Features / 10 December 2025 / Michael Taylor

6 new Chinese car brands that launched in South Africa in 2025

Another year has come and gone, which means that several new Chinese car brands have launched in South Africa.

New names from the People’s Republic have been coming to South Africa in droves over the past few years, and 2025 was no different with six different manufacturers making their debut.

The first of these is MG, which launched at the start of the year with an initial roster of three cars – the ZS crossover, the HS SUV, and the electric Cyberstar roadster.

This lineup has since been expanded with the MG3 hatchback and the ZS Pro crossover.

Another automaker that arrived this year is Leapmotor, which is a bit different from the other Chinese brands on this list because it is affiliated with Stellantis – the parent company behind Opel, Peugeot, Citroen, Jeep, and Alfa Romeo.

As a result, Leapmotor’s cars are being distributed via the Stellantis dealership network in South Africa.

For now, it has one product in the form of the C10, which is a family SUV with a range-extended electric vehicle (REEV) powertrain.

REEVs are a form of hybrid where the combustion engine does not power the wheels directly.

Instead, the engine functions as a generator to charge a battery connected to one or more electric motors, which drive the wheels.

The C10 is not the only REEV South Africa received this year, as we also got the Hunter REEV bakkie, courtesy of Changan.

Changan and its new-energy sub-brand Deepal arrived in late October with four models across their combined lineup.

Changan launched the Alsvin sedan, CS75 Pro SUV, and Hunter bakkie, while Deepal introduced the S07 electric crossover.

Not long after, South Africa welcomed Geely, which has two products called the E5 and the E5 EM-i SUVs.

The E5 is fully electric, while the EM-i is a plug-in hybrid.

These two models are just the start of Geely’s rollout in South Africa, mind you, as it also plans to launch its Zeekr, Farizon, and Riddara sub-brands in the near future.

Last but not least is Dongfeng, which made landfall in November with its first product, the electric Box hatchback.

Dongfeng also plans to launch two other cars in our market, namely the 007 Sedan and the 06 SUV.