Chinese car makers go after South Africa's EV and bakkie buyers — A man looks inside the Changan Deepal S05 REEV during a press conference for the unveiling of the Chinese model at the WesBank Festival of Motoring. Nqobile Dludla/Reuters

Chinese car makers launched a raft of electric, hybrid and bakkie models at South Africa’s biggest motor show last week, betting on growing demand for electrified vehicles and looking to challenge established rivals in the country’s highly competitive bakkie market.

Changan and its partner Jameel Motors South Africa introduced the Deepal S05 range-extended electric vehicle, which uses a small petrol engine to recharge the battery as it runs, along with the Changan Uni-S hybrid SUV.

Dongfeng distributor E Auto Motor launched the Forthing Friday range-extended crossover and the Friday battery-electric vehicle, and introduced the Chinese brand Kaiyi. Beijing Automotive Industry Holding (BAIC) unveiled its premium new-energy brand Arcfox, starting with the T1 compact electric SUV, due in October.

The companies used the annual WesBank Festival of Motoring to showcase electrified vehicles aimed at both price-sensitive and affluent buyers.

LDV and Jiangling Motors expanded their bakkie ranges with conventional fuel models, while Geely, through its all-electric Riddara, and Chery entered a segment long dominated by Toyota, Ford and Isuzu.

The launches underline the growing influence of Chinese car makers in South Africa, which have rapidly gained market share with competitively priced vehicles and expanding model line-ups. Chinese brands took 16.8% of the passenger car market in 2025, up from 11.2% in 2024 and less than 9% in early 2023.

While electric vehicles still account for a small share of sales, adoption has accelerated as Chinese brands have flooded the market with more affordable electrified models.

40% Chinese

“Last month, on the new vehicles we financed, about 40% of them were Chinese vehicles, and that’s massive if you compare to 2016, when the number was 0.01%,” WesBank CEO Robert Gwerengwe told journalists on Thursday.

Dongfeng South Africa national sales manager JP Geldenhuys said E Auto Motor planned to expand the local Dongfeng portfolio to include the Voyah, MHero and Wuling brands. “Between now and Q1 of 2027, our objective is to grow the South African portfolio to approximately 14 different vehicle models,” Geldenhuys said, up from three.

Chery-owned Lepas, which debuted earlier this year with internal combustion models, said it would expand into battery-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles. “The future is new energy vehicles,” said Jay Jay Botes, general manager of Lepas and Chery South Africa. Plug-in hybrid and battery electric models have increased, “and we want to get the lion’s share of this market”, he said.

Chery-owned Omoda & Jaecoo is targeting a 60:40 split between internal combustion and new-energy vehicles by the end of 2027, from 81:19 now. BAIC plans to expand its local new-energy offering beyond the Arcfox T1, and to enter the bakkie market with future models.