As part of their new production academy, VWSA has opened 3 new training centres to ensure that the local auto industry gains world competitiveness.

Volkswagen of South Africa (VWSA) on Wednesday opened three new production training centres, forming part of a new production academy, at its vehicle production plant in Uitenhage.

VWSA MD David Powels said the company wanted to use the current weak point in the economic cycle to accelerate its training efforts, "so we're in a better position when the upswing comes, and we're more competitive".

He was positive that the South African automotive industry would see some growth return to the market in 2010, following what would be a dismal 2009 for local car and truck sales.

Powels did not expect the global market to show signs of recovery before 2011, or even 2012.

The reason the South African market would be the first to recover could be linked to the fact that its down cycle preceded that of the global market by some 12 months, and that its recovery should, therefore, also follow the same trend. The hope for a local upswing was aided by the recent and anticipated downward trend in interest rates.

VWSA had invested R30-million in the construction of the three production training centres, and in the development of the learning content.

This investment, additional to the company's R400-million skills development programme, which kicked off in 2006 and was due to run until 2010, formed part of VWSA's R3-billion investment plan to upgrade the Uitenhage operation between 2008 and 2010.

The vehicle manufacturer was gearing up to produce two vehicle platforms (the Polo and another entry-level segment vehicle set to replace the die-hard CitiGolf) to handle larger volumes, moving from its previous five, smaller-volume production platforms.

"The process to do this is running now; it started last year," said Powels.

He said the company had found it necessary to invest in training as the "local automotive industry in South Africa is not really internationally competitive".

Powels noted that a push to increase training at VWSA should improve the company's productivity, ensure the staff was apt at handling the new technologies required to produce the two platforms, and create an environment where each employee had a personal development plan, which should help the company retain essential skills.