Cape Town — There was a four- year, R20bn pipeline of investments in the motor manufacturing industry that would qualify for the state's new investment incentive scheme , Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said last week.

Guidelines for the scheme -- the investment component of the automotive production and development programme -- would be published soon , Davies said in a written reply to a parliamentary question by Democratic Alliance economic development spokesman Pierre Rabie.

BMW SA approached the department for a guaranteed 20% investment rebate under the scheme. The company's decision to invest R2,2bn in its flagship Rosslyn plant, which was announced last month, was based on this commitment by the government. The investment would boost production capacity of 3-series sedans from 60000 to 87000 cars a year. The plant produces one-quarter of all 3-series BMWs.

Davies said Ford had also requested and been issued with a letter guaranteeing that it would qualify for the investment incentive if it met the relevant criteria.

Davies said the motor industry had been widely consulted about the proposed rules of the scheme, which would be finalised before the end of the year and apply retrospectively from July. The rest of the scheme comes into effect in 2013, after the current motor industry development programme expires in 2012.

The International Trade Administration Commission, an agency of the Department of Trade and Industry, was working on proposed amendments to the Customs and Excise Act as well as the implementation guidelines and procedures. This process was expected to take six months, with all the details of the new programme expected to be made public in mid-2010.

Davies told MPs during a briefing to Parliament's trade and industry committee that the government wanted to emphasise motor vehicle component manufacturing and the production of buses, trucks and construction equipment.