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The board of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has announced the appointment of Reginald Lavhelesani Demana as the entity’s new CEO.

Demana’s appointment is subject to standard clearance and verification procedures.

Sanral has been without a permanent CEO since November last year.

Demana is currently a divisional executive at the State-owned Industrial Development Corporation (IDC), where he is responsible for a portfolio that covers the mining, metals, infrastructure and energy sectors.

He is a trained engineer and has more than 20 years’ working experience, including in the investment banking sector.

Demana’s expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, the structuring of empowerment deals, capital raising and general strategic corporate finance.

He was also the former CEO of JSE-listed coal mining and trading company Wescoal, which was recently renamed Salungano.

Demana began his professional working career as a mining engineering trainee with Anglo American Platinum, and then as a mine health and safety inspector with the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy.

He holds a BSc in Mining Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand and a, MSc in Mining Engineering (with distinction) from Exeter University in the UK.

The Sanral board believes Demana will contribute towards the stabilisation of the road agency’s finances, particularly the toll portfolio, and that he will continue implementing the company’s mandate to plan, build and maintain the national road network “with the excellence associated with Sanral”, given his “impressive educational qualifications, experience in senior strategic positions and the leading roles he has played in corporate finance in general”.

Current acting CEO Lehlohonolo Memeza will continue in her role until Demana assumes responsibility.

“As soon as formal communication is received from the Minister of Transport, the board will finalise all processes relating to the appointment,” notes board chairperson Themba Mhambi.

As Rand Water increases its abstraction of water beyond its licence, it is pleading with consumers to use water wisely as the water it is currently over abstracting from dams needs to last multiple seasons and not just one.

The water trading entity, on average, supplies 4 642-million litres of water a day to municipalities, with a capacity to peak at 5 036-million litres a day, which is beyond its abstraction licence, to ensure 17.9-million consumers across four provinces are provided with water.

The Department of Water and Sanitation (DWS) temporarily increased Rand Water’s bulk water allocation as an emergency measure to address water shortages in South Africa’s economic hub.

The self-funded bulk water trading entity, with more than a 3 000 km interconnected network, has, year-on-year produced more water than has been budgeted for as it delivers bulk water supply to 18 municipalities, which accounts for 80% of water use as it reticulates and distributes to consumers.

In recent weeks, consumer water demand, particularly across Gauteng, has surged, reaching as high as 300 litres per person a day, with higher non-drinking water use, well above the worldwide average of 173 litres and South Africa’s average of 233 litres a day.

Just in the first quarter of 2023, water use climbed 5.2%.

This high demand amid a heat wave with late rainfall, in addition to excessively high nonrevenue water and leaks, with a loss of up to 40% in the distribution system, is placing strain on Rand Water’s ability to keep apace and ensure a buffer at its reservoirs.

“Every suburb has water,” says Rand Water CEO Sipho Mosai. However, he notes that, with low-lying areas using excess water for non-drinking purposes, high-lying areas face shortages, owing to an inability to pressurise water supply upwards as reservoirs are depleted.

Further, he says that should the country experience a drought, there needs to be enough water in the dams to feed the reservoirs during any potential dry period.

At the rate water is being consumed, there will be no buffer for next season, despite the dams currently being full.

“The water we have will not last until next season,” he tells media during a briefing at the entity’s headquarters on Friday, noting that the current high water requirements and over abstraction is just not sustainable.

“We have provided and we have planned for the demand; however, we need to use what we have responsibility,” he says, citing a drop in water use during the rainfall this week as there was no need to use drinking water for irrigation.

“The easiest way out is to use less water or build more infrastructure now and pay more money for water.”

Rand Water has a significant pipeline of infrastructure projects designed in line with predicted demand; however, the current demand requires unplanned additional infrastructure should it continue. This will cause the price of water to surge, an extra cost already cash-strapped consumers will not be able to shoulder.

The reservoirs are also required to be at a safe zone in case of power outages, which is also causing significant concern for the water trading entity, as following a power outage, it takes about four to five days for a reservoir to recover.

He cites the recent power outages that left many Johannesburg suburbs without water.

On September 23, a power failure at Rand Water’s Vereeniging water works resulted in a 50% reduction in bulk water supply to the Eikenhof pump station, impacting the high-lying areas of the Crosby, Brixton and Hurst Hill Supply zones.

