Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) South Africa will start assembling its newly launched B30 off-road SUV at its factory in the Eastern Cape as early as January, its chief financial officer said, marking a significant step in boosting local production.
To offset pressure from a damaging price war in their home market and as Europe and the US tighten trade restrictions on Chinese car manufacturers, China’s car makers have turned to Africa as a key focus market.
BAIC, BYD and Chery are among about 18 Chinese car brands active in South Africa. BAIC’s Gqeberha plant in the Eastern Cape province currently assembles the BAIC B40 Plus and Beijing X55 Plus SUV models.
BAIC South Africa CFO Anele Geza said at the launch event on Monday evening that the new B30 combustion engine and hybrid models will be assembled locally using a completely knocked-down production process. This assembles cars from many small parts, with increased local content.
The current models are made using a semi-knocked-down process, which assembles vehicles with large, partially assembled and imported components into a complete car.
Multinational car makers that have South African factories — including Toyota and Ford and their suppliers — have been advocating for increased local production by newcomers in order to preserve the domestic car industry and nudge the country closer to its plan to produce up to 1.4 million vehicles by 2035 and increase local content.
Read: Mercedes-Benz South Africa CEO-designate resigns
Yang Yixin, CEO of BAIC South Africa, told delegates at the launch of the BAIC B30 that the company was firmly committed to developing in South Africa. “We will continue to introduce more new models while steadily expanding local production and value creation.” — (c) 2025 Reuters
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