By Prashirwin Naidu
Mahindra South Africa is on a roll! In fact, it easily owned the month of February. Hot on the heels of its 20-year celebration in the country, the brand hosted the Mahindra Fusion Fest at SunBet Arena in Pretoria, an electrifying night of music, fashion and art. But beyond the entertainment, Mahindra followed up with a big reveal – it’s ambitious plans to ramp up local vehicle manufacturing.
Currently, Mahindra assembles its vehicles in Durban using Semi-Knocked-Down
(SKD) kits, which means cars arrive in parts that need to be put together locally.
Now, the company is xploring a move to Completely Knocked-Down (CKD)
manufacturing, where vehicles would be built from the ground up using more locally sourced components. This shift could boost job creation and strengthen South Africa’s role in the global automotive industry.
To kick things off, Mahindra SA has signed an agreement with the Industrial
Development Corporation (IDC) to study the feasibility of setting up a full-scale
manufacturing plant. The goal? To meet the requirements of South Africa’s Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP), which offers financial
incentives for local production. However, to qualify for these benefits, manufacturers
must produce at least 50 000 vehicles a year, a big jump from Mahindra’s current 18
000 units annually.
Currently, Mahindra’s assembly plant at Dube TradePort in Durban produces around 1 000 vehicles per month. A new facility, set to open later this year, will push that to 1500. If the CKD plan becomes a reality, Mahindra could not only supply more cars locally but also export them to other markets.
While this is an exciting prospect, Mahindra SA’s Managing Director, Rajesh Gupta,
says they’re not rushing into it. “Every company wants to industrialise, but we are
taking a step-by-step approach to ensure long-term success,” he explained. If Mahindra pulls this off, it will join the ranks of heavyweights like Toyota, Ford, and
Volkswagen and solidify its place as a major player in South Africa’s automotive
landscape. One thing’s for sure: Mahindra’s journey is just getting started!
