French automaker Groupe PSA will build Peugeot and Opel vehicles in Walvis Bay, Namibia, in 2018.
Groupe PSA and Namibia Development Corporation (NDC) have signed a joint-venture agreement to start the assembly plant.
The vehicle assembly is expected to start in the second half of this year with an annual target of up to 5,000 Opel and Peugeot cars by 2020.
The vehicles will be sold particularly in the Southern African Customs Union countries, which includes Namibia, South-Africa, Bostwana, Lesotho, Swaziland.
The Opel Grandland X and Peugeot 3008 will be the initial vehicles to roll off the assembly line, while other products will follow suit based on demand levels
The deal is part of a strategic growth plan that aims to satisfy customer expectations in all the regions where the automaker operates. It also materializes the company’s ambition to develop internationally by directly producing in the Middle East and Africa, where 70% of the vehicles are sold in the region.
The manufacturing of Opel models locally has been decided and implemented in less than four months after the announcement of the PACE! Strategic plan on 9 November 2017.
Groupe PSA Middle East and Africa Region executive vice president Jean-Christophe Quemard said: "This investment in Namibia is part of the long term strategy of Groupe PSA to increase its sales in Africa and the Middle East, consistent with our target to sell one million vehicles in 2025. This new capacity will serve regional markets with products in line with our Opel and Peugeot customer expectation.”
According to the PACE plan, Groupe PSA needs to be brought back to profitability by 2020. It needs to lower its financial break-even point to 800,000 vehicles.
The plan also includes electrification of all of its passenger carlines by 2024. The company also plans to modernize all of its facilities and to refrain from forced redundancies.
