For the longest time, GWM has been South Africa’s best-selling Chinese car brand, overtaking most of the country’s major players and establishing itself as a consistent top-ten contender, but it has officially lost its crown to rival Chery.
The first 1,500 GWM units arrived on our shores in 2007, seventeen years after the brand was established in China. These were mostly Steed predecessor single-cab bakkies.
Since then, the brand has consistently introduced new offerings in South Africa, and in 2017, the company changed its name to Haval Motors South Africa with GWM, consolidating the brands under one umbrella.
Another major turning point for the brand came in December 2020, when it introduced the incredibly popular P-Series bakkie, which has since become one of South Africa’s favourites.
Last year, GWM celebrated its 18th birthday and, to date, has introduced its entire model range in the local market, including Haval, Ora, and Tank.
Under the GWM badge, these brands made it the country’s 6th biggest carmaker, according to sales data from the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa), a position it held until this year.
In January, the Chinese auto giant sold 2,521 units, beating its closest rival Chery by 263 units, and followed this success with two further months of triple-digit margin victories.
However, by April, its lead slipped into double digits to only 23, followed by a 36-unit lead in May, and a slender 6-unit lead a month later.
Last month, Chery officially overtook the long-time leader, outselling GWM by 205 units and reaching 2,709 units, stealing 6th place in the local sales standings.
Much of this success boils down to the popularity of the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, which regularly ranks as the country’s favourite Chinese model, beating GWM’s most popular model, the Haval Jolion, every month.
Chery is already South Africa’s second-biggest car brand
Taking all of Chery’s sub-brands that report independently of their parent company, the Wuhu-based Chery Group is already South Africa’s second-biggest car brand, second only to Toyota.
Including Omoda & Jaecoo and Jetour sales, the Chery Group sold 6,245 units in July. Chery sold 2,709 units, while Jetour sold 2,034, and Omoda and Jaecoo sold a combined 1,502 units.
This adds up to significantly more than the 5,994 vehicles the second-best-selling car brand in South Africa, Suzuki, sold last month.
This is also before adding Lepas and iCAUR sales, with these only launched a few months ago and having yet to begin reporting their sales to Naamsa.
While these two brands will no doubt add to this the Chery Group’s total once they do start reporting their sales, the Chinese auto giant still has some ways to go before it can challenge Toyota’s dominance in the South African market.
Commenting on the group’s performance so far this year, Chery South Africa General Manager Jay Jay Botes explained that its showing in July and the first half of the year highlight its gains in a growing market.
“Our sales have increased year on year in every month of 2026 so far, supported by consistent demand across the SUV range,” he said.
According to Chery, its petrol models continue to account for most of its sales, but it has introduced several hybrid and plug-in hybrid derivatives, including the Tiggo Cross CSH HEV and Tiggo 8 CSH PHEV.
“Our focus is on maintaining sustainable growth by offering products that meet a broad range of customer needs,” added Botes.
“This includes providing a choice of powertrains and supporting customers through our national dealer and aftersales network.”
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