A vehicle dealer in the rural town of Aliwal North, Eastern Cape, has decided to part ways with Ford after 28 years and hitch its wagon to Chinese automaker Foton.
This due to Ford’s products gradually moving upmarket and becoming out of reach of the area’s residents.
Likewise, the costs required to keep the dealership specifications in line with Ford’s requirements have become too high.
“In our last meeting with Ford, we came to a mutual understanding that the Ford product is not viable for this area since Ford is moving to become a premium brand,” dealer principal Heinrich Schoeman told industry news publication Dealerfloor.
“Economic pressure and costs to keep the required dealership specifications are the main contributors that led to this decision.”
Unfortunately, the rebranding has also resulted in five Aliwal Ford employees being let go.
The near three-decade partnership between Aliwal Auto and the Blue Oval is coming to an end in May, with the parties splitting ways in “good spirit,” emphasised Schoeman.
“Our goal is to ensure that this transition is as seamless as possible,” said Schoeman.
“We look forward to presenting customers with more information in the coming weeks regarding our new franchise and its offerings.”
At present, the Aliwal Ford website already redirects consumers to the Foton South Africa home page, and it’s marketing Foton products on its social media platforms.
The Ford outlet closure comes amidst a raft of dealer shutdowns by well-established automakers as new brands from China continue to gain market share.
Audi and Volvo in recent months announced that they would be restructuring their local dealer networks for various reasons, from a severely depreciating rand to an increased focus on electric mobility.
Meanwhile, TopAuto discovered in March that BMW closed nine dealers between 2015 and 2024 as it witnessed a 50% decline in sales for the period.
TopAuto reached out to Ford South Africa (FMCSA) to enquire whether the Aliwal rebranding is an isolated incident or indicative of a wider trend, and it neither confirmed nor denied which it was.
“FMCSA is continuously assessing its footprint in Southern Africa against various influences, including the economy and ongoing changes in the industry,” the company said.
“FMCSA will always aim to ensure sufficient coverage for our customers; our customers are our number one priority and we are always working to minimise any inconvenience that may be caused through dealership closures.”
Who is Foton?
Foton re-entered the domestic bakkie market in June 2024 with the new Tunland G7 and big plans for growth in Africa.
The Chinese nameplate views Mzansi as a “lighthouse market” that will function as a foothold from which it can expand into the rest of the continent.
To that end, it plans to start producing the Tunland G7 at a factory in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape, which currently assembles the BAIC Beijing X55 crossover.
BAIC – short for Beijing Automotive Industry Corporation – is the parent company of Foton and the first Chinese manufacturer to establish a factory within our borders.
As we speak, BAIC is expanding its manufacturing plant, adding new production lines and other subassemblies in preparation for the bakkie.
If nothing has changed in its planning thus far, Foton intends to start building the Tunland G7 in South Africa by 2026.
The vision is to produce the Tunland on domestic soil for the entire African market with plans in place to grow output to as many as 100,000 units a year.
While things were somewhat slow to get off the ground for Foton after it came back to South Africa last year, it seems to have picked up in recent times as consumers continue to seek more value for their money.
The Tunland G7 cracked into the country’s top 10 best-selling bakkies list for the first time in February 2025, landing in ninth, and it managed to repeat this achievement in March.
Building on this momentum, Foton intends to expand its local offerings with the rollout of the Tunland G9 and V9; both larger, more powerful, and more luxurious than the G7 already on sale here.
By 2028, Foton aims to achieve 18,000 annual sales in South Africa, and by 2032 it wants to hit 40,000.
For Africa as a whole, Foton is eyeing an aggregate of 40,000 registrations by 2026, 60,000 by 2028, 80,000 by 2029, and 100,000 by 2030.
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