Motorists were recently hit with the news that several American car brands are making their way to South Africa thanks to the work of a local importer.
This includes badges like Dodge, Chevrolet, GMC, and Hummer – none of which are officially available here.
While this is certainly a big announcement for petrolheads who dream of owning an American pickup or muscle car, the fact remains that these brands are not entering South Africa in a formal capacity, which is likely to be a deterrent to some consumers.
It therefore raises the question of what happened to many of these brands, as there are only two American manufacturers left in South Africa.
Ford has been here for more than a century and is still doing very well today thanks to the ever-popular Ranger bakkie, which is produced locally at the company’s factory in Pretoria.
The other company is Jeep, which is a fairly niche brand in South Africa that offers 4x4s like the Wrangler, Gladiator, and Grand Cherokee.
Four more American brands used to operate here, namely Cadillac, Chevrolet, Dodge and Chrysler, but they all left our market for one reason or another within the last 15 years.
Cadillac – 2010
Cadillac was the first casualty in the American automaker exodus, closing its doors in 2010.
The reason for its exit was relatively straightforward, as its parent company – General Motors – decided to cut its losses and refocus its efforts on more profitable markets.
Cadillac is best known for its powerful, upmarket saloons, which meant it needed to compete against local favourites like BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi, and even Jaguar to a lesser extent.
The brand’s main advantage was that its cars were considerably cheaper than the competition, as you could purchase a CTS for considerably less than something like a BMW 5 Series.
Even so, the brand failed to make an impression, which led to GM’s decision to pull Cadillac from South Africa.
Chevrolet – 2017
Chevrolet is another brand that pulled out of South Africa due to low sales, though the story behind it is a little more complicated.
Like many American badges, Chevrolet had built its reputation on flashy models like the 4100, which were very popular with South African motorists back in the day.
However, the company changed its approach in the 2000s, focusing on mass-market affordable options like the Spark hatchback.
While this tactic was understandable, given the economic context of South Africa, it meant Chevrolet was now competing with titans like Toyota and VW.
The resulting low sales meant that GM, Chevrolet’s parent company, ultimately pulled the plug on its local operation, citing a lack of return on investment.
Instead, the brand chose to prioritise markets in America and China, and GM sold its Eastern Cape factory to Isuzu in 2017.
Isuzu then took over after-sale support for the country’s remaining Chevrolet models in 2018.
Dodge and Chrysler – 2017
The last two companies are Dodge and Chrysler, both of which are owned by Fiat Chrysler.
In 2017, the parent company elected to cease the production of Dodge and Chrysler models for right-hand-drive markets, bringing their time in South Africa to an end.
Sales continued for the brands until stock was depleted, and after-sales support was continued at Fiat dealerships.
An interesting development since then is that Fiat Chrysler merged with the French PSA Group in 2021 to form Stellantis, which is now one of the world’s largest carmakers.
While Dodge and Chrysler are no longer available, Stellantis maintains a presence in South Africa through eight different nameplates – Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, Opel, and Peugeot.
With this in mind, it’s fair to say that Dodge and Chrysler probably have the best chance of re-entering our market at some point, should Stellantis decide to bring them over.
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