During the night shift on Monday 19 February, the production team of Volkswagen Group Africa celebrated a milestone when the 1.5-millionth vehicle built for export in Kariega rolled off the line.
The milestone vehicle, a Polo GTI destined for the United Kingdom, also marked the 21 165th vehicle built for export this year alone. The Kariega plant built 101 557 Polos for export last year. The plant’s record for export units in one year was in 2019, when the team built 108 422 vehicles for export markets.
Volkswagen Group Africa has been building vehicles for export since 1992, including models such as the Volkswagen Jetta and Golf. Currently the Kariega plant is the sole manufacturer of the Volkswagen Polo, exporting this vehicle to 38 markets worldwide. The plant has been building the current Polo since January 2018 and began production of the facelifted Polo in August 2021; it also produces the popular Polo Vivo for the South African market.
“Celebrating another production milestone this early in the year sets the tone for a successful 2024,” said Ulrich Schwabe, Volkswagen Group Africa Production Director. “Volkswagen Group Africa remains a strong player in the export space and I am proud of the team behind milestones such as these. As the home of Polo we intend to continue building and delivering our high-quality vehicles to customers around the world – and hopefully achieve many more milestones along the way.”
On the road to being carbon neutral
Aligning with the priorities of the Volkswagen brand worldwide, Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) has set its sights on an ambitious goal – for its Kariega plant to become a carbon neutral production plant by 2030.
VWSA is already well on their way to achieving this, putting environmental sustainability first through a range of projects being implemented at its Kariega plant, as well as its sites in Sandton and Centurion.
Under the umbrella of their Zero Impact Factory programme, VWSA has placed its focus on biodiversity, clean energy, efficient resource management and waste reduction, to name a few.
