September represented yet another strong month for South Africa’s used car market, with 33,824 used vehicles sold, improving on August’s 33,346, but notably, very few of these sales were from Chinese brands.
That is because legacy brands continue to dominate the used-vehicle market in South Africa, as bakkies like the Ford Ranger and Toyota Hilux, and passenger cars like VW’s Polo and Polo Vivo carry their manufacturers.
As a result, Toyota remained South Africa’s favourite used-car brand, with 6,146 sales, while VW claimed second place with 4,444 units sold, and Ford remained third with 3,300 sales.
These figures are courtesy of used-car marketplace AutoTrader, which kindly provided TopAuto with the sales figures for September’s best-selling Chinese cars to compare.
In total, the ten best-selling Chinese cars sold 1,615 units combined last month, which would be good enough to finish third as a single model, behind the 1,626 units of the Toyota Hilux, and ahead of the Vivo’s 1,247.
Unsurprisingly, South Africa’s favourite Chinese brands belong to either the Chery Group or GWM, with BAIC also in the mix.
The best-selling model last month was the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, which is also the best-selling new Chinese car, with 306 units sold, leaving it 232 units short of tenth place in the overall rankings.
These models sold for an average price of R245,763, were two years old, and had completed 37,029km during that time.
Hot on the Chery’s heels was the GWM Haval Jolion, with 292 units sold, at an average price of R289,032, despite being a year older and having 47,024km on the clock.
Chery’s sub-brand Omoda rounded off the podium, thanks to 155 sales of the C5. This model sold for an average of R330,918 since most units were only about a year old and had only done around 12,865km in that time.
The average model in the top ten best-selling used Chinese cars sold for R324,884, had a mileage of 33,935km, and was slightly over two years old.
South Africa’s favourite used Chinese cars
The list of best-selling used Chinese cars in South Africa closely mirrors the best-selling new cars list, with a few changes here and there.
Below is a list of the 10 best-selling pre-owned Chinese cars in South Africa in September 2026, according to AutoTrader.
1. Chery Tiggo 4 Pro – 306 units
- Average price – R245,763
- Average mileage – 37,029km
- Average age – 2 years
2. Haval Jolion – 292 units
- Average price – R289,032
- Average mileage – 47,024km
- Average age – 3 years
3. Omoda C5 – 155 units
- Average price – R330,918
- Average mileage – 12,865km
- Average age – 1 year
4. GWM P-Series – 151 units
- Average price – R356,806
- Average mileage – 82,002km
- Average age – 4 years
5. Haval H6 – 147 units
- Average price – R384,271
- Average mileage – 44,733km
- Average age – 3 years
6. Chery Tiggo Cross – 146 units
- Average price – R325,095
- Average mileage – 3,060km
- Average age – 1 year
7. Haval Jolion Pro – 127 units
- Average price – R388,902
- Average mileage – 10,010km
- Average age – 1 year
8. Chery Tiggo 7 Pro – 115 units
- Average price – R336,636
- Average mileage – 41,507km
- Average age – 3 years
9. Jetour Dashing – 89 units
- Average price – R399,117
- Average mileage – 8,088km
- Average age – 1 year
10. BAIC Beijing X55 – 87 units
- Average price – R371,728
- Average mileage – 18,163km
- Average age – 2 years
Loading ...
Conversation
3 commentsI want to see how the influx of Chinese vehicles are going to last in SA. Various friends have Chery and Haval vehicles that is about 6 months old. They can even get small parts for it as the Chinese have updated the electronics. Some friends can’t find technicians to work on it. 2 BAIC dealership have closed near me and now the owners got to drive in excess of 60km as the other Chinese do not want to touch it and it would invalidate the warranty. Even the ORA 3 you can’t resell as it has dropped it its value so far.
And then this article from Wendy Knowler
South Africa has been swamped with vehicle safety recalls, with more than 50 instances recorded just this year.
These usually affect legacy brands – established big names like Volkswagen, Toyota and Ford, for instance.
But, considering the influx of Chinese models which now make up more than 19% of our new vehicle sales, why are these largely absent from the list?
As Wendy Knowler points out, just one Chinese-owned brand appears in the recall notices issued by the National Consumer Commission (NCC) in 2026.
But, according to NCC records, the problem with the driver’s seat of the MG3 – produced by SAIC Motor in China – emerged during Euro NCAP testing.
As consumers, the way we are alerted to recalls is through the NCC, which has strict guidelines requiring carmakers to notify the regulator in writing.
A common misconception is that a recall indicates something wrong with a brand, when in fact it shows our checks and balances are working for the consumer.
“It doesn’t necessarily mean that the legacy brands are more problematic than the Chinese brands. Recalls are normal in all markets; they’re not a scandalous thing. It’s actually the sign of consumer protection working as it should.”
Digging a little deeper to find the reasons for the absence of Chinese carmakers in local notices, Knowler found that some brands aren’t reporting their recalls to the NCC as they do in other markets.
She cites the example of Chery, one of the biggest Chinese players in the South African market.