Car assemblers await Peugeot decision

THUMBS ARE being held at the headquarters of Kimberley Car Company (KimCarco), the Kimberley-based manufacturing plant, as its delegation to Paris headed back home last Friday after a week of meetings with French car manufacturer Peugeot which the South African company is hoping will be the flagship vehicle in its new assembly plant. KimCarco was established at the end of last year by a consortium which had purchased the liquidated assets of the former Motor Company of Botswana with a view to establishing a vehicle assembly plant in the Northern Cape capital. This was followed by an announcement that Peugeot had major plans to make South Africa a components and export base. Peugeot had been preparing to raise its supply of components for catalytic converters from South Africa for assembly at its plant in France. It sources its components from suppliers in the Eastern Cape. Now the South African delegation is hoping to have negotiated successfully for its facility to be used as a base for complete knocked down vehicles to be assembled for export to European and other destinations. Prior to their departure last week, members of the delegation declined to elaborate on what they were offering the French company , but stated that a full disclosure of the outcome of negotiations would be made after their return.