BMW and Mercedes under siege in South Africa
Naamsa’s latest vehicle sales data shows that the rise of Chinese vehicles in South Africa is continuing unabated as consumers turn away from premium and luxury vehicles like BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
The group’s latest data for October 2024 shows that Chinese car brand, Great Wall Motors (GWM) is outselling 18 different brands in South Africa, many of which have been on the market for far longer.
GWM owns five brands—Haval, WEY, ORA, TANK and GWM Pickup—with Haval in particular gaining traction in South Africa.
GWM is now a consistent top 10 best-selling brand in South Africa alongside another Chinese carmaker, Chery.
These were the top-selling brands in South Africa in October, according to Naamsa.
- Toyota – 11,891 units
- VW – 6,340 units
- Suzuki – 6,006 units
- Ford – 2,965 units
- Hyundai – 2,913 units
- Isuzu – 2,251 units
- Chery – 1,831 units
- GWM – 1,796 units
- Renault – 1,734 units
- Kia – 1,508 units
- Mahindra – 1,421 units
- Nissan – 1,304 units
- BMW – 1,007 units
- Omoda & Jaecoo – 605 units
- Mercedes-Benz – 474 units
- Stellantis – 402 units
- Mazda – 239 units
- BAIC – 227 units
- Honda – 217 units
- JAC – 193 units
- Mitsubishi – 192 units
- Porsche – 104 units
- Jaguar Land Rover – 82 units
- Subaru – 65 units
- Proton – 54 units
- Volvo – 47 units
While Chinese car brand climb the rankings, more premium brands are dropping off. Data shows that longer-term views show that big brands like Merc and BMW have dropped off the top 10 in South Africa completely.
In October, BMW ranked 13th, and Merc ranked 15th.
Standard Bank has noted a similar trend, in that finance arrangements for Chinese cars have consistently increased since 2022 despite an overall depression in new-car sales.
“Even though Chinese brands currently represent less than 10% of our retail sales, their upward trajectory is remarkable given the challenging market conditions,” said Derick De Vries, Head of Automotive Retail at Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance.
“These brands are clearly gaining significant traction, reflecting the broader global trend where Chinese vehicles are taking more market share, driven by competitive pricing and growing consumer confidence.”
And the trend is set to continue.
According to one of South Africa’s largest automotive companies, Combined Motor Holdings (CMH)—a primary distributor of Haval, Suzuki and Chery—vehicle imports from India and China already make up 50% of all vehicles the company imports.
It expects that over 25% of the new car markets to be taken up by Chinese brands in 2025.
The primary driver behind the rise of Chinese vehicles in South Africa is that they are more affordable.
This is a crucial consideration when understood in the context that the vehicle prices in South Africa have far outstripped inflation over the past 30 years, making the chances of being able to afford a ‘premium’ vehicle in 2024 an unattainable luxury to most.
Analysis by BusinessTech showed that a middle market vehicle in South Africa is now R150,000 more than it was in 1994, when adjusted for inflation – reflecting a nearly 750% increase in pricing over the decades.
Even over the last 10 years, the price of a Mercedes-Benz has increased by 131% – while salaries have barely kept up with inflation, meaning these premium vehicles are more unaffordable than ever.
Analysis from Lightstone Auto earlier in the year noted that as affordable cars become more feature-rich and safe as a baseline, the appeal of premium vehicles—outside their prestige—loses its lustre.
The group added that consumers have clearly been forced to adapt to the changing economic landscape in the country over the past few years, which has kept vehicle sales down.
Many have responded to this by pricing down when buying vehicles. While 2024 represents the start of a potential turning point here—with interest rates easing and disposable income showing a positive turn—data from Old Mutual shows that a significant portion of households (12%) are still pricing down in vehicles.
On top of this—a broad negative for the new vehicle market overall—is that households are also choosing to keep and maintain their big purchases for longer, instead of buying new, or even second hand.
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