Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd. is boosting capacity at its South Africa plant by two-thirds as India’s largest automaker by value seeks to capitalize on the demand for lower-cost vehicles in the continent’s biggest economy.
The company, which makes the Mahindra Pik-Up brand at its assembly plant near Durban, will boost capacity to 1,500 vehicles a month from 900, Rajesh Gupta, chief executive officer of the local unit said. The company is also considering assembling other models locally, he said.
Sluggish growth in the continent’s most-industrialized nation has seen South Africans demand more economical cars. Sales of Mahindra, Suzuki Motor Corp. and China’s Chery Automobile Co. have jumped, while those of Mercedes-Benz Group AG and BMW AG have plunged or stagnated.
The average selling price of cars has dropped 2.3% in the two years to 2025 to 490,478 rand ($27,600), according to Toyota Motor Corp., South Africa’s most popular auto brand. Annual inflation averaged about 4.5% over the same period.
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