China’s BAIC is set to begin assembling B30 SUVs in South Africa at the start of next year

Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) South Africa’s CFO announced that the company will begin assembling its recently introduced B30 off-road SUV at its plant in the province of the Eastern Cape as early as January, which is a major step in increasing domestic production.

Africa has been a major focal market for Chinese automakers as a way to counteract pressure from a devastating price war in their home market and as trade restrictions imposed by the US and Europe on Chinese automakers deepen.

Among the roughly 18 Chinese automakers with operations in South Africa are BAIC (1958.HK), BYD (002594.SZ), and Chery.

The Beijing X55 Plus and BAIC B40 Plus SUV models are being assembled at the company’s Gqeberha facility in the Eastern Cape province.

The new B30 combustion engine and hybrid versions will be domestically constructed utilizing a completely knocked-down production process, BAIC South Africa Chief Financial Officer Anele Geza told Reuters during the introduction event on Monday night. In addition to having more local material, this assembles cars from numerous small parts.

The current models are constructed utilizing a semi-knocked-down method that blends huge, imported, and partially completed parts into a finished automobile.

In order to protect the domestic auto industry and move the nation closer to its goal of producing up to 1.4 million vehicles by 2035, multinational automakers with South African factories, such as Toyota (7203.T), opens new tab, Ford (F.N), opens new tab, and their suppliers, have been pushing for increased local production by new suppliers.

At the launch of the BAIC B30, Yang Yixin, the CEO of BAIC South Africa, assured attendees that the company was solely focused on growing in South Africa.

“We will continue to introduce more new models while steadily expanding local production and value creation,” he added.