DETROIT, Jan 28 (Reuters) - General Motors Corp. said it received approval from the South African government on Wednesday to buy the remaining 51 percent stake in Delta Motor Corp., which it hopes to expand and use to export cars.
GM, the world's largest automaker, did not disclose terms of the acquisition, but said South Africa's Delta has been profitable since it was formed after GM left South Africa in 1986 during the apartheid regime.
"We're looking to grow our business in South Africa," Maureen Kempston-Darkes, GM president of the Latin America, Africa and Middle East region, told reporters on a conference call.
"We're looking to use South Africa as a basis for growth in the African continent, and over some period of time, we'll consider looking at potential export programs that could take place," she said.
GM acquired a 49 percent stake in Delta in 1997 when it returned to South Africa, and last year reestablished the Chevrolet brand in South Africa. Delta also sells vehicles under the Opel, Suzuki and Isuzu brands, Kempston-Darkes said.
With the purchase of Delta, GM has a 10.7 percent stake in the South African market, which had total vehicle sales of about 350,000 units last year, GM said.
New car and truck sales are growing at a rate of 5 to 10 percent a year in the Sub-Saharan countries to which GM's South Africa operations will export, Kempston-Darkes said. Delta already exports to some of those countries, including Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and Kenya, she said.
GM will join rivals such as BMW AG , DaimlerChrysler AG , Volkswagen AG and Toyota Motor Corp. , which have consolidated their positions in South Africa through either wholly owned subsidiaries or majority shareholdings in local units.