Africa’s Auto Market Could Surge 43%

Sales of new vehicles in Africa will climb to 2 million units by 2017 from 1.4 million units last year, predicts Mario Spangenberg, president of General Motors Co. operations on the continent.

He also tells reporters in Johannesburg that Africa's annual volume could reach 3 million vehicles in 10 years. GM's sales there grew 18% last year to 180,000 vehicles.

Spangenberg says the company's expansion in the region will be led by the sixth-generation Isuzu KB pickup trucks. GM will start building the new trucks this month at its assembly plant in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Production will begin at its factory in Egypt in the second half of this year.

Fatal clashes between striking workers, police and company guards have disrupted South Africa's mining and manufacturing output for months. Spangenberg urges the government to foster a more stable labor environment. He also says the country needs to develop cheaper energy and a better infrastructure to end transportation and export bottlenecks.