Chinese carmakers continue to win over South Africa’s buyers

Last month, South Africa’s new car market reached 61,645 units sold, up 12.7% from 54,706 units in September 2025, and while legacy brands remained resilient, Chinese carmakers also did some heavy lifting.

Among brands that report monthly sales figures to the official auto industry body, the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa), three Chinese brands made it onto the top ten best-sellers list.

South Africa’s new favourite Chinese manufacturer, Chery, overtook GWM in July, and did so again in September with a seventh-place finish thanks to its 3,004 units sold.

This performance represented a new high for the powerhouse, which now ranks among the country’s four biggest passenger car brands.

Long-time rival GWM settled for eighth place despite a respectable 2,700 units sold last month, while Chery sub-brand Jetour landed ninth on the rankings with 2,036 sales.

Chery has cemented itself as South Africa’s favourite Chinese manufacturer, with 33.04% year-to-date growth, selling 2,258 units in January and reaching its 2026 peak of 3,004 units in September.

This growth was primarily driven by sales of the Tiggo 4 Pro and Tiggo Cross, which have become two of the most popular passenger vehicles on our roads.

Despite being a Chery sub-brand, Jetour has also come into its own in our market, recording 31.35% sales growth so far this year and holding above 2,000 units last month,

Its 2,036 units sold in September 2026 mean Jetour placed ahead of traditional mainstays like Kia and Renault, while its nine-month year-to-date total sales reached 16,891 units.

Third on the year’s growth chart is GWM, which improved its year-to-date sales total from 2,069 units in January to 2,700 units in September – a 30.50% increase.

Another Chery sub-brand, Omoda & Jaecoo, registered 1,503 unit sales in September, a slight 6.37% increase from January, while BYD has also improved sales since it started reporting sales in March.

The average Chinese car manufacturer in South Africa improved monthly sales by over 25% between January and September, close to their combined growth of 27%, but the numbers could look better.

Not all Chinese brands report to Naamsa

Many Chinese brands in the local market, particularly the new energy vehicle (NEV) brands, have yet to start reporting their monthly sales figures to Naamsa.

When looking at the NEV segment, these brands – Geely, Dongfeng, and iCaur – are some of the biggest players in their market.

As a result, Chinese car sales figures in South Africa, especially the sales of electrified cars, are being skewed by the non-reporting by major players.

That said, according to our sister publication, MyBroadband, the energy research body Ember has noted a radical increase in Chinese electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids shipped to South Africa in 2026.

Ember’s China Cleantech Exports Data Explorer found these exports reached an all-time monthly high of R1.35 billion in July 2026, around six times higher than last year.

The data also showed an increase in exports from March 2026, coinciding with petrol price increases resulting from the US war on Iran.

The 12-month export value totalled R7.46 billion, nearly four times more than the R1.92 billion recorded over the previous year.

Looking at the data, the reported Chinese NEV sales figures understate the true size of the market in South Africa since brands like Geely have been overwhelmed by demand.

It initially reserved 200 E2 units for the South African market, receiving over 2,400 orders within two months of its launch.

Despite not reporting to Naamsa, iCaur has also sold a good number of V23 models, while Dongfeng has sold several Box hatchbacks.

While the sector waits for these brands to start reporting their sales, BYD remains dominant as the country’s largest EV and PHEV seller.