Before the system could recover fully, Rand Water’s Vereeniging works experienced a total power failure on September 25 just after midnight, following which, on September 29, Rand Water experienced a pump trip at their Eikenhof system for about three hours, reducing the pump station capacity by 40%.

Further, Rand Water had a power supply issue on September 30 at their Zuikerbosh purification works, which again had a 60% impact on the supply...

Engineering News Editor Terence Creamer discusses the latest developments with regard to South Africa's Just Energy Transition Partnership Investment Plan; Cabinet's endorsement of the plan; and the ongoing debate about the best uses of these concessional funds.

Enviro Automotive is set to launch its first battery electric panel van in the local market – the DFSK EC35.

Enviro Automotive is the importer and distributor of Chinese-made DFSK electric vehicles (EVs).

MD Gideon Wolvaardt says his company aims to assist transport operators and entrepreneurs who wish to convert to commercial electric vehicles (CEVs) and EVs, be it for cost and/or environmental reasons.

“The company’s approach shows the market that going electric is simple, accessible and sustainable.”

The current focus is on CEVs, adds Wolvaardt. At this stage, the South African market has access to the DFSK EC-series electric panel van and 1-ton bakkie.

The first big shipment of panel vans is already on the water, and the bakkies – a workhorse, not a lifestyle vehicle – are in their final testing cycle, notes Wolvaardt.

“The bakkie will most probably be launched in the first quarter of 2023.

“Next year first semester will see the launch of a four-ton EV truck.”

Following this, Enviro Automotive will introduce what it calls “an affordable EV mid-sized car. We are currently in the process of final negotiations.”

Wolvaardt tells Engineering News Online that the company’s business model is not solely focussed on DFSK EVs, as it includes more than one brand, so as “to offer different products to different target markets with different mobility needs”.

“The truck is from Dayun, for example. At this stage, however, it is only Chinese brands.”

“We don’t want to announce the EV car brand yet, because of a nondisclosure agreement and of where we are with the contract negotiations,” he adds.

Wolvaardt says Enviro Automotive currently has two dealer outlets in Gauteng.

“We are finalising our distribution strategy and dealer/agent list, which will be announced at the official launch of the panel van later this year, or early next year.

“Customers will be supported by our technical teams at dealer level and head office level,” he notes.

“The great thing about CEVs is that they need minimum maintenance, so we don’t need a lot of traditional dealerships with lots of service and maintenance parts and people.”

When considering the South African market, Wolvaardt believes the local CEV sector will gain momentum “very quickly because of the massive cost savings and efficiencies” made possible through electrification.

“It is a rational decision-making process with cost benefits, while it also assists companies in reducing their carbon footprint.

“On the passenger EV side, however, it will take longer to see the use of products by the masses because it is expensive at this stage.

“The buying motivators for an EV for private use and a CEV are very different,” says Wolvaardt. “For EVs it will be emotional, but for CEVs it is primarily cost-driven.”

The EC35

Chinese automaker DFSK (Dongfeng Sokon Automobile) is a joint venture between Dongfeng Motor Company and the Chongqing Sokon Industry Group.

Following the introduction of its C-Series range of delivery bakkies and panel vans in 2009, the company extended the range by introducing the battery-electric EC35 panel van and EC31 bakkie in 2018.

The load compartment of the two-seater EC35 to be launched in South Africa is accessible via sliding doors on both sides of the panel van, as well as the tailgate.

The vehicle offers a payload of 1 015 kg and a loading space of 4.8 m³.

The EC35 is equipped with a single synchronous electric motor that produces 60 kW and 200 Nm of torque.

It also features a 38.7 kWh lithium-iron phosphate battery.

Charging the battery will cost R56.50, promises Enviro Automotive, yielding a travel distance of up to 270 km, depending on the load and traffic conditions.

With a fast charger, the battery could be charged from zero to 80% in less than an hour.

The EC35 features antilock braking and electric power steering.

The panel van also has air-conditioning, a reverse camera, rear parking sensors, Bluetooth and a touchscreen infotainment system.

It is backed by DFSK’s three-...

