A ZAR20 million state-of-the-art airbag testing facility is boosting capacity at Volkswagen Africa’s plant in Kariega in the Eastern Cape, South Africa.

The new facility features a ZAR14 million climatic chamber to condition parts to the required temperature – between 90°C and –40°C – before the parts are deployed in the chamber.

The deployment centre is expected to improve testing capacity from 48 tests a week – including three dashboards and 45 seats – to a total of 72 tests, comprising 10 dashboards, two curtain airbag tests and 60 seats per week.

While the deployment of the airbag takes only 100 milliseconds, the preparation of parts lengthens the testing process to 6 to 8 hours per test.

The new centre will test airbags chiefly for locally built Polo and Polo Vivo models, but it is also designed to test future VW models and can perform tests for external customers.

5 March 2024
Image: Freepik