Mahindra South Africa, the wholly-owned subsidiary of the Indian automotive giant, has defended semi-knocked-down SKD vehicle assembly in South Africa as a first step by original equipment manufacturers OEMs towards large investments in full-scale vehicle manufacturing in the country.
However, Mahindra SA CEO Rajesh Gupta said on Tuesday the company is not supportive of SKD manufacturers using a loophole to import components into South Africa duty-free as aftermarket parts and then using them in their SKD operations.
Mahindra SA in August 2025 officially opened its new, purpose-built SKD vehicle assembly plant at the Dube TradePort special economic zone in KwaZulu-Natal as it entered its third decade in South Africa.
