R1.2 billion investment boost for South Africa

Ogihara South Africa will soon break ground on a new body part manufacturing plant at the Dube Tradeport in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, which will supply components to vehicles built by Toyota South Africa on local soil.

Ogihara South Africa is a new joint venture between Toyota Tsusho Africa, a subsidiary of CFAO South Africa, and Ogihara Thailand.

The initiative will see the strategic investment of R1.2 billion into the domestic automotive industry.

“The joint venture will bring substantial foreign direct investment to South Africa, create numerous employment opportunities, and further deepen the localisation of our economy in alignment with the South African Automotive Masterplan objectives,” said Andrew Velleman, CEO of CFAO South Africa.

“This collaboration exemplifies the commitment of both joint venture partners to localisation and underscores the possibilities for growth and development through investment in our country.”

Toyota currently produces five vehicles at its Durban plant, including the evergreen Hilux, Corolla Cross, Corolla Quest, Fortuner, and Hiace Ses’fikile.

Driving localisation

CFAO South Africa is the regional division of the pan-African CFAO Group, headquartered in France, itself a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Tsusho Corporation in Japan.

The African wing of the Toyota Tsusho Corporation delivers a range of products and services for the local automotive industry, including supply chain management and production assembly, and it offers support to customers by procuring and supplying production parts, raw materials, equipment, and production parts assembly. ​

Ogihara Thailand is a subsidiary of Ogihara Corporation in Japan and is one of Thailand’s leading automotive tools, die makers, and automotive stamping parts manufacturers.

Ogihara Corporation has operated as a vehicle body engineering company since 1951, manufacturing press tools for vehicle body parts.

The joint venture to create Ogihara South Africa marks the company’s first expansion into the African continent.

“The inclusion of Ogihara South Africa in our local manufacturing ecosystem will not only create new job opportunities but also enhance our capabilities in producing high-quality body parts for the automotive industry,” concluded Andrew Kirby, President and CEO of Toyota South Africa.

“This joint venture marks a significant step towards our Local Value Addition improvement strategy by localising the production of these critical components.”

This article was first published by TopAuto. Read the original here.

Read: Chinese carmakers’ big play in South Africa – and it’s working