Toyota South Africa has agreed to invest US$147 million into a hybrid car factory in KwaZulu-Natal Province, KZN Economic Development, Tourism and Environmental Affairs Minister Nomusa Dube-Ncube has announced in Durban.
In making the announcement on Wednesday, Dube-Ncube said Toyota’s multimillion dollar investment would produce its first “hybrid synergy drive” (petro-electric) car in the country at its Prospecton plant in the port city of Durban.
Expressing her appreciation to the carmaker for the investment, Dube-Ncube said the automotive sector had suffered billions of losses as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic — with “millions of people facing the jaws of abject poverty.”
She thanked the Toyota leadership for working with her provincial government to turn around the situation, despite the challenges created by the pandemic outbreak.
The regional minister noted that her provincial government was moving with speed to ensure that the Automotive Supplier Park’s Special Economic Zone, located in the south of Durban, was operational by 2021.
The park, once completed, would create an estimated 1,339 jobs.
The trucks will be exported to Europe and within Africa.
NM/jn/APA