BMW South Africa Picks Up China Contract

BMW said it had received a clearance permit to export vehicles to China from the Chinese authorities – the first South African manufacturer, the automaker claimed, to do this since the implementation of the Motor Industry Development Programme.

The China Quality Certification was awarded to BMW SA after an audit confirmed production and quality management systems at Rosslyn were world-class. BMW will export its new 3 Series to China from later in 2012, where BMW's reported sales are currently growing at an annual rate above 40%.

Big production boost

Bodo Donauer, BMW SA’s managing director, said the Rosslyn plant near Pretoria would increase production capacity during coming years to eventually exceed 90 000 units a year 

"Our Chinese exports will start at a low level," he said, "but ultimately make up around 10% of our total export volume. About 3900 will have been sent to China by the end of 2012."

Rosslyn exports about half of its vehicle production to the US with the rest shared by South Africa, other African markets, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.