BMW South Africa has become the first car manufacturer in the country, since the implementation of the Motor Industry Development Programme (MIDP), to receive a clearance permit to export vehicles to China from the Chinese authorities.
The permit, known as the China Quality Certification (CQC), was recently granted to the company’s Rosslyn manufacturing plant north of Pretoria, paving the way for exports of the new BMW 3 Series to China later this year. A comprehensive audit carried out by a team from the CQC Centre confirmed that Rosslyn’s production and quality management systems were in line with world standards.
The CQC certificate follows an investment of some R2.2 billion between 2009 and 2012 by the BMW Group in its Rosslyn plant, which re-opened in March with the launch of the all-new BMW 3 Series.
Bodo Donauer, BMW SA’s Managing Director, said, “The China certification is a great vote of confidence in our plant and our people. It bodes well not only for our sustainability as a company, but also for the broader motoring industry in South Africa. Whilst our Chinese exports will start at a small level at first, the plan is for this market to ultimately make up around 10% of our total export volume. In 2012, we plan to export around 3 900 units to China.”
Currently, Plant Rosslyn exports about 50% of the vehicles it produces to the US (the biggest export market for the plant). The remainder of the cars will be shared among the local and African markets, Canada, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia.
