Chery is outselling 18 different brands in South Africa despite having only been on the market for three years.
The Chinese carmaker only relaunched in the country in late 2021, but it has already climbed through the charts to the point where it is outperforming several legacy nameplates such as Renault, Mazda, and BMW.
Sign of the times
Many South Africans still have reservations about Chinese cars, given that a lot of these automakers are only a few years old while other companies in the industry have been around for decades.
However, these attitudes are starting to change quite rapidly, as evidenced by the latest sales data from Naamsa The Automotive Business Council.
Naamsa recently published the sales figures for every brand in South Africa for September 2024, which you can see below:
- Toyota – 10,890 units
- VW – 5,885 units
- Suzuki – 5,032 units
- Hyundai – 2,841 units
- Ford – 2,823 units
- Isuzu – 1,960 units
- GWM – 1,740 units
- Chery – 1,614 units
- Renault – 1,426 units
- Nissan – 1,425 units
- Kia – 1,284 units
- Mahindra – 1,014 units
- BMW – 961 units
- Mercedes-Benz – 535 units
- Omoda & Jaecoo – 506 units
- Stellantis – 505 units
- Jaguar Land Rover – 312 units
- Honda – 265 units
- BAIC – 207 units
- Mazda – 204 units
- Mitsubishi – 175 units
- JAC – 142 units
- Porsche – 97 units
- Volvo – 83 units
- Proton – 68 units
- Subaru – 22 units
As evidenced by this list, Chery had quite the meteoric rise in its relatively short time on the market. It is now consistently in the top 10 alongside another Chinese automaker – GWM.
Of course, local favourites like Toyota and VW are still at the top, but even these brands are starting to see a slowdown in purchases while Chery is inching its way up the rankings.
It’s also worth pointing out that Chery’s 1,614 sales are entirely thanks to its Tiggo Pro SUV range, as Omoda and Jaecoo’s (O&J) figures are counted separately.
For those unaware, O&J are part of the Chery Automotive Group and are seen as alternatives for people who would prefer something different to Chery’s Tiggo-badged SUVs, similar to the relationship between Lexus and Toyota, or Audi and VW.
However, Lexus’ sales are counted towards that of Toyota, as are Audi’s towards VW’s.
Another case is Stellantis, which actually represents seven different automakers including Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep, Opel, and Peugeot, all of which are grouped together in Naamsa’s report.
All of this is to say that Chery is doing very well for itself in South Africa, which can be chiefly attributed to one factor – price.
It will hardly come as a shock to motorists to learn that car prices have shot up over the last few years, and legacy brands are starting to lose their appeal as a result.
One such example is the VW Polo Vivo, which is meant to be tailored to our market in terms of affordability as a stripped-down version of the Polo, yet it goes for a minimum of R266,600 as of 2024.
Alternatively, buyers can pick up a Chery Tiggo 4 Pro SUV for R279,900 and get a more powerful engine, higher ground clearance, and a bigger boot, illustrating how Chinese manufacturers are offering a hard-to-beat value proposition in today’s cash-strapped environment.
Case in point, Standard Bank recently noted that despite an overall depressed new-car market during 2024, the number of cars of Chinese descent financed by the institution has consistently increased year-on-year since 2022.
Its data shows that the proportion of Chinese car brands financed rose from just over 6% in 2022 to 7.4% in the first half of 2024.
“Even though Chinese brands currently represent less than 10% of our retail sales, their upward trajectory is remarkable given the challenging market conditions,” said Derick De Vries, Head of Automotive Retail at Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance.
“These brands are clearly gaining significant traction, reflecting the broader global trend where Chinese vehicles are taking more market share, driven by competitive pricing and growing consumer confidence.”
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