South African carmakers under siege

Indian-built cars have rapidly overtaken South African-made vehicles in the local market, rising from 5% of sales in 2009 to 36% in 2024, as local manufacturers shift away from affordable models.

This is according to Lightstone, a provider of comprehensive data, analytics, and systems across property, automotive, and business assets.

In 2009, approximately half of the 374,303 Light Vehicles (under 3.5t) sold in South Africa were produced locally, and the other half were imported.

However, 15 years later, 37% of the 484,806 Light Vehicles sold in the country were manufactured locally, while 63% were imported.

Lightstone auto data analyst Andrew Hibbert explained that in 2009, Indian-built vehicles accounted for 5% of all Light Vehicles sold in South Africa. This was behind Japanese (12%), South Korean (10%), and German cars (10%).

“By 2024, the picture had changed, with sales of Indian manufactured vehicles climbing to 36%, well ahead of China (11%),” Hibbert said.

“The growth in vehicle sales originating in India can be attributed to the large number of vehicle manufacturers now producing vehicles in the country, leveraging the relatively cheap cost of labour and overall manufacturing costs.”

For example, 84% of all imported Japanese-branded Light Vehicles sold in South Africa in 2024 were made in India, while just 10% came from Japan.

Other non-Indian nationalities importing vehicles built in India include German (9% of imported sales in 2024), South Korean (81% of imported sales) and French brands (74% of imported sales).

According to Lightstone, a potential reason for the shift from South African-built to imported vehicles could be a strategic change in direction by local manufacturers.

Budget-friendly vehicles that were made in South Africa but have since disappeared from local production schedules include the Chevrolet Spark, the Chevrolet Utility, the Ford Bantam, the Nissan NP200, and the Volkswagen CitiGolf.

South African manufacturers feel the pain

Lightstone pointed out that the weighted average price (WAP) of South African-made vehicles has also increased compared to those imported from other global production centres.

In 2009, the WAP of a South African-built Light Vehicle was R223,000, less than that of an imported Light Vehicle with a WAP of R277,000.

By 2024, the position had changed, with the WAP of a locally made Light Vehicle at R573,000, higher than the R499,000 for an imported option.

In 2009, Indian-built vehicles had a WAP of R123,000, just behind the Chinese-built WAP of R118,000.

In 2024, Indian-built cars maintained their position as affordable options, with a WAP of R303,000. However, the same cannot be said for Chinese-built vehicles, which increased to R478,000 in 2024.

Similarly, the WAP of German and Japanese-built vehicles has increased since 2015. By 2025, it was significantly higher than South African, South Korean, Indian, and Chinese-built cars.

The rising popularity of affordable imported cars has had a marked impact on local automotive companies, which are struggling to remain competitive.

In Combined Motor Holdings (CMH) company’s 2025 Integrated Annual Report, released on Tuesday, 29 April, the company lamented how difficult the trading environment in South Africa has become.

For the 2025 financial year, CMH, which represents many leading motor vehicle brands in South Africa, including Ford, Jeep, Land Rover, Mahindra, Honda, Mazda, and Nissan, reported a 3.2% revenue increase.

However, the company’s trading margins were down at both gross and operating profit levels. Its operating profit fell from R781.16 million in 2024 to R639.54 million, an 18.13% decline.

According to the CMH CEO, Jebb McIntosh, this was primarily caused by pricing pressure, which was intensified by the influx of low-priced imports and the resulting decline in sales volumes of traditional, locally sourced brands.

McIntosh explained that this affected nearly every part of CMH’s operations, from manufacturing to the car rental business.

At the manufacturer level, he cited the unrestricted proliferation of Chinese and Indian vehicle imports as a significant challenge, saying it placed extreme pressure on local producers.