After improving volumes to 32 000 in 2010, the company is gearing to volumes to 50 000 for 2011.

General Motors South Africa (GMSA) says it is ‘upbeat' about increasing vehicle assembly volumes at its Port Elizabeth plant as the next-generation Chevrolet Utility and the new Chevrolet Spark enter production later this year.

The local arm of the US vehicle manufacturer assembled more than 26 000 vehicles in 2009, increasing volumes to 32 000 units in 2010.

GMSA vice-president planning Ian Nicholls says the company is investing R1-billion in these new vehicle programmes over the next three years, which also includes gearing up for the future production of the next-generation Isuzu KB model.

The Spark is a new platform for the GMSA plant, while the Isuzu and Chevrolet Utility platforms have been in production for some years already.

Around R530-million will be invested in the Port Elizabeth facilities this year.

"It is important for us to increase our sales and, ultimately, our production as we work towards achieving the 50 000 unit [annual] production target required by the government's Automotive Production Development Programme (APDP)," says Nicholls.

The APDP, government's new volume-driven support programme for the local automotive industry, will be implemented in 2013.

Nicholls notes that the APDP programme plays an important role in offsetting some of the inherent competitive disadvantages of assembling vehicles in South Africa - such as distance from markets and suppliers - but adds that the industry still has a long way to go to increase competitiveness versus markets such as Thailand and India.

"The continued survival of the South African automotive industry is, therefore, dependent on the extent to which manufacturers can reduce costs and improve efficiencies, while also effectively operating in an increasingly competitive marketplace. At GMSA this is a primary area of focus for us with all our short and long-term plans structured around continually driving our levels of competitiveness and performance up."

GMSA, now the head office for General Motors' (GM's) operations in Sub-Saharan Africa, aims to grow its business across the continent, adds Nicholls.

This will also aid the company's goal of achieving the magical 50 000 mark, as GMSA has not yet received a big-volume export contract from its parent company. (Around 50% of an initial production volume of 15 000 Sparks a year will be exported to New Zealand, Australia and other right-hand drive markets in the Asia Pacific.)

"We are investigating opportunities to expand sales beyond Southern Africa by exporting locally produced products to countries in sub-Saharan Africa," says Nicholls.

Countries that offer the most potential are Nigeria, Angola, Senegal, Ghana and Kenya.

Last year, GM gained almost 25% of the market in East Africa, becoming market leader in this region.

"There is potential for our locally produced Isuzu, Chevrolet Utility and the Chevrolet Spark to be exported to sub-Saharan Africa countries," says Nicholls.

GMSA grew its 2010 South African sales by 26% over 2009 volumes.

Total sales volume for the last six months of 2010 was up 41% compared with the first six months of the year, notes GMSA vice-president finance Michael Sacke.

Sacke attributes this growth to the new products GMSA launched into the market in the second half of the year.

This year, the company will launch four new vehicles into the local market.