South African Car Maker Improved After GM Pulled Out, Poll Claims

The pullout by General Motors Corp. in 1986 has proved to be a windfall for the South African executives who took over the company, according to a survey published Sunday.

Delta Motors, the South African-owned company formed when the U.S. car maker left, was rated “the biggest success story” among 16 corporations formed in a similar fashion and surveyed by a Johannesburg newspaper, the Sunday Star.

Since GM’s withdrawal, Delta Motors has expanded its work force by 600 and returned to profitability after five years of losses through 1986, according to the survey. Sales have increased to 40,000 units in 1988 from 24,000 in 1986, the survey said.

Delta’s personnel director, George Stegmann, was quoted as saying that employees considered Delta a better employer than GM and had staged no strikes or work stoppages since the change.

According to Stegmann, 67% of Delta’s work force is black or mixed-race, compared to 62% under GM.

Stegmann said Delta was continuing to invest in social programs but was aiming these more at its work force than GM did.

‘Needs Not Addressed’

He was quoted as saying GM’s social programs were financed directly from the U.S. headquarters “irrespective of the business performance of the local subsidiary, translating into vast amounts of money being disbursed to external social projects at times when employees were being retrenched.”

“Employers found it difficult to understand why so much was done for others when their own needs were not addressed,” Stegmann was quoted as telling the Star.