UITENHAGE-BASED Volkswagen South Africa has begun delivering components for two export contracts worth around R350 million a year. This is in addition to the 30 000 fully built vehicles that are currently being exported to Europe and the Far East each year. The automotive manufacturer will be exporting 200 000 diesel catalytic converters each year for a light commercial vehicle being assembled in Hanover, Germany. The export order is for the lifespan of the vehicle. In addition Volkswagen South Africa is also making 25 000 wheel arches and "long members" a year to be exported to Chang Chung, China for use on Jetta 4 models. Volkswagen South Africa Managing Director Hans-Christian Maergner said that this additional export business would boost the company's component export values to more than R2 billion rand in 2003. The new contracts have secured 44 jobs, according to Volkswagen South Africa managing director Hans-Christian Maergner. "These two contracts from the Volkswagen Group have enabled us to secure jobs within our manufacturing facility - but specifically in the case of the catalytic converter contract it has enabled us to transfer the latest diesel catalytic converter manufacturing technology to South Africa," says Maergner. Current exports from South Africa to the Volkswagen group include catalytic converters, leather seating sets, wiring harnesses, alloy wheels and electronic control units.