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South Africa is experiencing a multi-billion-rand automotive investment boom.

Multinational automotive group Stellantis confirmed on Wednesday its intention to invest R3 billion in South Africa to establish a state-of-the-art greenfields automotive plant at Coega in the Eastern Cape.

Stellantis was established in 2021 through a merger between the French-based PSA Group and Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA).

It has nine vehicle brands, including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Jeep, Opel, Peugeot and Abarth.

Mikel Mabasa, CEO of automotive business council Naamsa, confirmed on Thursday that Stellantis was one of three original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) investigating and considering investing in the establishment of vehicle manufacturing plants in South Africa.

Mabasa declined to identify the other two, stressing it was agreed that these companies would make their own announcements about their investment plans in SA at the appropriate time.

But he confirmed that neither of them is BYD, the Chinese automaker and the world’s largest electric vehicle manufacturer.

A cabinet statement issued at the end of last month confirmed that South Africa is negotiating with BYD about the possible opening of a manufacturing plant in SA. It said this plant would be in addition to the plant established for BAIC, another Chinese automaker, in the Coega industrial development zone (IDZ).

BAIC announced in August 2016 it would be investing R11 billion in the establishment of the plant, which at the time was heralded as the biggest automotive investment in Africa in the past 40 years.—Moneyweb