“It’s alive.” The iconic words purportedly uttered by Victor Frankenstein when his legendary monster first showed signs of life as told in the 1818 novel by Mary Shelley – and, perhaps an apt exclamation in relation to Chinese automaker, BAIC, which pulled back the shrouds on its assembly plant in Coega, Eastern Cape to allow media to see the activity.
BAIC Automobile South Africa was established in 2016 as a joint venture between the China BAIC Group and the South African Industrial Development Corporation in which the BAIC group owns 65% of the shares and the IDC owns 35% of our shares.
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Quality Assurance Manager at the factory, Ralton Turner, explains: “We are a full plant that can handle CKD capability from welding and painting through to assembly. The capacity we have currently is up to 50 000 vehicles a year we can assemble.”
Currently, actual production is well below this with limited quantities of the Beijing X55 model coming off the production line to be shipped to the 52 dealers around the country.
The factory itself is huge – 70 000 square metres that includes the assembly building, welding area and paint shop and, while it was quite eerie to walks through vast amounts of empty space within its walls, the company is looking to the future.
When local demand reaches around 20 000 units, the plant will transform into a full-scale manufacturing operation and that space will be filled with noisy presses and a vastly expanded production line with plenty more robots energetically plying their trade.
Currently, a mere 45 workers are required to manage the assembly and quality control process in the plant alongside the robots already in place.
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“The plant was commissioned and built and then along came Covid and for the whole of lockdown nothing happened, giving rise to questions and speculation on social media about the reality of the company actually producing cars,” says Turner.
“It took quite a long time after that lockdown period to get up and running and to ramp up to the point where we are today.”
When it relaunched locally recently, Foton – a BAIC subsidiary – was quick to state it intended to have vehicles assembled in the BAIC plant and, indeed, we spotted a Foton truck in the plant that was assembled as part of a test run – alongside two full-size heavy commercial trucks.
“We are talking with a number of Chinese automakers about the possibilities of doing joint-venture assembly or manufacturing deals as the capacity in the plant grows,” added Turner.
“So, our mission is to transform your world with passion,” said BAIC SA Manging Director, Yang Yi Xin. “We are committed to development in the automobile industry and are committed to creating new jobs in this area.”
B40
Check out these pristine pre-owned B40 models for yourself
The journey to the ‘Windy City’ of Gqeberha was not all about the factory and there was an opportunity to get up close and personal with the updated BAIC B40 off-roader that pays homage in its design to the Jeep Wrangler.
As with other Chinese automakers seeking to claim market share in foreign countries, the vehicles offered must meet the full gamut of safety specifications required by the markets in which they operate, including having a top rating from China’s own New Car Assessment Programme (NCAP).
This means the B40 is packed full of the latest mod-cons and offroad capabilities with easy switching from two-wheel drive through 4H and to 4L with Hill Descent Control, Yaw Control all part of a vehicle that can transform from fully-enclosed to top-down in a few easy steps.
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A full review will appear on these pages soon, but put through a few tests off the public trails in the Addo Park, it handled everything thrown at it smoothly and efficiently.
“The journey of an adventure is basically filled with uncertainties but the B40 ensures the vehicle’s integrity remains uncompromised from front to back. Excellent research and development technology t has gone into the design of the vehicle so you can be assured of safety while you're enjoying your off-road excursion,” says Turner.
Colin Windell
Proudly CHANGECARS
