It's official, Kariega will soon be home to the all new Volkswagen Tengo.
Volkswagen Group Africa (VWGA) chair and MD Martina Biene announced the nameplate this week and units will start rolling off the production line in 2027, adding to its offering of locally produced products including the Polo and Polo Vivo.
The company's new compact A0 dSUV is already in production at the Brazilian plant under the Tera nameplate with the name Tengo beating out other contenders including the Tavi, Tiva and Tion.
Biene took to social media to make the announcement and thank the public for their input.
“After thousands of votes from you and our Volkswagen Group Africa employees, our new compact SUV officially has a name #VWTengo! Tengo has rich cultural meaning in African languages, describing qualities like strength, resilience and purpose.”
Production at the Kariega plant recently came to a halt for about a month to allow for upgrades and installation of machinery to accommodate the new addition.
This followed an earlier announcement by VWGA of a R4bn investment in the plant which Biene previously said signified Volkswagen’s commitment to stimulating the African economy, which the group views as “the last frontier for automotive development” pertaining to internal combustion engines (ICE).
The majority of the R4bn would be allocated to capital expenditure for production facilities, manufacturing tooling, local content tooling and quality assurance.
Almost R877m would be used to enhance automation in the body shop and about R418m to procure new press tooling in the press shop.
At the time, Biene said the investment provided security to its more than 4,000 direct employees in SA as well as several opportunities for growth for the more than 50,000 indirect jobs supported through its almost 73-year operation in the country.
Since 2011, the group has invested R10.28bn in the Kariega plant.
The introduction of a compact SUV from 2027 comes after more than seven decades of producing predominantly Beetles and various variants of the Citi Golf and Polo.
The Tengo will be the latest addition to Volkswagen's SUV and crossover “T” range offerings that include the T-Cross, Taigo, T-Roc, Tiguan, Tayron and Touareg.
The Herald
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