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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – The South African unit of Ford Motor Co. announced on Wednesday that it will hire an additional 1,200 people at one of its local badembly plants, an increase of more than 25 percent to add overtime to its production.
This additional change, which will bring production to 720 vehicles per day, is the result of an investment of 3 billion rand (215 million dollars) announced in 2017 in South Africa, aiming to bring annual production to 168,000 units .
The US company currently employs approximately 4,300 people in South Africa, the Silverton suburban factory, Pretoria, South Africa's administrative capital, and another site in the coastal city of Port Elizabeth.
"The third shift will allow us to increase our production from 506 vehicles badembled per day to a maximum of 720 units, to meet the strong demand from our South African customers, as well as our crucial exports to Canada. markets around the world. "Said Ockert Berry, vice president of operations at Ford for the Middle East and Africa, in a statement.
Ford joins a number of global automakers to increase production on the continent, which promises rapid growth, alongside trade tensions and upheavals such as the withdrawal of the UK from the European Union threaten their operations elsewhere.
The South African branch of Japanese automaker Nissan also announced a similar size investment earlier this year, increasing production at its local plant by 30,000 units, while BMW production manager Oliver Zipse said earlier this month have transferred some of its production from the UK. Brexit and British factories no longer build South African components.
About one-third of Ford's local production is sold in South Africa and other sub-Saharan African countries, the rest being exported elsewhere.
The additional period will begin in August and will focus on the New Ranger, Ranger Raptor and Everest models. Built locally, the Ranger is ranked as the best-selling pickup in Europe and is the leading exporter of light commercial vehicles.
The Port Elizabeth plant produces 120,000 diesel engines per year for the Silverton plant, 130,000 units per year for export to North America, China and Europe and 280,000 sets of components per year. year.
($ 1 = 13.9720 rands)
Reportage by Emma Rumney; Edited by Elaine Hardcastle
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