Toyota and BMW in battle with S. Africa over support plan

JOHANNESBURG: South Africa is proposing automakers including Toyota Motor Corp, Ford Motor Co and BMW AG more than double production in return for tax breaks so generous that the companies can ship the cars all the way to Europe.

The auto industry accounts for about 7% of South Africa’s gross domestic product and has been one of the few highlights of a period of sluggish economic growth, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.

That can be put down to a state-incentive programme that expires at the end of 2020, which both the carmakers and Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies are keen to extend for another 15 years.

At stake is a potential reversal of a steady flow of new investment by carmakers. BMW has spent more than 6 billion rand (US$470mil) on a plant in Rosslyn, north of Pretoria, and last month started production of the X3 sports-utility vehicle at the site, the first time it’s been made outside the US.

Volkswagen AG and Nissan Motor Co both announced major expansion plans in 2015, while China’s Beijing Automotive International Corp is constructing an 11 billion-rand facility in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.

With talks under way, the two parties are at odds on a number of issues – especially the state’s targets for what it wants the industry to achieve by 2035, according to Naamsa director Nico Vermeulen.

A production increase over that period to 1% of global output, or as many as 1.5 million vehicles a year, is over-ambitious, he said. South Africa produced about 600,000 units in 2017, the majority for export, and Naamsa forecasts an increase to 850,000 in 2020.

“The levels of support proposed are inadequate and insufficient to realise the ambitious targets,” Vermeulen said by phone from Pretoria. “We need internationally competitive levels of support.”

A second point of contention in the negotiations is a government demand for the automakers to double the size of their combined workforce to about 225,000. That’s unrealistic given the global industry’s shift toward robotics and automation, he said.

The manufacturers are committed to increasing production and employment if the incentives are adequate, Vermeulen said, but are reluctant to agree to specific targets.

“What we are saying to government is: ‘Let’s work closely together on a programme that’s going to keep us active in the country,’” BMW South Africa chief executive officer Tim Abbott said in an interview.

“We are a long way from our customers,” he said, referring to export markets. “In a majority of cases we’re about 9,000 km away. The logistics costs are much higher, therefore we have to make sure a programme is in place that helps us sustain our business.” — Bloomberg