{"id":841235,"date":"2025-11-07T16:34:41","date_gmt":"2025-11-07T14:34:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=841235"},"modified":"2025-11-07T16:34:47","modified_gmt":"2025-11-07T14:34:47","slug":"major-international-car-brand-wants-to-build-a-factory-in-south-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/motoring\/841235\/major-international-car-brand-wants-to-build-a-factory-in-south-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Major international car brand wants to build a factory in South Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Chinese car giant Chery is exploring plans to establish a vehicle assembly plant in South Africa, which would create jobs and give a major boost to the country\u2019s automotive manufacturing sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company, which also owns the Omoda and Jaecoo sister brands, said it is conducting feasibility studies on local production as it looks to deepen its roots in a market that has quickly warmed to Chinese cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re currently conducting feasibility studies in South Africa, which remains a key focus for both Omoda and Jaecoo,\u201d the company said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe country plays an important role in our broader global strategy, and we\u2019re carefully assessing opportunities to expand our presence and meet the growing local demand.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes as South Africa\u2019s car market has seen a surge in demand for Chinese brands, with Omoda and Jaecoo expected to sell more than 11,000 vehicles in the country this year alone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Globally, Chinese automakers have been expanding their manufacturing footprints beyond their borders, in part to cushion themselves from possible trade barriers or tariffs on vehicle exports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of this month, Tony Lui, the CEO of Chery South Africa, told Reuters that the company is in discussions with several existing original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the country about potential partnerships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are in discussions with several existing OEMs,\u201d Lui said on the sidelines of an automotive conference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the options under consideration are a joint venture with a local manufacturer, building a new \u201cgreenfield\u201d facility from scratch, or using another company\u2019s existing production site.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One possibility being explored is setting up a complete knocked down (CKD) operation, which is a common approach in the automotive industry where vehicles are assembled locally from imported parts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lui added that Chery\u2019s initial production focus would likely be the Tiggo 4 compact SUV for the local market, followed by exports to the rest of Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Massive growth in South Africa <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The company also plans to bring in some of its Chinese suppliers to help meet South Africa\u2019s local content requirements. \u201cWe are interested in the long-term investment in South Africa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chery\u2019s potential manufacturing entry coincides with South Africa\u2019s broader ambitions to expand its automotive sector. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country\u2014already the largest car producer in Africa\u2014launched an Automotive Masterplan in 2021, which aims to increase annual production from around 600,000 vehicles to 1.4 million by 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There has also been speculation about whether Mercedes-Benz might allow another automaker to share its East London plant. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Outgoing Mercedes-Benz CEO Andreas Brand declined to comment directly but noted that the site had historically produced vehicles for different brands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past, it was reality, and there is technically no reason not to tap into that again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chery\u2019s renewed interest in local production represents a dramatic turnaround from its first attempt in South Africa two decades ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brand initially entered the market in the 2000s but withdrew after struggling to overcome consumer scepticism about Chinese-made vehicles. That perception has since changed significantly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Chery re-entered the market in November 2021 with the Tiggo 4 Pro crossover, it quickly gained traction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The company followed with the Tiggo 8 Pro and Tiggo 7 Pro in early 2022, and within 18 months had sold more than 5,300 SUVs locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sales continued to surge with the addition of the Tiggo 4 Pro LiT and the Pro Max range, doubling year-on-year from 8,013 units in 2022 to 16,110 in 2023 (a 101% increase).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That momentum carried into 2024 with the introduction of the Tiggo Cross in October, further strengthening Chery\u2019s compact SUV lineup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chery closed the year with 19,971 vehicles sold, representing nearly 24% growth from the previous year\u2014and a remarkable 1,440% increase from the 1,297 vehicles it sold in 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Chinese car giant has doubled down on its plans to establish a vehicle assembly plant in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":841239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11119],"tags":[10479,853],"class_list":["post-841235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-motoring","tag-chery","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841235","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/92"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=841235"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841235\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":841243,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/841235\/revisions\/841243"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/841239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=841235"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=841235"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=841235"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}