With SA's car manufacturing geared towards export markets such as the US and Europe, the country may become a production hub for electric vehicles in the short to medium term, which could fast-track it into a future championed by SA-born entrepreneur Elon Musk. With diesel engines still struggling from the fallout over emissions cheating led by Volkswagen, and the rise of electric vehicles because of Musk's Tesla, European manufacturers such as BMW have had to speed up plans for an electric future. Rising global demand for electric vehicles may see the local subsidiaries of these European manufacturers bidding for future contracts for their assembly. SA doesn't produce any electric vehicles at this stage. That said, it is possible that local plants could be repurposed in a relatively short time to produce these vehicles of the future for export. Quizzed on how fast they would be able to repurpose their production lines, Mercedes-Benz SA said that information was "confidential". Merc...
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