Steel producer ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) on October 20 launched its newly acquired ArcelorMittal Rail and Structures (AMRAS) facility.

This follows the successful acquisition of the former Highveld Structural Mill in eMalahleni, a transaction which was effective from August.

The official launch of the AMRAS facility was undertaken by Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel, who commented that, with this being the sole mainline rail production facility in South Africa and on the continent, it showcased the country and region’s ambitions to be a globally competitive player in the steel market and to bringing back its past mainline rail production capacity.

He congratulated all stakeholders for bringing this to fruition, especially given that the facility was slated to be lost following the closure of Highveld Steel and Vanadium.

Patel also highlighted the localisation benefits the facility would provide, with it slated to produce R500-million worth of products and displace close R1-billion of products that would otherwise have been imported.

The facility already produces rail line products for sale to mining companies and the products are also set to be exported.

The importance of localisation was reiterated by AMSA CEO Kobus Verster, who said the products needed for railway infrastructure development and rolling stock could all be sourced and developed in South Africa.

Since 2017, while operating the heavy structural mill under contract, AMSA localised about 80 000 t/y of heavy structural sections, replacing about R10-billion a year of imported steel with local South African production for the past five years.

With the conclusion of this acquisition, AMSA will create about 250 quality and permanent manufacturing sector jobs.

Patel explained that this constitutes 200 temporary jobs becoming permanent ones, and 50 additional jobs being created.

Patel lauded the impact this job creation would have on individuals, as well as the positive impact this would have on building the local community.

The acquisition of this facility is posited to provide AMSA with an African edge to producing heavy-gauge mainline rail products to high-quality standards and to facilitate extended opportunities to address the critical railway infrastructure programmes in the region.

Verster said the acquisition would enable the company to deliver global research and development and best-in-class operational practices of heavy structural rolling mills in South Africa.

This would be leveraged from the group’s expertise in manufacturing heavy structural sections and rails, with global plants around the world supplying specialised structural steel products.

GROWTH PROSPECTS

Verster also touched on AMSA’s restructuring process and strategy from the past few months, noting that this was aimed at returning the company to profitability and creating sustainable operations.

He said AMSA has enjoyed reasonable success in this regard; however, this had entailed the difficult process of adjusting its footprint and closing down some operations.

Verster highlighted some positive as ASMSA having diversified its raw material base, which has enabled access to the network for smaller companies.

“A sustainable and profitable steel industry, which includes several players, is vital to ensure growth of the South African economy and for it to be a key player as the country looks to reindustrialise,” he outlined.

Verster also emphasised the importance of decarbonisation to AMSA, with the company largely in alignment with the global ArcelorMittal group’s targets of a 25% reduction in carbon emission by 2030, and to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Verster said this would entail a three-pronged approach, mainly, a focus on renewable energy and energy efficiency; operational efficiency; and carbon capture.

“AMSA will look to pursue growth opportunities as they arise; and will also support South Africa in its development aims,: Verster outlined.

In this vein, Patel ...

Cabinet has officially endorsed the Just Energy Transition Partnership Investment Plan (JETP-IP) following a presentation it received at its latest meeting, held on Wednesday October 19.

“After welcoming a presentation on the JETP and the JETP-IP, Cabinet endorsed the

JETP-IP and expressed its appreciation for the detailed work undertaken to develop it,” the Cabinet statement released on October 20 reads.

The statement notes that the JETP-IP outlines the investments required to achieve the decarbonisation commitments made by government, while promoting sustainable development, and ensuring a just transition for affected workers and communities.

In a post-Cabinet briefing Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele said that more details on the JETP-IP - which is backed by France, Germany, the US, the UK and the European Union and which is expected to be formally endorsed at the COP27 climate negotiations in Egypt next month - would be provided during a briefing that will be hosted soon by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Climate Change.

At COP26 in Scotland last year the JETP partners made an $8.5-billion offer to support South Africa’s transition away from coal and to support workers and communities that could be negatively affected by such a shift.

Following COP26, South Africa established a Presidential Climate Finance Task Team, headed Daniel Mminele, to finalise the JETP-IP, which is expected to focus primarily on electricity sector projects, including much-needed investment into the grid, but also include funding support for the development of electric vehicle and green hydrogen industries.

