South Africa Announces Tax Breaks to Kick-Start EV Industry (1)

South Africa took a belated step to preserve one of its key export industries by announcing a major tax-break for investments in the production of electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles.

The measure announced in Wednesday’s budget — a right to claim a 150% tax deduction on investments — went some way to appeasing vehicle makers including the local units of Ford Motor Co. and Volkswagen AG, which have been clamoring for incentives to sustain the industry that accounted for more than 400 billion rand ($21 billion) in exports last year.

Companies have been concerned that the lack of government support ...