trade and Industry’s deputy director general, Garth Strachan, congratulated the company on this important facility and said the launch came at an opportune time.
“We welcome Hyundai to our country and we will provide you with support for continued growth and sustainability,”he said.
“We are confident that this plant is a good base for Hyundai to begin manufacturing in SA.”
He added that South Africa hopes to increase local vehicle production, most importantly component production.
Although Strachan said that foreign direct investment across a range of manufacturing sectors in the country has gone up significantly, he added that the country’s policies need to be tuned to support private investment.