This week, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter again stressed the need for the bulk of the funding to be directed the way of the electricity sector and questioned the desirability of diverting concessional funds to the other two sectors.

In the case of green hydrogen, he noted that surplus green electrons were a precondition for the industry’s development and that that precondition was currently absent in a context where Eskom was having to implement loadshedding to stabilise the grid.

De Ruyter also questioned whether concessional funding should flow to automotive companies and their shareholders.

Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy noted that the $8.5-billion would translate to about R150-billion, which fell well short of the more than R1-trillion South Africa required over the period to transition to an energy system aligned with the decarbonisation pledge.

However, she expressed the hope that the funding would serve as a catalyst for further private investment in support of the transition and encourage stakeholders to comment on the JETP-IP, which she said would be released for public consultation before year-end.

Eskom told lawmakers on Wednesday that a fire in the gas air heater of Kusile Unit 5, which occurred during a commissioning exercise on September 17, represented a major “setback” and could delay the 800 MW unit’s entry into commercial operation by up to a year.

Under the revised scheduled for the much-delayed Kusile build programme, Unit 5 was expected to enter into commercial operation in December 2023.

Addressing a Standing Committee on Public Accounts meeting, COO Jan Oberholzer said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined by the contractor, Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems, which he referred to as MHI, but that sabotage was not currently suspected.

He noted that a similar incident had occurred during the commissioning of Kusile Unit 2, which had delayed the introduction of the unit by 12 months, and that a similar delay was, thus, being assumed preliminarily for Unit 5.

Eskom expected to receive details outlining MHI’s new commissioning plan for the unit by Sunday, October 23, but Oberholzer confirmed that the fire represented a major setback, particularly in a context where the utility urgently required additional generation capacity to reduce the risk of loadshedding.

“Unfortunately I have to be open that unit number five will not be placed into commercial operation by December 2023,” he said, signalling that initial indications were that the unit might achieve that milestone only in December 2024.

“Again, I need to emphasise that this was during the commissioning of that specific component and we don't believe that there was any foul play.”

The commercial implications were still being calculated, but it was estimated that it would add some R150-million a month to Kusile’s interest during construction (IDC).

Work on Unit 6, meanwhile, was continuing and it remained on schedule for commercial operation by the middle of 2024, with efforts under way to bring that date forward to May 2024.

MEDUPI UNIT 4

At Medupi meanwhile, where all six units were in commercial operation prior to a catastrophic hydrogen explosion at Unit 4 in 2021, Eskom was planning to return Unit 4 to service only in September 2024.

This, together with extended maintenance at the Koeberg nuclear station – which had been further prolonged because the replacement of the three steam generators at Unit 2 had to be postponed earlier this year owing to Eskom’s failure to complete the required containment facility on time – would increase the risk of power cuts.

The energy-short grid would be without at least one unit of Koeberg for a period of about a year and a half, which would increase the intensity of loadshedding by one stage every time it was implemented.

Nevertheless, Oberholzer expressed confidence that Koeberg would secure its life-extension licence before the current licence expired in mid-2024.

Oberholzer again confirmed that the Koeberg life-extension capital expenditure was far higher than the R20-billion announced in 2010, but said he could not yet provide the new value.

Lawmakers were also provided an update on the cost and cost to completion of both Medupi and Kusile, which were set to cost R145-billion and R161.4-billion to complete respectively, before IDC.

The remaining cost to complete Kusile was stated as being R14-billion, while the figure for Medupi was pegged at R18.95-billion.

The Medupi figure excluded the cost of installing flue gas desulphurisation (FGD), which could involve an additional R35- to R40-billion and remained a condition of a World Bank loan that had been raised to help fund the project.

CEO André de Ruyter reported that the FGD technology installed at Kusile was a single point of failure and that trips associated with the plant were a key reason for Kusile’s poor energy availability factor (EAF) currently.

Eskom was pursuing an operations and maintenance contract with General Electric, which supplied the FGD to Kusile, in an effort to improve the plant’s performance.

The utility, which has never before oper...

South Africa’s Just Energy Transition Partnership (JET-P) investment plan, which will seek to unlock $8.5-billion in concessional funding for decarbonisation projects as well as for coal worker and community support programmes, is currently in the Cabinet process ahead of its anticipated launched during the COP27 climate negotiations to be held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt next month.

