New car being built in South Africa
Volkswagen Group Africa (VWGA) has announced that a new car model will be produced at its South African manufacturing plant in Kariega, with the first unit already built.
The Volkswagen Tengo will be produced in the factory, becoming the third model manufactured in its Kariega plant.
“The Tengo will be the third model built at Plant Kariega alongside Polo and Polo Vivo,” Volkswagen said.
The group confirmed that the new model was in full production, with the vehicle set to be released on the market in early 2027.
“The Volkswagen plant is officially in full series production of the Tengo, ahead of its South African market introduction in early 2027,” the group said.
The vehicle is based on a similar Volkswagen model sold in Brazil, the Tera, and marks the company’s efforts to expand its presence in Africa.
Volkswagen worked closely with its Brazilian colleagues to design the car, with key differences such as the driver’s side and where parts are sourced.
“The Tengo has been developed specifically for African markets, as the Volkswagen brand continues its plans to expand its presence across the African continent.”
The group said the name reflected the vehicle’s specific design for African markets, after it was chosen in a competition held across the continent.
“The name for the Tengo is truly African, chosen by Volkswagen Group Africa (VWGA) employees and customers in various African countries during a naming competition run in 2025,” it said.
While the Kariega plant has produced several vehicle models since 1948, it had only produced two since 2010 before the Tengo was announced.
Plans to add the new model to the factory’s production line started in 2024, and involved a R4 billion investment.
It was previously reported that this investment included training opportunities for group employees in preparation for the new vehicle.
“The Tengo, which will be built alongside the popular Polo and Polo Vivo, is the first new model to be added to the plant’s production line-up since these two vehicles were first introduced in 2010,” VWGA noted.
“It is also the first Volkswagen SUV manufactured at Plant Kariega, where the brand has been building its iconic vehicles for the past 75 years.”
An evolving market
When plans to produce the new model at Kariega were announced in 2024, VWGA believed there would be continued demand for combustion-engine vehicles.
“As most global vehicle markets transition to electric vehicles, African markets like South Africa will continue manufacturing and selling vehicles with internal combustion engines (ICEs) for the foreseeable future, owing to customer demand for ICEs and slow introduction of electric vehicles in these markets,” VWGA said at the time.
In the two years since, the popularity of electric vehicles has surged, largely due to the import of Chinese vehicle brands such as Chery and BYD.
For the first nine months of 2026, electric vehicle sales exceeded the total number sold in 2025 in South Africa, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA).
In September 2026, the automotive body noted that one in every nine vehicles sold in South Africa was a new energy vehicle (NEV).
NEV is an encompassing term which includes fully electric, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Between January and September 2026, 16,703 NEVs were sold in South Africa, 34% more than the number sold across the 12 months of 2025.
The growing popularity of electric vehicles in South Africa has also been supported by recent high fuel prices due to global conflict.
Conflict in the Middle East has had a domino effect on global oil prices, which has led to high petrol and diesel prices in South Africa through 2026.
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