First 'Made in Rwanda' Volkswagen Cars May Be Released in Spring 2018

Germany's major automotive corporation plans to produce cars primarily for local sales and will become the first international car maker to invest in the African country.
Sputnik

Germany's Volkswagen is planning to produce its vehicles at a new plant in Rwanda beginning spring this year, Deutsche Welle reported.

The cars will be manufactured mainly for local car drivers.

The first vehicles are expected to be assembled by May. VW also seeks to produce electric cars in Rwanda in the near future.

"I think we have come to the right place," Volkswagen's managing director in South Africa Thomas Schäfer was quoted by the media source as saying. "The attention, the focus and the will is here to implement this."

READ MORE: VW Partners With Silicon Valley Company to Create Unmanned Cars by 2021

Rwanda is the fourth African country in which VW has built an assembly plant to produce its vehicles in, after South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

Earlier in January, Volkswagen's management announced plans to cooperate with the Silicon Valley firm Aurora to build self-driving cars. Volkswagen representatives hope that the two companies will be able to launch autonomous vehicles by 2021.

Discuss