Truth about Chinese cars taking over South Africa

While the local automotive industry has made much noise about the increasing number of Chinese brands and cars arriving in South Africa, another country has already flooded the market.

The National Automobile Association of South Africa’s data showed that 304,355 of the 484,808 new passenger cars sold in South Africa in 2024 were imported, working out to roughly 62.8% of sales.

In 2024, Chinese cars accounted for 52,067 of the imported units, or 17.1% of that total. That represented a 3.8 percentage point jump from the previous year.

Overall, that works out to about 10.7% of all new cars sold in South Africa during 2024, a slight increase over the 9% share Chinese cars attained in 2023.

While certainly not insignificant, China is still a long way off from the other Asian country responsible for most of South Africa’s imports.

In 2024, 173,742 new cars were sold were from India. That works out to 57.1% of all imported cars, compared with 53.2% in 2023.

Even when compared to the overall sales figure, India’s impact is enormous. At 35.8% of the total, more than one in every three new cars sold in South Africa is made in India.

A possible reason India’s takeover has largely gone under the radar — at least to the general public — is that most of its top-selling vehicles are not from Indian brands.

Many major manufacturers enter into joint ventures with Indian companies or set up Indian subsidiaries to produce more affordable models there.

The country has a large, willing, and relatively inexpensive workforce and a solid supply chain, reducing the cost of manufacturing.

This stands in contrast to Chinese automakers, which predominantly manufacture their vehicles in their home country.

The graph below shows the top countries from which South Africa imported new vehicles in 2024, according to Naamsa’s data.

India-made cars account for half of best-selling models

Another way to illustrate the significant market share that India-made cars have in South Africa is to look at the top 20 best-selling cars every month.

Due to their affordable pricing, India-made cars regularly account for around half or more of the cars in the monthly rankings.

In August 2025, 10 of the top 20 sellers were from India, seven from South Africa, and two from China. The last model — the Mahindra Pikup — is assembled in South Africa from semi-knockdown kits imported from India.

The best-selling budget car brand and second-best-selling brand overall is Suzuki.

All 12 Suzukis officially sold in South Africa — including the Swift, Fronx, Celerio, S-Presso, Ertiga, and Vitara — are built in India by the Japanese company’s subsidiary Maruti Suzuki.

That is not to mention the growing cohort of Toyota-rebadged Suzukis, including the Vitz, Starlet, Starlet Cross, and Rumion.

These are making an enormous contribution to maintaining Toyota’s title as the country’s top-selling carmaker.

The South Koreans have also set up shop in India. The best-selling Hyundai and Kia models in South Africa, including the Grand i10, Sonet, and Venue, are also built there.

Other popular cars from non-Indian brands that are built in the country include the Nissan Magnite, Renault Kwid, Renault Kiger, and Renault Triber.

One Indian brand that could further increase the share of that country’s vehicles is Tata, which is setting the stage for a major comeback.

The company has partnered with Motus Holdings to sell four models in South Africa at an initial 40 dealerships.

One of its vehicles, the Tiago, will be priced from R184,900, making it an alternative to Suzuki and Toyota’s budget models.

The table below shows the significant presence of India-made cars in the top 20 best-selling vehicles in August 2025.

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