General Motors has tasked Delta to distribute and market Chevrolet products and establish a dealership network in South Africa.
General Motors has tasked Delta to distribute and market Chevrolet products and establish a dealership network in South Africa. Have sunny skies returned for Chevrolet – and which new models can we expect from the brand?
In making the announcement on Tuesday, Delta Motor Corporation managing director Willie van Wyk Van Wyk said more than R50 million would be invested in 22 Chevrolet dealerships countrywide, which would grow to about 30 by June next year. The move would create more than 350 jobs in the Chevrolet dealer network and 35 at Delta.
However, Delta would have two (competing) independent sales and marketing organisations. One would service the present Delta dealers and sell Opels, Isuzus and Suzukis, while the second would service a separate dealer network selling Chevrolets, quoted him as saying.
Delta would essentially be a holding company responsible for administration, manufacturing, procurement, engineering and other support services based at its head office in Port Elizabeth.
No big American muscle cars – at least for now
If enthusiasts thought that numerous US-sourced models would be unleashed on South Africa following Tuesday’s announcement, they are mistaken… Van Wyk said the Chevrolet product portfolio would be sourced and imported as fully built up vehicles from South Korea (vehicles based on Daewoo models) and Australia (Holden).
Similarly, Delta was also expected to dig deep into General Motors’ shared parts bin with the next-generation Isuzu KB. The next issue of CAR magazine will report that the KB (known as the Holden Rodeo, or D-Max in other markets) shares its basic architecture with the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. (The October edition of CAR, which will feature more details of the next KB, goes on sale from September 22).
Meanwhile, Van Wyk said Chevrolet was looking to attain a market share of between three and five per cent – equivalent to about 3 000 units. It had the potential to build this up to “well over 10 000”, he said.
He said the reintroduction of Chevrolet to the local market was not “a forerunner” of an export contract or of “The General” returning to South Africa. Van Wyk said GM was unlikely to give an export module to a company it did not wholly own when its wholly owned plant was operating below capacity.
He believed GM was waiting for “the right time” to increase its stake in Delta, but he did not want to speculate on when.