OVERVIEW
Automotive An automotive supplier park is under construction.
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oyota South Africa and Bell Equipment are manufacturing giants. Between the Toyota plant at Prospecton south of Durban and the Richards Bay facility of heavy-equipment manufacturer Bell Equipment, upwards of 11 000 people are employed. Both companies are market leaders. KwaZulu-Natal also has a substantial and varied automotive components sector which includes large manufacturers such as Apollo Tyres and GUD Filters. Thirty-nine companies are currently members of the Durban Automotive Cluster which is funded by the municipality. Together, these firms have about 17 000 employees. Bell is in the process of transferring production of its current truck range to its factory in Germany, which will double in size to accommodate the growing demand for trucks in Europe and America. Bell’s new European headquarters opened in Alsfeld in August 2017. The shift will not affect employment levels at the Richards Bay site because Bell will start assembling Kamaz heavy-duty trucks (pictured above) in 2019 for the African market. Kamaz, a Russian brand that has won 14 Dakar rallies, is known for its reliability in tough conditions. Bell’s intention is to increase the percentage of local components over time. KWAZULU-NATAL BUSINESS 2018/19
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SECTOR INSIGHT • Bell Equipment will make Kamaz trucks at Richards Bay. Bell is best known for its heavy equipment which is primarily used in the mining and construction sectors. The listed company reported a 13% rise in revenue in December 2017, to R6.7-billion. Toyota recently invested a further R6.1-billion into its already very large plant at Prospecton. The company regularly sells about a quarter of the vehicles sold in South Africa, and accounts for the same proportion of export