Swing in electric car sales in South Africa

Sales of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) declined year over year in the first quarter of 2025. This is the first annual drop in BEV sales between first quarters of two years since the Covid-19 pandemic.

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers in South Africa’s (Naamsa’s) latest Review of Business Conditions, 276 EVs were sold in the country between January and March 2025.

That is down 16% from the same period last year and not that much of an improvement over the 232 sold in the same quarter in 2023.

The two other categories of new energy vehicles (NEVs) continued to record positive growth. Plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales saw the biggest percentage-based increase of 75%.

While it came off a low base, it is the first time that PHEV sales came within touching distance of fully-electric cars, with just 35 fewer units sold.

Conventional hybrids (HEVs), which only charge their batteries with their engines and regenerative braking, continued to contribute most of the NEV sales.

Naamsa has emphasised that the transition to NEVs is crucial for the future sustainability and growth of the domestic automotive industry.

It said the industry needed to stay at the cutting-edge new market developments to continue playing a strong role in the global supply chain.

Naamsa explained that demand for NEVs was driven largely by government incentives, the imperative to combat climate change, increased consumer demand for greener products, and a technological shift.

“These developments mean that vehicle manufacturers have little choice but to launch NEV product offensives.”

Naamsa once again appealed for supportive government policy, which it said was imperative to ensure the country would meet climate targets, maintain international competitiveness, and protect investments.

“The domestic vehicle manufacturing base should be technologically open-focused on ensuring maximum production allocation to South African plants.”

“Support to make NEVs more affordable and attractive for the South African public is very important, as is the acceleration of decarbonisation of the vehicle market, and this cannot just be export-driven.”

The table below shows how NEV sales performed in the first quarter of each year from 2022 to 2025, showing how the steady growth in full-electric models reversed in Q1 2025.

Two major factors

Aside from continued high prices, two major factors could have contributed to the decline in BEV sales.

South Africa’s top-selling EV in 2024 — the Volvo EX30 — launched in February 2024. The EX30 saw strong demand in its pre-order period, so many units may have been sold immediately after its debut.

There have been no similar major EV releases in South Africa during the first quarter of 2025.

The other element is the absence of Chinese EV giant BYD in the sales figures. The company launched three fully-electric models in South Africa during the period — the Dolphin, Atto 3, and Seal.

The Dolphin is South Africa’s most affordable BEV with the ability to drive at the maximum legal highway speed and was introduced locally in early 2024.

BYD has not responded to MyBroadband’s queries asking why it was withholding sales figures in South Africa. Naamsa has also said it does not know why BYD is not sharing this information.

While BYD’s sales are published in many other markets worldwide, the company may be waiting until it reaches a certain sales threshold before sharing figures.

One factor that may change this is that the company recently launched its first plug-in hybrids in the country — the Shark and Sealion 6.

These vehicles seem to be gaining much more traction than their fully electric models, as South Africans are generally still sceptical about the longevity and range of fully electric batteries.

The Shark and Sealion 6 are among several PHEVs launching in 2025 that could see the vehicle type outselling BEV models.