VM Automotive, a 100 percent black owned BBBEE company, was awarded the W206 contract by Mercedes Benz SA (MBSA) to produce body parts for the new C-Class Mercedes Benz in 2019. To carry out the eight-year project, VM Automotive built a new factory in East London and acquired a laser cutting line for the plant.
Prior to the MBSA’s W206 contract, VM Automotive purchased a blanking facility in Rosslyn Pretoria, at which the outgoing BMW G01 was produced as a tier 2 supplier. VM Automotive has also recently been awarded the BMW G45 contract.
VM Automotive is one of the few 100 percent black owned Tier 1 suppliers in the automotive sector. Having established two plants in Gauteng and the Eastern Cape as well as acquiring unique world leading technology and equipment, VM Automotive is well placed to secure other contracts from existing OEMs.
It is part of our strategic objective to secure new clientele, including the acquisition of a further blanking line as well as evaluating other down- and upstream opportunities in the metal component supply to local OEMs.
Opportunities are given to employees to develop and grow within their job functions and further development opportunities are offered by way of educational assistance. By empowering staff we remove some of the past ills that face our communities. We follow the government’s lead in committing to gender equality, something that has been lacking in the traditional male environment of manufacturing. We recruit women and youth with the intention of them filling strategic and management positions, and to fast track their growth in the industry.
