Volkswagen South Africa accounted for 8.25% of import container traffic through the ports of Ngqura and Port Elizabeth, and 1.85% of exports in 2017, according to VWSA chairman and managing director, Thomas Schaefer. Speaking at the official launch of the new VW Polo and Polo Vivo at the company's plant in Uitenhage recently, Schaefer said VW also accounted for 99.5% of vehicles exported through Port Elizabeth harbour. VW exported 95 000 engines in 2017 to plants in India, Malaysia and Mexico. The Uitenhage plant is one of 120 production sites in the VW group, and accounts for 0.15% of the 10.74 million vehicles the group assembles a year.