Delta Motor Corporation is holding talks with its foreign shareholder, General Motors, in a bid to become the next local car manufacturer to export built-up vehicles from South Africa.
Delta Motor Corporation is holding talks with its foreign shareholder, General Motors, in a bid to become the next local car manufacturer to export built-up vehicles from South Africa.
Delta exports small quantities of built-up vehicles to some African countries, but the Port Elizabeth-based manufacturer is primarily a large exporter of automotive components
“It is important for the company to secure additional export contracts,” corporate communications manager Denise Van Huyssteen said. “There are currently insufficient export credits to enable Delta to import fully built-up vehicles at an affordable cost”.
Van Huyssteen on Wednesday said that Delta was talking to US automotive giant General Motors, which owns 49 per cent of the South African manufacturer, about the large-scale domestic manufacture of one or more models for markets outside of Africa.
Delta was missing out on the full benefits government’s motor industry development plan (MIDP) offered, detracting from the company’s competitiveness with its domestic counterparts, quoted as she added.
“The securing of a vehicle export contract would give Delta more flexibility in offering a full range of General Motors products in SA,” said Van Huyssteen.
However, a decision to award the domestic operation an export contract was unlikely to generate significant investment as Delta had spare capacity, Van Huyssteen was quoted as saying.