The South African dealer that bet big on Chinese car brands and won

The Super Group, a logistics and mobility solutions company headquartered in South Africa, has a network of 66 dealerships across several provinces, and is now benefiting from introducing Chinese brands early.

While the group calls South Africa home, it is present in twelve countries across sub-Saharan Africa, the United Kingdom and Europe.

This week, Super Group reported a strong financial performance for the six months ended 31 December 2025, including a 7.0% increase in revenue from continuing operations, rising to R22.68 billion.

The group’s earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 5.9% to R1.96 billion, while its operating profit increased by 8.7% to R1.10 billion. 

Super Group CEO, Peter Mountford, credited local growth for the group’s increased performance.

“Strong growth in the South African supply chain and dealership operations underpinned the Group’s performance,” he said.

“Reinforcing the resilience of a diversified business model and our capacity to adapt despite continued global uncertainty.”

The group also saw its local industrial and consumer-focused supply chain businesses deliver good results, as did its South African commodity businesses, with steady coal transport demand and improved trading profitability.

“The cross-border transport business made meaningful progress, delivering a 90% reduction in trading losses through route optimisation, tighter cost control and a notable easing of operational bottlenecks at South African ports,” explained Mountford

Super Group’s spanish distribution business, Ader, delivered a strong performance as well, which Mountford attributed to a strong demand across the home delivery, commercial and logistics customer segments.

Local dealerships leading the way

One key area where the Super Group recorded stellar performance over the second-half of 2025, is in its local dealership network, which significantly outperformed the broader market.

Mountford attributed this success to the early introduction of emerging brands, which have gained considerable market share in South Africa in recent years.

“Strong growth in both new and used vehicle sales reflects the benefits of our diversified brand portfolio and early investment in emerging Chinese and Indian brands,” he noted.

The group saw the its sales figures of emerging Chinese and Indian car brands increase by 102.0%, which means they now account for nearly 30% of the Super Group’s total new vehicle sales. 

It is not only locally that the Super Group saw Chinese brands bolster their performance, as in the UK, dealerships delivered an improved performance from continuing operations with EBITDA increasing by 8.4%.

New vehicle sales also increased by 40.5%, outperforming the national market growth of 3.4% throughout the six months, driven by sales from Ford, Omoda, Jaecoo and the addition of three Chery-branded outlets.

During the period, the group added three local Geely dealerships, two Tata Motors and Mahindra dealerships, as well as one GWM and one Ford dealership.

Additionally, Super Group announced the imminent opening of a Lepas dealership in Boksburg, marking a new chapter for the brand and the group.

Super Group is expecting to build on this performance with improved earnings from continuing operations for the financial year ending June 2026.

“With improved capital allocation and reduced financial leverage, Super Group is well positioned to pursue high-growth opportunities and respond effectively to macroeconomic volatility,” concluded Mountford.