The legend is back - VW introduces updated Golf GTI
Volkswagen will introduce the updated Golf GTI to the South African market in the last quarter of 2025. Well over 2.3 million GTIs have been sold worldwide.
- Product News
- 2 September 2025
Business at Ford’s manufacturing plant in Silverton Pretoria is getting back to normal but the risk of interrupted power supply remains, Ford says.
The problems arose when overhead powerlines collapsed over the N4 on 10 April after a huge storm that left large parts of Pretoria, especially in the eastern part of the city, without electricity. This included the Ford plant and related industries in the Ford supply chain.
Production was suspended on 11 April and restored in stages starting on the evening of April 12, when production has slowly resumed.
The estimated total loss of production during the down days was 1 440 units. and a dark picture of the impact of the shutdown for an extended period was sketched by Ford Africa’s president, Neale Hill.

Ford tells Dealerfloor that the scale of the Eskom infrastructure concern holds the risk of interrupted supply. “However, we continue to liaise with Eskom and local government as they work to balance the system and fully restore the network.”
The newly upgraded Silverton plant is currently the second largest in the world producing the new generation Ford Ranger as well as the Volkswagen Amarok, both for local consumption and export to more than 100 markets. More than 700 Ranger pick-ups are manufactured in Pretoria every day utilising three shifts working at the plant.
The National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA) notes that August continued the positive trend for new-vehicle sales in South Africa, reflecting strong consumer demand and activity across the market.
Although the tariff clouds are gathering over the South African economy with serious implications for the local automotive export industry, local sales of new vehicles are soldiering on at a decent pace.
Automechanika Johannesburg successfully hosted its final CEO Breakfast for 2025 at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, bringing together senior automotive industry leaders for strategic discussions as the co-located Festival of Motoring roared into life.