South Africa’s biggest car dealership network betting big on Chinese brands

Motus delivered a strong financial performance in the 2026 financial year, with the company’s investment in increasing exposure to Chinese brands paying off. 

In its results for the 2026 financial year, Motus reported strong bottom-line growth, driven by lower net finance costs as it reduced debt. 

Motus’ profit surged 19% to R2.9 billion, with headline earnings per share jumping 15%. This enabled the company to declare a final dividend of R4.10 per share. 

Spun out of Imperial in November 2018, Motus is South Africa’s largest car dealership network and has a significant distribution business in the rest of Africa. 

It also operates retail and rental businesses in the United Kingdom and Australia. 

Historically, the company has had strong exposure to traditional manufacturers, such as Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Renault, and Mitsubishi. 

Motus has the exclusive distribution rights in South Africa for these brands, which left it vulnerable to the rise of Chinese vehicles that have competed strongly with established manufacturers. 

The company has addressed this challenge by diversifying its retail footprint to include more Chinese brands. 

In particular, Motus has invested in overhauling some of its established dealerships to become multi-franchise offerings, bringing multiple brands under one roof. 

For example, it spent R10 million to create a GWM multi-franchise in George and another R63 million to revamp Motus Garsfontein with the Chery, Omoda, and Jaecoo brands. 

Motus said in its annual report that Chinese manufacturers are rapidly taking market share in South Africa, the United Kingdom and Australia. 

These manufacturers are offering advanced technology at low price points, with fast product development cycles. 

Motus’ increased exposure to Chinese and Indian manufacturers resulted in a year-on-year increase in sales of these brands in South Africa of more than 200%.

Motus expects this trend to continue as customers in South Africa increasingly adopt hybrid and electric vehicles. 

The company has seen this play out in the United Kingdom, where competitively priced Chinese electric vehicles are taking over the market. 

Its sales of Chinese brands grew significantly in the UK and Australia, by more than 300% and 44%, respectively.

Motus is overhauling its business to capitalise on this opportunity, with it looking further afield to ride the wave of Chinese growth. 

Through its import and distribution business, Motus has secured exclusive distribution rights for GWM, Omoda, Jaecoo, Changan, and Dongfeng in East Africa. 

Motus also expects Indian brands to gain prominence in South Africa, with it securing the exclusive distribution rights for Tata. 

It said the Indian brand is seeing strong momentum since its re-entry into the market, with it averaging 600 sales per month. 

Despite these investments, Motus’ top-line growth remains flat. The company’s revenue grew by 1% to R113.6 billion.