One Chinese car brand selling more cars than BMW, Kia, Renault, and Nissan combined in South Africa

Chinese automobile manufacturer Chery collectively sold more cars in South Africa across its four major brands in the first half of 2026 than Kia, Renault, Nissan and the BMW Group.

This was revealed with the release of the June 2026 vehicle sales data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers in South Africa (NAAMSA).

Domestic sales of new vehicles continued to see strong growth with 54,482 units sold, the best sales performance in June since 2007.

Compared to June 2025, this past month saw 7,213 more new vehicles sold, representing an increase of 15.3% year-on-year.

“The domestic new vehicle market continued to outperform market expectations in the month of June,” NAAMSA said.

“This was supported by essential mobility needs, replacement demand cycles, fleet renewal activity, and stronger government procurement.”

38,393 of these new vehicles sold consisted of passenger cars, an increase of 18.1% over the 32,511 new passenger vehicles sold in June 2025.

By contrast, export volumes of new vehicles from South Africa decreased to 33,879 units, a decline of 6.9% from the same period a year ago.

This continued the trend of declining export numbers from 2025, a year in which vehicle exports from South Africa reached a record R291 billion and accounted for 15.6% of the country’s total exports.

NAAMSA attributed this largely to geopolitical turbulence disrupting vehicle export markets, with much of this coming from the conflict in the Middle East.

The oil crisis caused by the Strait of Hormuz’s closing also placed pressure on domestic demand through rapid increases in the price of fuel, with sales dropping sharply in April.

Thanda Sithole, a senior economist at Webank and FNB, said the July fuel price decrease should reduce this pressure and drive further demand for vehicle sales in the coming months.

“Households have faced mounting financial pressure throughout the first half of 2026, with fuel prices rising sharply during the second quarter,” Sithole said.

“The decrease in petrol and diesel prices at the start of July will provide some welcome relief to household budgets, notwithstanding the expiry of the temporary fuel levy relief.”

Chery continues to see strong sales

During the first six months of 2026, Chery sold a total of 33,773 vehicles across its four main brand offerings in the country.

Of this, the namesake Chery brand sold 14,593 units and secured a placement as the 7th best-selling car brand during the first half of the year.

Sitting right below it at 8th place was Jetour, a marque of Chery that focuses mainly on the SUV market, with 10,869 sales over the last six months.

A few spots below that, Chery’s sister brands Omoda and Jaecoo sold a combined 8,311 vehicles in South Africa between January and June.

This put Chery’s sales numbers ahead of numerous established brands which have existed in South Africa for decades, displacing iconic names such as Kia, Renault, Nissan, and BMW.

This is especially significant given the recency with which Chery’s brands entered the South African market, demonstrating just how quick its rise in the country has been.

Chery actually first launched in South Africa in 2007, but poor sales forced the company to quietly shutter its South African operations in 2018.

Since its return to the domestic market in 2021, however, the Chinese manufacturer has seen rapid growth and strong sales.

Omoda first arrived on South African shores in April 2023, and was followed exactly one year later by the arrival of its sister brand Jaecoo in April 2024.

Jetour followed a few months later, entering the South African market in September 2024 and quickly gaining traction alongside Chery’s other offerings.

For comparison, during the same six-month period in 2025, the mainline Chery brand sat at 7th place with 11,687 sales, a placement it would carry into the first half of 2026.

Jaecoo and Omoda barely managed to crack the top 15, however, landing at 14th place with combined sales of 5,119 units, while Jetour took the last place slot with just 3,306 sales.

This shows the rapid growth that the group has seen in just a few years of being in the South African market, with this likely to increase even further as it begins domestic production.

Nissan, which fell from 11th place in the first half of 2025 to 15th in 2026, recently exited local vehicle production in South Africa altogether, selling its Rosslyn plant to Chery.

Below is a table showing the top 15 best-selling passenger vehicle brands in South Africa for the first six months of 2026:

Ranking	Brand	Domestic Units Sold
1	Toyota	68,521
2	Suzuki	34,617
3	Volkswagen	30,721
4	Hyundai	18,220
5	Ford	16,892
6	GWM	15,610
7	Chery	14,593
8	Jetour	10,869
9	Isuzu	10,646
10	Mahindra	10,143
11	Kia	9,250
12	Omoda and Jaecoo	8,311
13	Renault	8,028
14	BMW	7,948
15	Nissan	6,267