Addressing a Standard Bank climate conference on Tuesday, Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment Minister Barbara Creecy also reported that the JET-P investment plan, once launched, would be released for public comment.

“We are obviously urging that you would look at it, that you would understand it, that you would see how it lays out a vision for the way in which we would want to support the transition in these three sectors [of electricity, electric vehicles and green hydrogen].

“And what we're very sincerely hoping is that [the plan] would create appetite from the private sector and would begin to mobilise the significant quantities of financing that we're going to need over the next ten years,” Creecy said.

She again stressed that, while the $8.5-billion being offered by the JET-P partners of France, Germany, the US, the UK and the European Union would translate to about R150-billion, it nevertheless fell well short of the more than R1-trillion South Africa required over the period to transition to an energy system aligned with the decarbonisation pledge it made at COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland in 2021.

Creecy underlined the economic risks of not moving fast enough to decarbonise, highlighting that both Italian and Indian buyers of South African forest fibre used in garment manufacturing had cautioned her as the minister responsible for forestry that they would seek alternative sources of supply unless South Africa halved the carbon content of its forest fibre by 2030.

While some of the country’s main trading partners were planning to impose carbon border adjustment measures from 2026, Creecy warned that, even absent such restrictions, South Africa’s top exports by value would become vulnerable to changes in global demand as countries decarbonised.

That said, she stressed that the country’s recently adopted Just Transition Framework insisted on the transition being implemented in such a way as to ensure that it not only enhanced energy security but also assisted the country in dealing with economic inclusion, job creation and poverty alleviation.

“The climate transition has to assist us with our overall challenges as a developing country.”

TRANSITION ‘INEVITABLE’ BUT NOT A ‘BINARY DEBATE’

Speaking on the same platform, Eskom CEO André de Ruyter described the energy transition as inevitable, saying “you just cannot hold back this wave with your bare hands, it is going to happen”.

Nevertheless, he contested the proposition that the transition was a “binary debate” between coal and renewables.

“Eskom, and hence South Africa, will be a very substantial consumer of coal for a very long period of time to come.

“So the notion that somehow we will succumb to pressure from the ‘Global North’ to sterilise all of our natural resources to satisfy pressure from international lenders is simply not substantiated by the facts.”

Instead, as South Africa’s old coal fleet reached retirement age it was uneconomical to extend their lives in a context where renewables provided the lowest-cost new electricity and could be built faster than any of the alternatives.

There was also appetite, De Ruyter noted, from investors to make “risk-based investments” in renewable energy, without government guarantees, pointing by way of example to the recently announced Eskom land-lease deal in Mpumalanga for a possible 2 000 MW of new capacity.

He then challenged South African bankers to “start taking more risk” and wean themselves off their “addiction to National Treasury guarantees”.

“Now I know that it's tied up with a single-buyer model, [but] as soon as we open up the market,...

JSE-listed group Sasol and ArcelorMittal South Africa (AMSA) have announced a joint development agreement to advance studies into two potential green-economy projects, including the potential production of green hydrogen in Saldanha Bay, which could be used to produce green steel.

The two companies will also pursue a Vaal carbon capture and utilisation (CCU) study, whereby renewable electricity and green hydrogen could be used to convert captured carbon from AMSA’s Vanderbijlpark steel plant into sustainable fuels and chemicals.

AMSA believes the initiatives have the potential to position AMSA as Africa’s first green flat-steel producer.

At its Saldanha Works, which is currently mothballed, green hydrogen could be employed to produce direct reduced iron (DRI) through the mill’s Midrex facility. The Vaal CCU study, meanwhile, will explore capturing 1.5-million tonnes a year of unavoidable industrial carbon dioxide captured from the Vanderbijlpark Works and transporting it to Sasol’s Sasolburg and Ekandustria operating facilities where, together with green hydrogen, it could eventually replace natural gas as a feedstock to produce sustainable chemicals.

Sasol also announced that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Freeport Saldanha Industrial Development Zone to develop a globally competitive green hydrogen hub and ecosystem within Saldanha Bay.

