Volkswagen Group South Africa has been producing vehicles for export for more than three decades (32 years, to be precise). Yup, you read that right. Since 1992, Volkswagens have been rolling of the Kariega-based manufacturing facility and exported to countries outside Mzansi. That’s an impressive feat.
However, what’s even more impressive, is how many Volkswagens produced for export have left the company’s South African factory. How many, you ask? Well, at the start of this week, the 1.5 millionth VW built for export rolled off the line at the Kariega production plant. And what a milestone it is!
So, which VW was the 1.5 millionth model manufactured to be exported to the rest of the world? In short, a Polo GTI. And it’s destined for the United Kingdom. As a reminder, the squire to the Golf GTI — the GTI-badged Polo — is solely produced at the Wolfsburg car manufacturer’s Eastern Cape factory.
Yup, every market around the globe where the GTI-badged Polo is sold gets this model from us — from local shores! How cool is that? How many markets, you ask? Well, a total of 38. That’s immense. No doubt about it.
“Celebrating another production milestone this early in the year sets the tone for a successful 2024”
However, in addition to this milestone, there are more stats signifying VW SA’s production prowess. At the time of writing, VW SA has built a total of 21 165 vehicles for export in this year (2024) alone and, in 2023, a total number of 101 557 Polos were manufactured to leave our shores. VW’s record number of export units was recorded in 2019 when the firm produced 108 422 examples.
“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.”