The motoring manufacturer aims to boost its capacity and invest more in the sector.
Ford Motor Company has announced that it will invest $1.05 billion (roughly R15.7bn) into its South African operations. In a statement on 2 February, the company said the investment will create about 1,200 direct jobs and increase the annual capacity of its Silverton plant from 168,000 units to 200,000 vehicles.
New jobs at Ford are a welcome boost to South Africa’s high unemployment rate, which has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic. The expanded production will create 1,200 local jobs, taking the workforce to 5,500 employees. Another 10,000 new jobs are expected to be created across Ford’s supplier network.
Speaking just outside Pretoria at the Silverton site, President Cyril Ramaphosa said the plant would help to expand and transform the country’s manufacturing base, adding that, “The plan is a clear statement of the company’s confidence in this development and its ambitions for its South African business.”
Ford's South African investment includes $683 million (roughly R10.2 billion) for technology upgrades and new facilities and $365 million (roughly R5.5 billion) to upgrade tooling at supplier factories.
The investment comes after Ford announced its $11 billion global reorganisation, saying it would stop production in Brazil, closing down three factories and cutting 5,000 jobs after a century of manufacturing vehicles there. The company has cut thousands of positions in Europe as well as about 1,400 positions in the United States.
Ford’s investment is influenced by forecasts for the Ranger, one of the top three light commercial vehicles sold in the country last year, said Andrea Cavallaro, director of operations at Ford’s International Markets Group. He indicated that the country’s trade agreements and the government’s willingness to listen to infrastructure requirements also influenced the decision.
Ford said the Silverton plant would operate entirely off the grid by 2024, protecting it from South Africa’s regular power outages.
