General Motors South Africa

General Motors South Africa
Type	Wholly owned subsidiary
Industry	Automotive
Predecessor(s)	Delta Motor Corporation (1987-2003)
Founded	1913 (formation); 2004 (reacquisition)
Headquarters	Port Elizabeth, South Africa
Products	Automobiles; Engines
Employees	1,900
Parent	General Motors
Website	gmsa.co.za

General Motors South Africa, or GMSA, is a wholly owned subsidiary of American automobile manufacturer General Motors. It manufacturers and distributes automobiles under the Chevrolet, Opel and Isuzu brands. The company is headquartered in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.

Founded in 1913, GMSA initially distributed Chevrolet vehicles before beginning to manufacture and distribute vehicles of all of GM's brands in 1926. By the 1960s this included the British Vauxhall marque.^[1]

In 1986, it was sold off and relabeled the Delta Motor Corporation as a result of the passage of the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in the United States and subsequent divestment of General Motors from apartheid South Africa. Following the transition to democracy in the 1990s, GM acquired a 49 percent stake in the company in 1997, and in 2004 the company once again became a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors, reverting to its original name.

Although GM divested the last of its ownership of Isuzu, it still owns the dealership network in South Africa, and builds/assembles the Isuzu pickups and trucks.

Locomotives[edit]

In 1974, General Motors South Africa Ltd. began to construct GM-Designed locomotives rather than importing them from the United States. After January 1987, GMSA was sold to local management which continued production as the Delta Motor Corporation. The company failed after one order of 11E-Type locomotives were constructed using GMSA leftovers. Delta Motor Corporation focused instead on automobile engines rather than locomotives, shutting down the plant where the locomotives were constructed.

The locomotive customers for GMSA (1974–1987) were: