Volkswagen Group South Africa
Kariega

Plant

The Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) plant is located in Kariega, an industrial town around 750 km east of Cape Town and 1 000 km south of Johannesburg. The plant stretches over 518 378m², of which more than half consists of production facilities.

Production

Apart from manufacturing engines, the Kariega plant currently builds the Polo Vivo and Polo, and is the sole manufacturer of the Polo GTI. The plant builds both right-hand-drive and left-hand-drive Polos, as well as the uniquely South African Polo Vivo, on one production line. VWSA’s production facilities include one of the newest, most efficient Press Shops in the Volkswagen Group; a Body Shop that uses 542 robots in its operation, and a state of the art Paint Shop that uses highly efficient electrostatic paint application processes. A total of 129 119 vehicles were manufactured in 2021, of which 89 373 were exported.

Management

Dr Robert Cisek took over the management of VWSA from Thomas Schaefer in 2020. Cisek holds a doctorate degree in Industrial Management and a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and has been with the Volkswagen Group since 2018.

Environmental Sustainability

The reduction of VWSA’s environmental footprint is a priority for the company. In 2020 VWSA relaunched its environmental strategy as Zero Impact Factory, committing to the goal of 100% carbon neutrality in Production by 2030.

Since 2010, VWSA has reduced its overall environmental impact by 50,9% (2021). This includes massive reductions in energy use (49%), CO₂ emissions (49%), water use (65%), waste (66%) and solvent emissions (31%).

Social Responsibility

VWSA is actively involved in many community programmes in the region and across South Africa, with a focus on education, youth development, health and community. VWSA supports the loveLife Youth Centre in Kariega, which was made possible by a joint donation of around 14.3 million euros from Volkswagen AG and IG Metall. An Early Childhood Development Centre named Ikhwezi Lomso (the Xhosa word for “morning star” was also co-funded by VWSA employees through the company’s One Hour for the Future initiative.

Background

VWSA is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (VWAG) in Germany. VWSA represents the largest investment by a German company in South Africa and plays a significant role in the local economy. VWSA employs almost 4 000 people. It is also the head office for Volkswagen’s Sub-Saharan Africa region, which includes assembly facilities in Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana.