Chronicle Editor
Tinashe Makichi Recently in the Limpopo Province—
Global vehicle manufacturer, Ford Motor Company said it will continue to expand its dealer network across the Sub-Saharan region following a $150 million investment in a new car manufacturing facility in South Africa.Ford Motor Company invested the money to expand operations in Sub-Saharan Africa at its Silverton Assembly Plant in Pretoria to produce the all new Ford Everest, along with the new Ford Ranger that was launched at the end of last year.
Speaking at the launch of Ford Everest in Limpopo Province on Tuesday, Ford Motor Company director for sales marketing and service Neale Hill said this investment will create approximately 1,200 new jobs at Ford South Africa and within the supplier network.
“Our customers love the capability and utility offered by the all-new Ford Everest. By producing the Everest in South Africa, we will be able to make it more readily available, and in a greater variety of models, for customers throughout Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The $150 million investment reaffirms the importance of these markets as part of our growth strategy across the Middle East and Africa. It further reinforces South Africa’s position as a strategic export base for Ford Motor Company,” said Mr Hill.
The Silverton facility joins Auto-Alliance Thailand in Rayong, Ford’s Chennai plant in India and the JMC Xiaolan Plant in Nanchang, China, as production hubs for the Everest.
Part of this investment has been directed towards the production of the new Ranger, which is already running at maximum capacity at the Silverton Assembly Plant with domestic sales and export demand at an all-time high.
The Silverton Assembly Plant features state of the art automation utilizing Ford’s global manufacturing processes, and is equipped to produce 10,000 Everest annually.
“This crucial investment will enable us to increase volumes and expand the Everest range to eight derivatives across a broader price range. It will allow customers across Sub-Saharan Africa to choose from two powerful engines mated to robust six-speed automatic or manual transmissions for exceptional capability,” said Mr Hill.
The vehicle manufacturer has for the past six years managed to consolidate its market share in the Sub-Saharan region. Its market share has since increased to about 15 percent from seven percent recorded in 2008 driven by the introduction of new brands specifically the new Ford Ranger 2015.
Mr Hill said Ford has aggressive plans to expand its business in Africa and will be launching new vehicles into the Middle East and Africa region.
“We are planning to increase our dealer network to across the Sub-Saharan region and we have seen that there is a gap in the utility vehicles market.
“Some of our special brands in this segment have managed to perform very well. The Ford Kuga, in particular, has managed to show its capabilities to become a market leader,” said Mr Hill.
He said the vehicle manufacturing company is planning on expanding its footprint in the Southern African region through using innovation as the main driver.
Since 2008 Ford has rolled out brands ranging from utility vehicles to high performance and this has enabled the company to entice the market that has been dominated by Nissan and Toyota.
The company late last year launched the Ford Ranger 4X4 which has proved a success by being the highest selling vehicle brand in the first half of this year.
Mr Hill said the company’s vision is to develop innovation and produce products that make customers lives better.
“We are democratizing technology within the group because it has become our core objective to churn out good vehicles to service our growing market in the Sub-Saharan region.
“Ford has made huge investments since inception to ensure growth and sustainability. This has enhanced our capacity to export and we are will continue to export to 148 countries across Africa,” said Mr Hill.
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