Chinese minibus starts local production

Published May 31, 2013

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Roy Cokayne

Competition is set to intensify in South Africa’s taxi industry with the launch of a locally produced Chinese minibus into the market.

Beijing Automotive Works (BAW) South Africa, which invested R196 million in a new semi-knocked down facility in Springs, has introduced its Sasuka 16-seater minibus taxi into the local market.

Local production of the Sasuka, which means “we are departing” in Zulu, began in the middle of January.

The BAW SA plant is scheduled to transition to a completely knocked-down plant by about 2015 at a cost of between R2 billion and R3bn. It will have a capacity of between 40 000 and 50 000 units a year.

John Jessup, the head of sales, marketing and after-sales, said BAW SA had a new factory and a new product. It was not yet scheduling huge volumes but was scaling up towards 10 units a day – which amounted to between 200 and 250 a month.

“That is the level of orders our dealers are indicating but it’s early days and we need to feel our way into the market. The initial demand is excellent,” he said.

Jessup said the workers’ headcount at the plant had increased to about 200 at this stage, and this number could be doubled for its dealer network and supply chain.

He said it had 35 dealers but was in negotiations with another six to 10 and would probably have about 45 dealers by the middle of this year.

Jessup said the Sasuka would be priced 15 percent below its main competitor at a recommended retail price of R275 990. It had two-year/200 000km service plan, which covered maintenance of the entire braking system.

He said BAW had all the necessary homologation certificates from the SA Bureau of Standards and would be audited by Independent Transport Advisory Services (Itas).

Itas was established in 2010 and produces a scorecard of “fit for purpose” vehicles for the taxi industry.

BAW SA is 51 percent owned by Beijing Automobile Industry Holding Company in China, with the balance held equally by the Industrial Development Corporation and China Africa Motors (CAM), the previous importer and distributor of BAW taxi vehicles into South Africa under the CAM brand.

Two other Chinese vehicle manufacturers have launched new models into the South African market.

First Automobile Works (FAW) began construction on a R600m vehicle and truck assembly plant towards the end of last year in the Coega industrial development zone.

It launched its first range of FAW passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in the South African market earlier this year. The range is called Sirius.

Pedro Pereira, the general manager for FAW South Africa’s light commercial vehicle and passenger car ranges, said these models were regarded as strong competitors to Toyota’s Avanza models and were well received by its new dealer network and customers.

Pereira said value-for-money pricing and the versatility of these vehicles were the big drawcards with buyers.

The panel van is priced at R149 995 and the Sirius people carrier sells for R159 995.

Pereira said construction on the building phase of FAW’s new manufacturing facility in Coega was scheduled to be completed by December.

Private Chinese motor manufacturer Geely Automotive this month launched its luxury brand, Emgrand EC7, into the local market.

Henri Meistre, the managing director of Geely South Africa, said the days of cheap Chinese cars offering “very little spec and low quality” were over.

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