150 vehicles later, Peugeot plant stalls
Troubled factory halts production to regroup
Five years after President Hage Geingob drove the first vehicle off the production line, only 30 units have been sold to date.
The Namibian Peugeot-Opel assembly plant situated in Walvis Bay, in which government owns a 49% stake to French automaker Groupe PSA’s 51%, is currently idle over its inability to export vehicles out of the country.
This comes on the back of growing pressure by the Congress of Trade Unions to have the plant relocate to South Africa to ensure job security in that country, Namibian Sun understands.
The plant has been plagued by its inability to export assembled vehicles to South Africa, the region’s biggest market.
Reacting to the developments, deputy executive director in the ministry of industrialisation Michael Humavindu said government is working tirelessly to resolve export issues plaguing the plant.
He also denied claims that it may be relocated to South Africa owing to low assembly numbers.
Thus far, only 30 of 150 vehicles have been bought by government, as per a 2019 Cabinet directive that all government entities must reserve their vehicle purchases for Peugeot and Opel cars assembled at Walvis Bay.
The 150 vehicles assembled in nearly five years are a drop in the ocean compared to the annual targeted volume of 5 000 units by 2020 promised by shareholders at the time.
The municipality of Walvis Bay was among the first to adhere to this directive and spent N$633 000 to purchase two Peugeots to replace the mayoral Mercedes Benz and a Volkswagen Jetta.
As of November 2021, the plant had only sold 22 vehicles, with 131 units still in stock at the time. New Era reported that the plant had employed 20 locals since its inception in December 2018, against the original target of 50 full-time employees.
Developing competencies
Humavindu yesterday said: “The plant has assembled 150 vehicles since inception. It was stopped so that we finalise the policy gaps”.
“The ministry of industrialisation and the Namibia Revenue Agency meanwhile are finalising the application of [the company] under the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) to ensure exports of vehicles,” he said.
Government released its national policy in December 2019 and a Namibian APDP in August 2021 with regards to the export of semi-knocked down (SKD) vehicles being assembled in Namibia, he noted.
Namibia was also in the process of developing its competencies regarding the correct Southern African Customs Union (SACU) applications to ensure smooth processes pertaining to the export of SKD vehicles, with training set to be finalised this month.
Namibia must ensure that 30% of the components on the vehicles are sourced locally for it to enjoy regional exports to SACU markets and beyond.
A Peugeot 3008 SUV was the first model to roll off the assembly line of the N$170 million-dollar plant, which was inaugurated by President Hage Geingob in December 2018.
The agreement reached between Groupe PSA and the Namibian government was part of the group’s strategic profitable growth plan, which aimed to satisfy customer expectations in all the regions in which it operates.
This comes on the back of growing pressure by the Congress of Trade Unions to have the plant relocate to South Africa to ensure job security in that country, Namibian Sun understands.
The plant has been plagued by its inability to export assembled vehicles to South Africa, the region’s biggest market.
Reacting to the developments, deputy executive director in the ministry of industrialisation Michael Humavindu said government is working tirelessly to resolve export issues plaguing the plant.
He also denied claims that it may be relocated to South Africa owing to low assembly numbers.
Thus far, only 30 of 150 vehicles have been bought by government, as per a 2019 Cabinet directive that all government entities must reserve their vehicle purchases for Peugeot and Opel cars assembled at Walvis Bay.
The 150 vehicles assembled in nearly five years are a drop in the ocean compared to the annual targeted volume of 5 000 units by 2020 promised by shareholders at the time.
The municipality of Walvis Bay was among the first to adhere to this directive and spent N$633 000 to purchase two Peugeots to replace the mayoral Mercedes Benz and a Volkswagen Jetta.
As of November 2021, the plant had only sold 22 vehicles, with 131 units still in stock at the time. New Era reported that the plant had employed 20 locals since its inception in December 2018, against the original target of 50 full-time employees.
Developing competencies
Humavindu yesterday said: “The plant has assembled 150 vehicles since inception. It was stopped so that we finalise the policy gaps”.
“The ministry of industrialisation and the Namibia Revenue Agency meanwhile are finalising the application of [the company] under the Automotive Production and Development Programme (APDP) to ensure exports of vehicles,” he said.
Government released its national policy in December 2019 and a Namibian APDP in August 2021 with regards to the export of semi-knocked down (SKD) vehicles being assembled in Namibia, he noted.
Namibia was also in the process of developing its competencies regarding the correct Southern African Customs Union (SACU) applications to ensure smooth processes pertaining to the export of SKD vehicles, with training set to be finalised this month.
Namibia must ensure that 30% of the components on the vehicles are sourced locally for it to enjoy regional exports to SACU markets and beyond.
A Peugeot 3008 SUV was the first model to roll off the assembly line of the N$170 million-dollar plant, which was inaugurated by President Hage Geingob in December 2018.
The agreement reached between Groupe PSA and the Namibian government was part of the group’s strategic profitable growth plan, which aimed to satisfy customer expectations in all the regions in which it operates.
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