South Africa’s fastest-growing car brand you’ve barely heard of
Jetour is one of the fastest-growing car brands in South Africa, but there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of it.
The Chinese carmaker launched in our market in September last year, which means it’s still very new in the grand scheme of things.
It is competing with legacy brands that have been around for decades and have become household names, such as Toyota, VW, Ford, Honda, or Mazda.
Even so, Jetour has managed to shoot up the rankings in its short time on the market, placing 16th on last month’s list of the best-selling car brands in South Africa.
These were the top-selling car brands in October 2025, excluding medium and heavy commercial vehicle companies:
- Toyota – 13,559 units
- Suzuki – 6,890 units
- VW – 6,221 units
- Hyundai – 3,017 units
- Ford – 2,946 units
- GWM – 2,805 units
- Isuzu – 2,784 units
- Chery – 2,210 units
- Kia – 1,808 units
- Mahindra – 1,551 units
- Renault – 1,446 units
- Nissan – 1,360 units
- Omoda & Jaecoo – 1,311 units
- BMW – 1,306 units
- Stellantis – 921 units
- Jetour – 856 units
- MG – 606 units
- Mercedes-Benz – 563 units
- Foton – 403 units
- Mazda – 243 units
- JAC – 221 units
- Jaguar Land Rover – 216 units
- BAIC – 157 units
- Mitsubishi – 155 units
- Honda – 111 units
- Porsche – 100 units
- Volvo – 95 units
- Tata – 69 units
- Subaru – 62 units
In just over a year, Jetour has managed to outsell established nameplates like Mercedes-Benz, Mazda, Jaguar Land Rover, Mitsubishi, Honda, and Volvo.
It’s also worth noting that several of the names above Jetour represent sales from multiple brands.
VW, for example, includes sales from Audi, and Stellantis is the parent company of several brands, including Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Fiat, Jeep, Opel, and Peugeot.
All of this may come as a surprise to anyone who doesn’t regularly follow motoring-related news, especially since Jetour’s success has gone somewhat under the radar.
This is partly because several other Chinese car brands have launched in South Africa over the past two years, such as Changan, Deepal, Jaecoo LDV, Leapmotor, and MG, all of which are competing for motorists’ attention.
Jetour sales on the rise in South Africa
Back in September 2024, Jetour SA MD Johnny Fan stated that the company had an ambitious goal to sell more than 800 cars per month within its first year of operations.
Fast forward to the end of October 2025, and it’s clear that Jetour has reached this target.
What makes this all the more impressive is the fact that the automaker only has two models in its roster at the moment – the Dashing and X70 Plus SUVs.
The Dashing is a midsize SUV comparable to something like the VW Tiguan, Ford Territory, or Toyota Rav4, and the X70 is essentially a seven-seater version of the Dashing, featuring the same engine and a near-identical spec sheet.
The appeal of these models lies in their affordability, as the Dashing starts at R439,900 while the Tiguan asks for at least R668,100, and the Rav4 goes for R719,800.
It is, therefore, understandable why these two models have resonated with consumers at a time when many households are cutting back on vehicle spending.
Even so, it’s noteworthy that Jetour has managed to sell as many units as it has with such a small initial offering, but this is about to change.
The carmaker recently debuted the new T1 and T2 – a pair of Adventure SUVs that are very different to the urban-focused Dashing and X70 Plus.
Sales for the T-badged 4x4s are set to begin in mid-November, and it will be interesting to see if this expanded selection will help Jetour to reach new heights that rival other popular Chinese makes like Omoda, Jaecoo, Chery, and GWM.
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