COEGA CAR PLANT
IDC upbeat over delayed Chinese factory at Coega
There is mounting industry speculation the IDC and partner Beijing Automotive Industrial Company are reconsidering the plant’s timetable
Although construction of the R11bn Chinese vehicle-assembly plant was "three or four months" behind schedule, it would be ready to build vehicles in the first half of 2018 as planned, Industrial Development Corporation CEO Geoffrey Qhena insisted on Monday. He was responding to mounting industry speculation that the IDC and partner Beijing Automotive Industrial Company (BAIC) were reconsidering the timetable for the plant at the Coega industrial development zone near Port Elizabeth. IDC manufacturing director Abel Malinga admitted the pace of later investment could be influenced by demand for BAIC-brand vehicles. The Coega plant, which will build cars, sports utility vehicles and bakkies, is intended to reach 50,000 annual capacity by 2022 and 100,000 by 2027. Malinga said the first phase would continue as intended, but timing for the higher target could be determined by sales. Besides SA, the plant is expected to supply the rest of Africa, the Middle East and South America. Once it...
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