Depending on whether a local market for the vehicles emerges.
Stellantis, which will start building its first auto plant in South Africa this month, is considering expanding into the production of so-called new energy vehicles in the country.
In five years, “it’s a high probability, but there’s no final decision”, Whitfield said in an interview on Thursday at an investment conference in the city of Gqeberha.South Africa’s car industry, which accounts for more than 5% of gross domestic product and employs over 116 000 people, is in danger of being left behind by the global switch to EVs, especially in its biggest export market, the European Union.
Read: EVs: SA to focus on production and exports before domestic sales Incentive to encourage EV production in SA South Africa, the continent’s most industrialised nation, should also look to make components for new energy vehicles for export rather than shipping abroad minerals needed for the cars, he said. Whitfield gave the example of rare earths, which are produced in South Africa. They are used in magnets in electric vehicles, which are made extensively in China.
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