General Motors South Africa

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General Motors South Africa (Pty) Ltd
legal form Property Limited
founding 1913
Seat Port Elizabeth , South Africa
Number of employees 1800 (as of 2014)
Branch Automobile manufacturer Commercial vehicle manufacturer
Website www.gmsa.co.za

Chevrolet Firenza CanAm from South Africa

General Motors South Africa (Pty) Ltd ( GMSA for short ) is an automobile manufacturer based in Port Elizabeth , South Africa and a subsidiary of General Motors .

history

Chevrolet models have been sold in South Africa by the newly founded company General Motors South Africa since 1913. General Motors began assembling automobiles locally in 1926.

Since 1950 GMSA has also manufactured refrigerators. In 1965 GMSA opened an engine plant in South Africa. In 1974 the production of locomotives began.

At the end of 1986 General Motors ceased operations at its South African subsidiary for political reasons.

Delta Motor Corporation

With GM's withdrawal, Delta Motor Corporation was founded by former GMSA executives. The new company was granted a loan of $ 44 million and guaranteed parts delivery from the USA and Germany (Opel). There were also various confidentiality agreements in place to support Delta's business operations.

The Motorsport team founded by Delta Delta Motorsport has been very successful and could, for example, until 1989, the national "Group N" win -Tourenwagenmeisterschaft three times in a row.

In 1995, Delta became the largest South African pick-up exporter to Africa. A year later, production began in the assembly plant in Struandale.

Return from GM

After the end of apartheid, GM bought a 49% stake in Delta Motor Corporation in late 1997 (47% according to other sources). In 2004, General Motors acquired the remaining 51% and renamed the company again.

In 2014, GM had 1,800 employees in South Africa.

Special models

General Motors manufactured a wide variety of models and brands in South Africa. First the brands Chevrolet , Oakland , GMC , Buick , Pontiac , Oldsmobile and Vauxhall were assembled , from 1930 Cadillac , Bedford and Opel were added. The year 1937 is also mentioned for Opel. Australian GM models such as the Holden Monaro were also assembled in South Africa.

From 1968 GMSA produced a model based on the Opel Rekord C and sold it under the new brand name Ranger . The model was based at least in part on a Vauxhall design and was originally intended to be introduced as the Vauxhall Ranger . The reason for the name change is said to have been the bad reputation of the Vauxhall brand. Production ended in 1970 or 1973.

In the early 1970s, the Vauxhall Firenza was manufactured in South Africa as the Chevrolet Firenza . The Chevrolet Firenza CanAm (also called Little Chev in advertising ) was fitted with the 5-liter V8 engine of the Camaro and 100 copies were built for homologation purposes. The vehicles, which were delivered exclusively in white with a black bonnet, accelerated to a top speed of around 230 km / h with 290 hp.

In 1976, the Chevrolet Nomad - an open-top recreational vehicle - was manufactured, 88% of which (by weight) was domestic production. The rear wheels of this almost 3.50 m long vehicle were driven by a 4-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2.5 l and an output of 65 kW.

GMSA has been manufacturing Isuzu models since 1971. After the Holden , Vauxhall and Bedford brands were discontinued in South Africa in 1978 , GMSA's entire range of assembled passenger cars operated under the name Opel from 1982.

At the end of the 1980s, GMSA built a 170 hp version of the Opel Kadett as a super boss . It was the strongest Kadett model ever built. From 1995 to 1997 Delta offered the Opel Kadett 200ts (the notchback version as Astra 200ts), which developed 202 hp with a displacement of 2 liters and reached a top speed of 235 km / h.

In 2003, the brand name Chevrolet was partially reintroduced in South Africa.

The Hummer H3 was manufactured in South Africa from 2006 to 2009 .

In 2014, Isuzu Trucks South Africa produced Isuzu models (KB pick-ups, N and F series vans) and the Opel Corsa in various designs at GM in South Africa . The Chevrolet Spark and a small Chevrolet pick-up are also named as assembled models .

Web links

Commons : General Motors South Africa  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b c d Charles Cornew: African adventures , in: Automotive Manufacturing Solutions of November 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ Keeping the wheels turning , in: Annual Report of the Southern African-German Chamber of Commerce Industry 2013-2014 , pp. 51-55.
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g South Africa Overview , presentation by General Motors from 2015.
  4. ^ M. Compton / TJ Gallwey: Motor Assemblies Limited. A small South African Assembly Plant that became a major manufacturer , 2009.
  5. ↑ a b c d e f g h General Motors South Africa Overview , General Motors document from 2015.
  6. ↑ a b c d General Motors South Africa Overview , General Motors document dated December 10, 2013.
  7. ↑ South Africa: Everything resolved , in Spiegel 45/1986 of November 3, 1986.
  8. ^ Community Agency for Social Inquiry (South Africa) (ed.): Sanctions Against Apartheid , Cape Town 1989, p. 230.
  9. ↑ GM to take over South Africa's Delta Motor Corp. , in: Automotive News from January 21, 2004.
  10. ↑ GM, Delta enter stake talks , message on CARmag.co.za from July 9, 2001.
  11. ↑ General Motors flies its flag in South Africa ( memento from October 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), report from auto motor und sport from January 21, 2004.
  12. ↑ Holden Monaro GTS , article on African Muscle Cars .
  13. ↑ Chev SS , article on African Muscle Cars .
  14. ↑ a b Lone Ranger ( memento from October 23, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), on: topcar.co.za from March 5, 2010.
  15. ↑ Vauxhall Victor - the aborted 1969 MY Opel Rekord C based design proposal on Vauxpedianet .
  16. ↑ Marián Šuman-Hreblay: Automobile Manufacturers Worldwide Registry. McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, London 2000, ISBN 0-7864-0972-X (English), p. 237.
  17. ↑ Entry on Allcarindex.com.
  18. ↑ Chevrolet Firenza Can Am , in CarTorque of December 11, 2005.
  19. ↑ Chev Firenza CanAm , article on African Muscle Cars .
  20. ^ Pauline Dibben / Geoffrey Wood: Outsourced but in reach: Cost savings in the South African Automotive industry , 17th ILERA World Congress, 2015.
  21. ↑ From The Archives: 1976 Chevrolet Nomad. In: Car Magazine. July 9, 2015, accessed March 16, 2018 .
  22. ↑ a b Delta / Opel Kadett 200ts: la petite bombe sud-africaine! , in: Boîtier Rouge of January 11, 2015.
  23. ↑ Opel Kadett Superboss , article on African Muscle Cars .
  24. ↑ HUMMER Kicks-Off H3 Assembly in South Africa , press release from GM on 10 October of 2006.
  25. ↑ Irma Venter: GM sells Hummer; SA plans releases H3 production , in: Engineering News from June 2, 2009.