Prior to the establishment of assembly plants in South Africa the established car dealers did assembly themselves. Crated Chevs were delivered by ship and the crates were delivered by steam traction engine drawn trains of wagons to Willams Hunt the authorised dealer.

The flow of vehicles sourced from the USA died down to a trickle of Chev's in 1942. Production of armoured vehicles and trucks was concentrated on until the end of WWII hostilities.
Chevy's came back into production first with the 1946 Business Coupe's and Stylemasters. Long waiting lists took many months to fill.

By the mid 1950's the American cars were still most popular and the economy supported Cadillac's, Oldsmobile's and the new V8 Chevy's. Holden from GM Australia joined local assembly.
As a matter of record all the vehicles manufactured by GMSA & GM Australia are Right Hand Steering because we drive on the left side of the road.

Political focus was on local production and taxation favoured local manufacture. In the 1960's the South African Government therefore established a local content program which forced manufacturers to provide a steadily increasing percentage of the vehicle by mass (weight) to be sourced within South Africa. This resulted in a rapid increase in capability and capacity of the component industry which focused on production of heavy components. Tyres had been locally made since 1935 and batteries and suspension springs too had been made for years. Glass, paint and upholstery materials were all locally produced. Manufacturers were free to follow the body or engine route for achievement of local content. (Some interesting things happened - for instance, we saw vehicles fitted with cast-iron bell housings whereas in the country of original manufacture the bell housings were aluminium!)

With the Chevy II in production, GM took the route of engine manufacture and produced the 2,5 litre 4 cylinder - and 3,8 and 4,1 litre 6 cylinder versions. To boost component production manufacturers of engines supplied rival manufacturers and so the American Motors Rambler had the Chev 4100 engine. After the Chevy II phased out, these engines were mounted in an Opel derived body but sold as Chev 2500, 3800 and 4100. The latter vehicles with tri-matic transmissions were favoured by caravanners (trailer homes). By that time the local content programme enforced by the South African Government was 66% by mass (weight) of the completed vehicle.

The oil crisis of the 1970's was a tough time because anti-Apartheid political pressure was being applied to South Africa. South Africa had no petroleum reserves itself but was a world leader in the production of petrol from coal and also in the production of alcohol from sugar cane. Both processes were more expensive than imported crude oil at the time of the crisis.
The local content programme was accelerated and an attempt was made to keep the Chev name to the fore. Name badges were changed so that the Vauxhall Viva became the Chev Firenza 1300 and 1900. The Chev 2500, 3800 and 4100 were Opel Commodore bodies with the three Chevy II engines. Large fuel tanks were fitted to help motorists because sale of fuel was restricted to 06:00 to 18:00 and not over week-ends!

By now there were no more US sourced cars. The Chevrolet Kommando and Constantia (unique South African names), and the de Ville were based on Australian Holden bodies but powered by the 3800, 4100 and a US sourced V8.

An attempt to create a local identity led to production of the Ranger, a car with an Opel Rekord body, Vauxhall grille and Chevy II 2500 4 cylinder engine. Local content percentages were pushed up and after suspension components and support pressings, main body pressings followed. Limited production and competition made car manufacture an exciting business at the end of the 1960's.

After the Soweto riots in 1976 the sales of new vehicles dropped sharply in 1977 and General Motors adopted the Sullivan Code of no discrimination in the workplace.

Chev 2500, 3800 and 4100 were South Africa's top sellers in 1975 but fell to third place in 1976 and fifteenth place in 1977.

Nineteen-eightyone was a terrible year for sales and the total sale of all makes of cars and commercial vehicles was less than 500,000. (300,000 were cars)

As a result of the Apartheid policy, sanctions were imposed by the US government and disinvestment by many US firms followed. Deep economic recession hit South Africa during 1984 and sales fell further. By the end of 1986 GM succumbed to political pressure and dis-invested. Total sales of all makes of cars in 1986 was only 175,000). General Motors sold the GMSA plant in a management buy-out to local interests and the company was renamed Delta Motor Corporation. The company had the rights to manufacture Opel cars and Isuzu commercial vehicles under license. Delta Motor Corporation continued to build the obsolete Opel Rekord but core production centred on the Opel Kadett range.

With the democratic government coming into power in 1994 there has been a dramatic change and now we are seeing the latest GM technology from Germany with the latest Opel's being manufactured with high local content by Delta Motor Corporation. Importation of US sourced vehicles on a limited scale has recommenced but from January 2000 no left hand steering vehicles may be imported. This has limited the range to those exported to other right hand drive countries and has signaled a resurgence of Holden in particular but as the Chev Lumina SS 5,7 litre.