SA’s Volkswagen plant in the Eastern Cape has built its three-millionth car for the local market.
Employees of Volkswagen Group Africa recently celebrated the smoky grey Polo Vivo rolling off the assembly line of Plant Kariega, which is nearly 75 years old.
In total around 4.5 million cars have been built at the factory for the domestic and export markets.
The first VW to be built there was a Beetle on August 31 1951, though Studebaker and Austin models were built there since November 1948 under the umbrella of Samad (SA Motor Assemblers and Distributors) before the first Volkswagens were added to the production line-up.
The 3-million vehicles built to date also include:
• VW Beetle (1951–79)
• VW Type 2 (1955 – 2002)
• VW Type 3 Sedan, Variant and Fastback (1963–69)
• Audi Super 90 (1968–72)
• VW Type 4 — 411 and 412 Sedan and Variant (1969–74)
• Audi 100 (including Coupe S) to Audi A4 (1972 – 2001)
• Passat sedans, hatchbacks and station wagons (1974 – 1987)
• Audi 80 sedans and station wagons (1975–81)
• VW Fleetline range, Kombi, Panel van, Pickup (1975–78)
• Golf 1 to 5 (1978 – 2009)
• Jetta 1 to 5 (1980 – 2009)
• VW Golf 1 Pickup (1980 – 2007)
• VW Citi Golf (1984 – 2009)
• VW Fox/Trippa (1987 – 1995)
• VW Polo Classic (1996 – 2002)
• VW Polo Playa (1998 – 2002)
• VW Polo range including Cross Polo and Polo Vivo (2002–17)
• VW Polo, including Polo Vivo and Polo GTI (2018 – current)
The Polo, which is also sold locally, was the most exported car in SA in 2024, while the Vivo has been the best-selling passenger car in the country since 2010.
“This milestone affirms Volkswagen’s legacy in Kariega and the SA market at large,” says Ulrich Schwabe, production director at VW Group Africa (VWGA).
“The plant has produced many icons over the past seven decades, including the Beetle, Citi Golf and now the Vivo, and we intend to make our Tengo the next icon when we start manufacturing it in Kariega from 2027.”
In April-May, VWGA shut the Kariega plant for four weeks in preparation for the Tengo model that will be assembled and sold in SA from 2027. Volkswagen announced in early 2024 that it would build the small SUV as a third model at the factory alongside the Polo and Polo Vivo in a R4bn investment.
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