Volkswagen South Africa, a cut above the rest

Volkswagen South Africa was rated as the best manufacturing plant out of 13 Volkswagen factories after it achieved a score of 113% on a key set of performance indicators for the first time in its 64-year history.
The 13 global Volkswagen production plants are all measured on the same key performance indicators such as production volumes, production quality, costs per unit, units produced per employee, Health and Safety incidents and the factory’s improvements in reducing its carbon footprint.
Key in VWSA achieving these results were the 120,000 Polos and Polo Vivos produced in 2015 at much better than budgeted cost levels. Another key contributing factor was exceeding the Think Blue Factory targets which were set in 2010 to reduce energy consumption, water usage, waste and emissions by 25%. By the end of 2015, VWSA had exceeded the target by 17.2% achieving 42.2%.
Of the 120,000 cars produced in 2015, over 66,000 Polos were exported to predominantly right hand drive markets such as the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and Ireland. In addition, 113,000 engines were also produced of which 81,000 were exported to markets such as India, China and Mexico.
In South Africa, Volkswagen maintained its dominance of the passenger car market for the sixth consecutive year with Polo Vivo and Polo being the first and second best-selling passenger car models respectively.
“This recognition could not have come at a better time for our company,” said Thomas Schaefer, Chairman and Managing Director of Volkswagen Group South Africa.
Schaefer added: “This exciting news will bolster our shareholders’ confidence in our company as we have commenced with our R4.5 billion investment plans for new products announced last year. It will further enhance VWSA’s status and ability to deliver and exceed its targets at the required quality levels for both the domestic and important export markets”.