Bay of Opportunity getting ready for Stellantis plant

The South African automotive industry is getting another boost with the inaugural Nelson Mandela Bay Manufacturing Showcase where Stellantis intends to build a new greenfield plant that will create 1 000 jobs and produce 50 000 vehicles a year.

24 Stel Peu1

Stellantis is privileged to have been invited by the Nelson Mandela Bay Chamber of Commerce to open the chamber’s first ever “Bay of Opportunity Manufacturing Showcase” currently being held over two days in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, says Stellantis SA Managing Director, Mike Whitfield.

Nelson Mandela Bay is home to most of South Africa’s automotive manufacturing and almost all of the component sector, and it is here where Stellantis intends building its R3-billion state-of-the-art automotive assembly plant later this year.

“The project,” Mike says, “underlines the importance Stellantis places on Nelson Mandela Bay as an automotive manufacturing hub and a gateway for the company to build vehicles for export into the rest of Africa and the Middle East.

“The investment underscored Stellantis’s philosophy of the circular economy; investing in the areas in which it operates, creating jobs and stimulating the local economy.”

The building of the plant is part of Stellantis’s Dare Forward 2030 strategy to produce a million units a year, with 70% localisation and achieve 22% market share in the Middle East and Africa by 2030, in tandem with the existing Stellantis manufacturing operations in North Africa: in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Egypt.

Seen here are Themba Khoza (Action CEO, CDC), Mike Whitfield (MD Stellantis), Gary van Niekerk (Executive Mayor Nelson Mandela Bay), Desmond Fenner (Plant Project Manager Stellantis), and Kobus Sauer (Industrial Specialist - Automotive, IDC).

Construction is scheduled to begin very shortly following the finalisation of the Joint Venture agreement between Stellantis and South Africa’s Industrial Development Corporation, which will be a 49% shareholder. The land for the 32.5 ha site is being provided by the Coega Development Corporation, which has completed the removal and rehoming of all flora and fauna in terms of the environmental impact assessment report.

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, with production of the Peugeot Landtrek 1-ton pick-up scheduled to start in Q1 2026. The plant will directly employ 1 000 people and have an initial production target of 50 000 vehicles a year, but this will be scalable to a potential 90 000 vehicles a year, with the majority destined for export.

“This plant will, however, be so much more than a physical building producing vehicles, it will be a testament to the enabling environment that government and agencies like the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the Industrial Development Corporation and the Coega Development Corporation has created.

“Investment in the automotive industry is a long-term process and there can be no investment of any kind without a legislative environment that ensures the playing fields are levelled, the interests of investors are protected, together with a roadmap that guides all stakeholders,” Mike says.

More Industry News stories

Chery delivers 100 Tiggo 4 SUVs to First Car Rental

Chery delivers 100 Tiggo 4 SUVs to First Car Rental

Chery South Africa says it is accelerating its growth in the local car-rental industry, with its national passenger vehicle market share reaching 6.2% in the past month. As interest in Chery’s range of vehicles continues to grow for consumers and fleet operators, the brand is seeing increasing interest from rental car companies nationwide.

  • 4 June 2025
Land Cruiser 6x6 and 6x4 will boss the Land Cruiser Festival

Land Cruiser 6x6 and 6x4 will boss the Land Cruiser Festival

Ulterio Motiv will exhibit a total of three vehicles at this year’s Hankook Land Cruiser Festival. Held annually, the Land Cruiser Festival caters not only to Toyota Land Cruiser enthusiasts, but also to various companies that supply products, upgrades and equipment for these vehicles.

  • 4 June 2025
Good news about car sales for May

Good news about car sales for May

It is more good news about car sales for May with new-vehicle figures of 45 308 units, which reflected an increase of 8 169 units, or a substantial gain of 22.0%, from the 37 139 vehicles sold in May 2024, buoyed by relatively stable economic fundamentals earlier in the year.

  • 3 June 2025