South Africa’s largest car dealer slashes jobs as Chinese pressure mounts
The automotive retailer giant Motus has laid off 86 employees due to ongoing industry pressures.
Additionally, 579 employees are being impacted by remuneration and benefit changes that were implemented on 1 January 2026.
This is according to an official statement by the Motor Industry Staff Association (MISA), which is the majority trade union in South Africa’s retail motor industry with more than 75,000 members.
The job cuts took place on 30 December, and MISA noted that this was one of the largest retrenchments it was involved with in 2025.
The association cited the influx of Chinese car brands as a leading factor in these retrenchments, resulting in severe pressure and competition for legacy dealerships and manufacturers.
“The automotive giant [Motus] announced a restructuring process in terms of Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act on 9 October after reporting a 1% decline in revenue to R112.60 billion in the year ended 30 June. Its operating profit also dropped slightly to R5.48 billion,” said MISA.
The JSE-listed company contributed its reduced revenue to lower contributions from new vehicle sales of R3.33 billion (6%), primarily in the group’s international operations.
“MISA worked tirelessly with members and the employer’s representatives to save jobs and to resist unreasonable reductions to remuneration and the removal of long-standing benefits,” it said.
“Initially up to 900 employees facing remuneration and benefit realignment. MISA’s sustained engagement significantly reduced the impact.”
The association said it remains deeply concerned about the proposed reductions of up to 30% cost to company.
“MISA did not sign an agreement at the conclusion of the final facilitation session and continues to assess the reasonableness and fairness of the implemented changes.”
“Our commitment remains firm: to support affected members and to pursue all lawful avenues to protect their interests during this challenging transition,” said Martlé Keyter, MISA’s Chief Executive Officer.
Chinese car brands flooding the market
The last two years have seen the rapid introduction of several new Chinese car brands in South Africa.
The list of Chinese automakers operating within our borders now includes:
- BAIC
- BYD
- Changan
- Chery
- Dayun
- Deepal
- Dongfeng
- Foton
- GAC
- Geely
- GWM
- Haval
- JAC
- JMC
- Jaecoo
- Jetour
- LDV
- Leapmotor
- Maxus
- MG
- Omoda
At least four more will join this list in 2026, namely iCaur, Lepas, Riddara, and Denza.
These marques now represent roughly a third of all manufacturers in South Africa, putting significant pressure on legacy names like Toyota, VW, Ford, and Hyundai.
While companies like BMW and Volvo have closed some of their dealerships over the past few years, carmakers like Jetour are rapidly expanding their presence by opening dozens of new outlets.
The success of these brands can be attributed to their attractive value-for-money sales pitch, as most Chinese cars tend to be considerably cheaper than their legacy rivals while offering more powerful engines and extensive feature lists.
This pressure is being felt in both the new and used-car markets, as Lightstone previously noted that consumers can now buy a brand-new Chinese SUV for a similar price to something like a pre-owned VW Polo.
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