End of a 17-month winning streak for popular Chinese car brand in South Africa

Since entering the South African market, Chery’s most popular sub-brand, Jetour, recorded 17 months of uninterrupted growth, with the trend bucking last month.

Initially launching in the local market late in 2024 with two family SUVs, the Dashing and the X70 Plus, Jetour grew rapidly and is now one of the top 10 best-selling automakers in the country.

A few months after the brand’s introduction, in January 2025, Jetour started reporting its sales figures to the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa), opening its account with 451 units sold.

The Chinese SUV maker saw its sales figures grow steadily from the start, with only a 1.1% increase at first, improving to between 5 and 10% month-on-month from April to October 2025.

In November that year, Jetour recorded a mammoth 44.3% month-on-month improvement, with sales jumping from 856 to 1,235 units.

Of course, this is the month the T1 and T2 hit showroom floors across South Africa, propelling the Chinese brand up the local sales rankings, thanks to their immediate popularity.

Jetour’s sales continued to grow each month, and the brand sold 2,000 vehicles in a month for the first time in May 2026, shipping 2,020 models, before hitting a record 2,054 units in June.

The 1.7% monthly increase between May and June was its slowest growth since February 2025, signalling a potential plateau for Jetour, as this slowed growth was followed by its first-ever contraction of 0.97%.

Despite this nearly negligible sales dip, the Chinese carmaker defended its baseline, staying above 2,000 local sales for three consecutive months, thanks to the 2,034 models sold last month.

Regardless of its run ending, Jetour’s 17-month uninterrupted streak of sales growth represents a remarkable achievement.

During this time, the relative newcomer managed to overtake some of the biggest names in the local market, including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Renault and Mahindra.

Chery’s commitment to Jetour’s local growth shows no signs of slowing, as the auto giant plans to introduce a bakkie in the local market next year, which could see it climb the rankings even more.

South Africa’s first Chinese Car of the Year winner

At the end of May, coinciding with Jetour’s sales crossing the 2,000-unit mark, the T2 was named the South African Guild of Mobility Journalists (SAGMJ) Car of the Year, the first Chinese vehicle to do so.

All winners were selected through an intensive, several-month process by a jury of more than 25 experienced automotive journalists.

The initial group of 55 qualifying vehicles competed across six categories – Compact, Family, Mild Adventure, Adventure, Premium, and Performance – and were trimmed to 30 semi-finalists in January 2026.

Shortly after, another 12 were eliminated, leaving 18 finalists to be subjected to a three-day evaluation process at Zwartkops Raceway in Gauteng.

Lightstone Auto, the official data partner to the South African Car of the Year competition, provided market intelligence for the scoring process and insight into how the winners were selected.

“Following the jury’s physical evaluations, its data – including segment sales volumes and specification-adjusted competitor pricing – is used to determine segment weighting and to assess each finalist’s value relative to direct rivals,” it said.

“This complements the jury’s assessments by adding objective market context and uniting the competition with a leading provider of independent automotive intelligence.”

When the winners were announced, the Jetour T2 claimed more than just the Car of the Year title, taking home the crown in the Mild Adventure category as well.

“Combining rugged design, luxury and advanced technology, the adventure-focused SUV outperformed the Hyundai Santa Fe, a mid-size hybrid SUV with futuristic styling, as well as two Chinese rivals, the BYD Shark 6 plug-in hybrid bakkie and the GWM Haval H7 hybrid SUV, to secure the category win,” explained the SAGMJ.