Isuzu Motors South Africa celebrated a milestone when the first locally engineered and produced 7th generation ISUZU D-MAX bakkie rolled off the production line on Thursday.
The company said this signified the beginning of the mass production of their soon-to-be-launched bakkie.
Eastern Cape Premier, Oscar Mabuyane, and Naamsa CEO, Mikel Mabasa, attended the event at the company’s manufacturing plant in Gqeberha.
Isuzu Motors South Africa CEO, Billy Tom, said this was a key milestone for the company and was the culmination of the R1.2 billion investment the business announced in 2019.
"Isuzu’s Struandale plant and the new generation ISUZU D-MAX programme is crucial to the communities in the Nelson Mandela Bay metro and the livelihoods of thousands in South Africa and Africa," he said.
"We are delighted to see our significant investment in the motor industry come to fruition, and to secure the jobs of so many citizens while simultaneously bringing a vehicle re-engineered for African conditions to market," Tom said.
"We are delighted to see our significant investment in the motor industry come to fruition, and to secure the jobs of so many citizens while simultaneously bringing a vehicle re-engineered for African conditions to market."
Tom said the investment was also crucial in ensuring the plant was upgraded to include state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment.
"The ISUZU manufacturing plant in Struandale now boasts a new body shop at the Struandale Manufacturing Plant, a new chassis assembly line at Isuzu's Kempston Road facility, significant modifications to the paint shop and general assembly areas," he said.
Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Mabuyane, commended ISUZU and said the automotive sector has been one of the province's key pillars of strength.
"We have been dependent on it for years. This is a business to rely on. We're quite happy for Isuzu Motors South Africa to come in at a time when General Motors was leaving, leaving a huge gap as well. So we do appreciate all the work that has been done," he said.