“These potential projects are an important kick-start to our decarbonisation journey and create an exciting opportunity to contribute to the South African government’s aspirations to transition to a green economy,” AMSA CEO Kobus Verster said in a statement.

“Just as importantly, by maximising the utilisation of our installed assets, we will also be stimulating economic growth in our host communities,” he added, noting that the projects could drive the re-industrialisation of both the Saldanha and the Vaal regions.

Sasol energy business executive VP Priscillah Mabelane expressed enthusiasm for the prefeasibility and feasibility studies, which she said could unlock South Africa’s potential to be a global green hydrogen and derivatives producer.

“These studies are anchored by the local need for green hydrogen and sustainable products, cementing Sasol as the leading contributor to the development of Southern Africa’s green hydrogen economy,” Mabelane said.

Both industrial groups have stated goals of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The Automotive Industry Development Centre Eastern Cape (AIDC-EC) has entered into partnerships with the Automotive Component Manufacturing Association of India (ACMA) and the Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA).

In terms of the agreements JICA and ACMA will assist the AIDC-EC to roll out technical training programmes to automotive component suppliers in the Eastern Cape.

The Eastern Cape automotive sector is responsible for 38% of South Africa’s total vehicle production and 50% of the country’s auto exports.

AIDC Eastern Cape CEO Thabo Shenxane says that one of the goals of the partnerships is to embed a culture of Kaizen into the supply chain.

Kaizen is a global management method that drives quality and productivity improvement (QPI).

“Kaizen will bring measurable competitive improvement outcomes that will capacitate suppliers to access new markets, attain international benchmarks and develop new opportunities,” explains Shenxane.

“The development of Tier 2 to Tier 4 suppliers will make a major impact on South African Automotive Masterplan 2035 objectives, which targets an increase of 20% of locally produced components in vehicles made in the country.”

Empirical results from JICA on Kaizen programmes at eight Tier 1 South African manufacturers between 2016 and 2019 showed that productivity more than doubled; on-time delivery improved from 73% to 95%; overtime work dropped on average from 13.8 hours a week to 4.6 hours a week; and lead times, on average, improved by 40%.

“The results clearly justify scaling up of Kaizen in the automotive manufacturing sector,” says Shenxane.

“And, like JICA, we believe that South Africa can compete with India and Thailand’s automotive component industries – but we must have a vision and plan for this.”

As a key activity of the partnership, the AIDC-EC and JICA are introducing a QPI Kaizen programme to Tier 2 and 3 automotive suppliers across the country’s major auto manufacturing hubs.

“We have started the process to work with 120 Tier 2 and 3 component suppliers over the next three years,” notes Shenxane.

Additional training will also be implemented in terms of the AIDC-EC’s partnership with ACMA, aimed at addressing knowledge gaps and low competence through continuous skills transfer.

ACMA

In terms of the AIDC-EC’s partnership with ACMA, highly structured cross-functional skills development and training programmes; blended physical training; cross-countries knowledge exchange; simulation techniques; and shopfloor project implementation will be included in training programmes for the Eastern Cape supply chain, says Shenxane.

“It has been noted that suppliers of all sizes have realised the effectiveness of blended learning approaches, where employees have the opportunity of engaging in both hands-on and virtual-based learning.

“This provides unique opportunities for training, and will enhance networking and automotive-related activity between India, Japan and South Africa.”

Toyota Wessels Institute for Manufacturing Studies director Dr Justin Barnes underlines the importance of nurturing the manufacturing sector in South Africa.

According to Barnes, manufacturing value added per capita barely grew in the 30 years between 1990 and 2019.

Manufacturing contributed 12% of South Africa’s economy in 2019, 17% in 2000 and 21% in 1990.

Moreover, Barnes says South Africa’s manufacturing sector employed more people in 1969 than it does today.

“If we had kept manufacturing at 1990 levels we would have employed over a million people more.

“The sector is shedding jobs and becoming more capital intensive at a time of an employment crisis. To achieve a high-income society, the driving force is manufacturing productivity and good jobs, whereas the economy is now welfare dependent.”

Barnes notes that the local auto industry has performed better than the manufacturing sector at large, increasing vehicle production from 376 000 units in 1995, to 632 000 in 2019, but adds that the “dark cloud” is t...