The plant was opened in July 2011 by the Minister of Trade and Industry, Rob Davies, who said that the R110 million investment into the plant can be attributed to South Africa's investment friendly policies and Tata's continued commitment to Africa. He said that the project came at a time when the department was aggressively pursuing an industrial development strategy for the South African medium and heavy commercial vehicle sector.
Managing director of Tata Africa, Raman Dhawan, acknowledged the significance of this achievement and thanked the workers for surpassing the set targets while also recognising the stringent ISO 9001 quality assurance standards that they have had to adhere to with the assembly of each truck. Dhawan urged the Tata Rosslyn team to work towards assembling 10 000 vehicles within the next two years - a target which, if met, will ensure expansion for the plant that has a current annualised capacity of assembling 3 650 vehicles.
Dhawan reminded that over and above volumes, it was important that the team not lose sight of growing the assembly plant into a more competitive manufacturing facility with an increasing percentage of parts sourced locally. The Rosslyn plant is the first major assembly plant outside of India for Tata Motors. It reflects the commitment of the group's growth strategy of increasing the manufacturing capacity of the automotive industry in South Africa.
Tata Automobile Corporation entered the South African automobile market in 1998 and has been a strong competitor in its market segments since 2004 when the Indica and Indigo passenger cars and utility vehicles were introduced. Today, a network of 32 Tata dealerships distributes commercial and passenger vehicles throughout South Africa.
