Volkswagen builds millionth Polo for export at E Cape plant

Volkswagen South Africa on 3 May built its millionth Polo for export at its Kariega (formerly Uitenhage) plant in the Eastern Cape.

The Kariega facility exports Polos to 38 countries — all right-hand-drive markets, and it supplements production for left-hand-drive markets.

The plant is also the sole manufacturer worldwide of the Polo GTI, and it builds the Polo Vivo for the local market, too.

“Given the current climate, with the pandemic and the semiconductor crisis, this milestone is an especially strong moment for VWSA,” said company chairman and MD Robert Cisek in a statement.

The plant built its first Polo in 1996 and its first Polo for export in 2002, for Japan. Volkswagen South Africa has manufactured almost 4.2 million cars at its Kariega plant, with almost 1.3 million of these made for export.

The Kariega plant has the capacity to build over 600 vehicles a day and produced over 129 911 vehicles in 2021. The most Polos exported in a year was 108 422 in 2019, with over 12 000 of the cars exported in October 2019 alone. Volkswagen South Africa employees about 3 000 people at the Kariega plant.  – © 2022 NewsCentral Media