FiestaST
Honorary Master
UK vid:
Why Chinese Cars Are Now EVERYWHERE! - Car Dealer Magazine
Why Chinese Cars Are Now EVERYWHERE! - Car Dealer Magazine
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Question of the Day: Are generic posters and flyers that are obviously AI-generated off-putting?
Chinese cars, are they as bad as everyone thinks?
- Thread starter ChrisThomas
- Start date
How are these "unknown" brands, Taun? They seem to be the biggest topic around.
PS - refer post previous to this...
Zellephant
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Well, they are uknown from a second hand resale value, becasue they have no track record. So buying something like that, with a balloon payment, and no gauranteed future value, is pure insanity.
No it's not. The warranties are class-leading in most instances, and I'm pretty sure there have been second-hand sales of the thousands of Chinese cars already sold over the past couple (few?) years.
Zellephant
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If that is true, why are people now suddenly complaining about their poor resale values, that in many cases isnt enough to cover the balloon payment.
Like I said, I wouldnt even buy a toyota with a balloon payment - so I have no sympathy for someone who bought a chinese car, with no idea of future value, with a massive balloon payment and now finds themselves in trouble.
Balloon payments are stupidity in any vehicle purchase, Taun.
But to claim its insanity, and only in respect of Chinese brands, is just prejudice shining through.
FiestaST
Honorary Master
You guys can your run "your own numbers".
I always advocate this:
I always advocate this:
Speedster
Honorary Master
There have been a few studies/articles about retention values of cars of late - the 2025 cars.co.za report springs to mind. While "Chinese cars" is a broad spectrum, the more established Chinese brands have performed favourably in those studies.
SauRoNZA
Honorary Master
Trade-in offer on my Haval H6 was R300k with just about 70k on the clock now and this in a completely filthy state spur of the moment with no effort to make it even look good on my part.
Which sounds bad if you consider I paid R450k for it 2 years ago, but then that 150k divided by time of ownership works out to about exactly what I was paying per month so you could effectively look at it as a rental.
And if I settle it at that I still have 50k back in my pocket.
Of course this was the bottom dollar dealer price, I’m sure if I actually washed it and sorted out some minors and took it to WeBuyCars it would likely get 50k more and then it doesn’t look so bad at all.
Had I been the new owner in 2022 then it would probably hurt a lot more but then I look at the Kia Picanto I had before this and that also lost well over half its value in about the same time so this all feels pretty normal to me.
I was of a mind to do a balloon payment for the Geely just for the GFW value but no matter how many different angles I had Claude look at it, conventional finance still wins out either which way.
Which sounds bad if you consider I paid R450k for it 2 years ago, but then that 150k divided by time of ownership works out to about exactly what I was paying per month so you could effectively look at it as a rental.
And if I settle it at that I still have 50k back in my pocket.
Of course this was the bottom dollar dealer price, I’m sure if I actually washed it and sorted out some minors and took it to WeBuyCars it would likely get 50k more and then it doesn’t look so bad at all.
Had I been the new owner in 2022 then it would probably hurt a lot more but then I look at the Kia Picanto I had before this and that also lost well over half its value in about the same time so this all feels pretty normal to me.
I was of a mind to do a balloon payment for the Geely just for the GFW value but no matter how many different angles I had Claude look at it, conventional finance still wins out either which way.
FiestaST
Honorary Master
FiestaST
Honorary Master
Mercedes-Benz cuts profit forecast as Chinese rivals put pressure on German carmakers
Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday became the third big German carmaker to cut its outlook for the year on tough conditions in China, underlining the scale of the crisis facing the industry.
Citing difficulties in China – the world's largest car market – as well as higher material costs, core profit for 2026 is now expected to be on a par with the prior year's 5.8 billion euros (R108 billion), the company said. It had previously foreseen an increase of at least 15 percent.
Profit margins at the core car business are now indicated at between two and three percent for the year, Mercedes-Benz said, down from the three to five percent previously.
Mercedes-Benz shares fell 4.2 percent after the cut. Volkswagen and BMW were both down a little over two percent.
BMW and Volkswagen have both already cut their guidance for the year as sluggish demand combined with cut-throat competition from Chinese local rivals such as BYD and Xiaomi have eaten into profits.
Mercedes-Benz's vehicle deliveries in China – last year already at their lowest level since 2016 – fell a further 29 percent in the nine months to end-September.
Being partially muscled out of China has led to painful adjustments for Germany's car industry, one of the country's largest employers.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius has urged German workers to work extra hours without pay at the same time as expanding the company's manufacturing footprint in Hungary, where he says costs are about 70 percent lower than in Germany.
iol.co.za
Mercedes-Benz on Tuesday became the third big German carmaker to cut its outlook for the year on tough conditions in China, underlining the scale of the crisis facing the industry.
Citing difficulties in China – the world's largest car market – as well as higher material costs, core profit for 2026 is now expected to be on a par with the prior year's 5.8 billion euros (R108 billion), the company said. It had previously foreseen an increase of at least 15 percent.
Profit margins at the core car business are now indicated at between two and three percent for the year, Mercedes-Benz said, down from the three to five percent previously.
