South Africa’s automotive industry imported over R15 billion more goods from Germany in 2023 than the year prior, an increase of 24%, solidifying the European economy’s status as the number one importer of vehicles and automotive components to the domestic market.
In fact, Germany is such a popular country of origin for vehicles on local roads that it totaled nearly double the amount of imports than second place, which was Thailand, at R78 billion vs R39.39 billion.
Germany wasn’t the only benefactor of increased trade with South Africa last year, however, as there were several countries that doubled the amount of vehicles and car parts they shipped to our shores, as per Naamsa’s latest Automotive Trade Manual.
These included Singapore, Chile, and Saudi Arabia, which saw their import values jump from R111 million, R13 million, and R7 million in 2022, respectively, to a staggering R261 million, R48 million, and R25 million in 2023.
Perhaps more noteworthy, Macedonia went from zero imports in 2022 to R84 million last year, as did Serbia, which increased from zero to R41 million.
The following table reveals the import values and rankings for the 62 countries of origin for vehicles and automotive component imports into South Africa in 2023, above the R20-million threshold:
| Country | Automotive import value 2023 |
|---|---|
| Germany | R78 billion |
| Thailand | R39.39 billion |
| China | R34.57 billion |
| India | R31.16 billion |
| Japan | R25.90 billion |
| USA | R23.81 billion |
| Spain | R11.81 billion |
| UK | R7.58 billion |
| Czech Republic | R5.95 billion |
| Poland | R5.63 billion |
| Austria | R5.53 billion |
| Sweden | R5.32 billion |
| Brazil | R5.15 billion |
| Mexico | R5.12 billion |
| Italy | R4.54 billion |
| South Korea | R4.46 billion |
| Slovak Republic | R3.77 billion |
| Romania | R3.56 billion |
| Hungary | R3.43 billion |
| Turkey | R3.29 billion |
| Portugal | R3.06 billion |
| France | R3.02 billion |
| Botswana | R2.43 billion |
| Netherlands | R1.57 billion |
| Belgium | R1.45 billion |
| Taiwan | R1.24 billion |
| Indonesia | R1.20 billion |
| Philippines | R1.14 billion |
| Malaysia | R1.12 billion |
| Argentina | R805 million |
| Vietnam Republic | R763 million |
| Slovenia | R655 million |
| Finland | R502 million |
| Switzerland | R432 million |
| Australia | R398 million |
| Canada | R355 million |
| United Arab Emirates | R338 million |
| Denmark | R284 million |
| Morocco | R282 million |
| Singapore | R261 million |
| Bulgaria | R232 million |
| Tunisia | R179 million |
| Israel | R161 million |
| Luxembourg | R133 million |
| Croatia | R131 million |
| Ireland | R92 million |
| Macedonia | R84 million |
| Ukraine | R71 million |
| Hong Kong | R53 million |
| Chile | R48 million |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | R42 million |
| Malta | R42 million |
| Serbia | R41 million |
| Lithuania | R38 million |
| Norway | R37 million |
| Latvia | R33 million |
| Colombia | R32 million |
| Estonia | R26 million |
| Saudi Arabia | R25 million |
| New Zealand | R23 million |
| Zambia | R21 million |
| Egypt | R20 million |
What’s popular
The most popular German brands in South Africa are VW, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, Mini, and Porsche – in that order.
The most recent sales figures provided by Naamsa indicate that while three of these automakers produce vehicles locally, several of them
For VW, its most popular imports comprise the T-Cross, Tiguan, and Taigo SUVs.
Meanwhile, BMW’s star performers – excluding the locally-made X3 – are the 3 Series, X1, and 2 Series.
Audi’s main moneymakers encompass the Q5, Q2, and Q3 SUVs; and Mini’s are the Countryman, Cooper, and Clubman.
Porsche and Mercedes do not disclose their model-specific sales numbers to the public, however, the former previously said that the Cayenne and Macan are its best-sellers in the local market.
Going from what we’ve learnt above, it’s safe to assume that Mercedes’ star players are also its SUVs, most likely the GLC, GLA, and GLE.
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