Chery and Haval are in a fierce battle for South Africa’s best-selling Chinese automaker.
Both have been in the country since 2007, but there is one important distinction; since its entry 17 years ago, Haval has been active in South Africa continuously, whereas Chery exited the market in 2018 and relaunched as a wholly-owned subsidiary in late 2021 with far more technically-advanced products than before.
Haval has therefore earned the trust of tens of thousands of motorists with its unbroken streak and a consistent barrage of new brands and vehicles, while Chery left its early backers high and dry and must now spend time rebuilding the burnt bridges it left six years ago.
As such, it was somewhat foreseeable that Haval would trump Chery in 2023’s sales charts, but what was slightly surprising was how close the former’s 19,904 sales were to the latter’s 16,319.
During the 12 months, Haval averaged a monthly tally of 1,659 units and Chery a lower 1,360 units, with the closest they came to one another being in November when Haval sold a mere 55 units more than its competitor.
You can see a detailed breakdown of the two manufacturers’ monthly performances in the below table:
| Month | Chery | Haval |
|---|---|---|
| January | 1,327 units | 1,565 units |
| February | 1,381 units | 1,538 units |
| March | 1,502 units | 2,002 units |
| April | 1,179 units | 1,367 units |
| May | 1,211 units | 1,877 units |
| June | 1,402 units | 1,749 units |
| July | 1,375 units | 2,030 units |
| August | 1,498 units | 1,819 units |
| September | 1,240 units | 1,532 units |
| October | 1,302 units | 1,389 units |
| November | 1,501 units | 1,556 units |
| December | 1,401 units | 1,480 units |
| Total | 16,319 units | 19,904 units |
A clean slate
This upcoming year is set to be more competitive than any that came before it for the two Chinese rivals.
Haval’s parent company Great Wall Motors (GWM) has had plenty of time to build up its South African portfolio to appeal to a wide variety of buyers while Chery was absent, and it now has a total of five individual model ranges on offer across the GWM, Haval, and Ora sub-brands comprising bakkies, crossover/SUVs, and an electric hatchback.
In 2024, the Asian manufacturer will continue expanding its catalogue and it has thus far divulged that we can expect to see the arrival of the new Tank 300 and Tank 500 SUVs, a hybrid variant of the P-Series bakkie, as well as the all-new Shanhai Cannon premium double cab.
GWM Tank 300
In comparison, Chery and its subsidiary Omoda only have four vehicles to peruse at present all falling into the crossover/SUV segment, making for a decidedly less diverse offering.
However, it has chosen 2024 to conduct a major model offensive into the domestic market and announced that it has no fewer than six new rides in the pipeline for this year.
From Chery, fans can expect plug-in hybrid derivatives of the popular Tiggo 7 Pro and Tiggo 8 Pro that offer close to 1,000km of range on a single tank.
No specific launch dates were furnished for these new-energy SUVs, but the organisation’s Deputy Executive General Manager, Tony Liu, said they will be available within our borders before the calendar clicks over to 2025.
Jaecoo J7
Omoda, on the other hand, will rock the boat with the introduction of the premium C9 and electric E5 in the first and second quarters of 2024, respectively.
Among the newcomers will also be Jaecoo, another Chery sub-brand focused on luxury-rugged SUVs.
Jaecoo is shipping the J7 to local roads in “early 2024”, after which the higher-end J8 is planned to make landfall in the final quarter, the company said.
With such a wide variety of models on their way, Chery is sure to reach the radar of far more car buyers in 2024 than in times past.
As such, it is shaping up to be a combative year for the Chinese powerhouses and it will be interesting to see which one comes out on top when we revisit their annual sales figures in 12 months’ time.
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