Volkswagen has established a new ‘Sub-Saharan Africa’ region in line with its plans to develop and strengthen the African market.

The Volkswagen brand currently has three assembly operations in the Africa region.

The new region joins the existing regions of North America, South America and China, and will cover 49 African states with a total population of some 920 million. The region will be headed by Thomas Schäfer, chairman and managing director of Volkswagen Group South Africa. 

Schäfer said: “Africa is still one of the blank spots on the Volkswagen map. There is, however, enormous potential in the region to meet the mobility needs of a burgeoning middle class. We will drive forward the development of these new markets in cooperation with various African governments – and gradually strengthen and expand the new Sub-Saharan Africa region.”

Volkswagen already operations at three sites in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya. In addition, the brand plans to launch an integrated mobility concept in Rwanda at the end of this year. The concept provides for app-based mobility solutions such as car sharing and ride hailing, and will see a local vehicle production facility established in the capital city Kigali to cover vehicle demand for the new concept.

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