Unemployed at 25% in South Africa as BMWs Drive Too Few Jobs

At a Daimler AG plant that overlooks the East London harbor in South Africa, robots help produce one of the world’s best-selling luxury cars. A line of one-armed, orange, computerized machines works under minimal human supervision, attaching panels to chassis for Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedans.

Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler is one of a bevy of global auto giants, including Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., who have pumped about 32 billion rand ($4.65 billion) into South Africa during the past decade to create the nation’s biggest manufacturing industry, Bloomberg Markets magazine reports in its June issue.