Mercedes-Benz shares fell 4.2 percent after the cut. Volkswagen and BMW were both down a little over two percent.
BMW and Volkswagen have both already cut their guidance for the year as sluggish demand combined with cut-throat competition from Chinese local rivals such as BYD and Xiaomi have eaten into profits.
Mercedes-Benz's vehicle deliveries in China – last year already at their lowest level since 2016 – fell a further 29 percent in the nine months to end-September.
Being partially muscled out of China has led to painful adjustments for Germany's car industry, one of the country's largest employers.
Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kaellenius has urged German workers to work extra hours without pay at the same time as expanding the company's manufacturing footprint in Hungary, where he says costs are about 70 percent lower than in Germany.
Mercedes-Benz cuts profit forecast as Chinese rivals put pressure on German carmakers
Mercedes-Benz has lowered its 2026 profit forecast as weak Chinese demand and rising material costs squeeze earnings, following similar outlook cuts by Volkswagen and BMW amid intensifying competition.
L-Dog
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A mate was in south of Spain last year and he says its not just SA you see chinese cars everywhere. The value propositions is there and its good to see some of the South Korea stepping up their game.... Japenese and European makers will be left behind unless they start uping their game asap, it has been coming but still way to slow.
I see Changan is now offering 64% guaranteed future value (4 years and think its 20k a year) which is a decent deal if you want to test out a Chinese car without lossing half its value in the first 2 years.
Zellephant
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Why oh why the massive tablet protruding out of the dash!!! I know it’s not specific to Chinese cars - but the Chinese seem to be leading the charge in terms of the “the bigger and brighter the touch screens the better”, more then almost anyone else, except maybe Tesla.
guess it’s not there fault consumers see stupid enough to think it’s actually a cool feature and makes a car more premium - when in fact all the touch screens are just a cost saving exercise - and the rest of us are out here just wishing they will bring back physical buttons, lever and knobs
thestaggy
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Zellephant
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Yeah, but aren’t Volvos basically Chinese cars these days anyway…Wait until you see the Volvo EX30 and EX90 -
EX30:
EX90:
ToxicBunny
Oi! Leave me out of this...
Seems as if Foton is gonna be launching a PHEV version of the Foton V9 today.
2.0l Petrol and 2 electric motors, gonna be interesting to see a bit more of the specs and how it compares to the Shark etc.
2.0l Petrol and 2 electric motors, gonna be interesting to see a bit more of the specs and how it compares to the Shark etc.
This message from 11 years ago
Tim_vb
Expert Member
Comments like these sound smart until they are tested. One of the main issues causing the used market values to drop is the rapid rate of advancement for NEVs that hits the resale value of older models. This has been an issue with Mercedes and Audi's EV prices dropping particularly fast.
FiestaST
Honorary Master
Geely E2 hits one-million production milestone just two years after launch
Geely Auto Group has achieved a new manufacturing milestone, with the Chinese automaker announcing the one-millionth E2 has rolled off the production line only two years after its global debut.
Marking a major manufacturing milestone for Geely Auto Group, the one-millionth E2 has rolled off the Chinese marque’s Xiangtan production line on 20 October 2026…just two years after the electric hatchback made its global debut. The company further reported production milestones of 200 000, 600 000, and 800 000 units built in May 2025, March 2026, and August 2026, respectively. The city EV became the fastest-selling new car in China in 2025, with 465 775 examples finding homes that year.
The most affordable EV in SA, with pricing for the two-strong model lineup kicking off at R339 900, the E2 is based on Geely’s GEA architecture, the firm’s global intelligent new-energy platform for battery-electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles. The E2 measures 4 135 mm in length, 1 805 mm in width, and 1 580 mm in height. The E2’s wheelbase spans 2 650 mm and it weighs a claimed 1 300 kg.
www.carmag.co.za
Geely Auto Group has achieved a new manufacturing milestone, with the Chinese automaker announcing the one-millionth E2 has rolled off the production line only two years after its global debut.
Marking a major manufacturing milestone for Geely Auto Group, the one-millionth E2 has rolled off the Chinese marque’s Xiangtan production line on 20 October 2026…just two years after the electric hatchback made its global debut. The company further reported production milestones of 200 000, 600 000, and 800 000 units built in May 2025, March 2026, and August 2026, respectively. The city EV became the fastest-selling new car in China in 2025, with 465 775 examples finding homes that year.
The most affordable EV in SA, with pricing for the two-strong model lineup kicking off at R339 900, the E2 is based on Geely’s GEA architecture, the firm’s global intelligent new-energy platform for battery-electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles. The E2 measures 4 135 mm in length, 1 805 mm in width, and 1 580 mm in height. The E2’s wheelbase spans 2 650 mm and it weighs a claimed 1 300 kg.
Geely E2 hits one-million production milestone just two years after launch
Geely Auto Group has achieved a new manufacturing milestone, with the one-millionth E2 rolling off the Chinese marque’s production line...
www.carmag.co.za
Zellephant
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So be it… I’m in no rush for to buy any of thier EVs for that exact same reason as well.
The point remains. If you buy a new Chinese EV with a balloon payment believing that makes it affordable… then you are an idiot.
I won’t even buy a Toyota with proven resale value, with a balloon payment.