Chery Group products are dominating the SUV scene in South Africa.
Image: ChatGPT
South Africa’s automotive leaderboard is changing at a rapid pace.
Although Toyota’s dominance remains unchallenged, the past year has seen Suzuki overtake Volkswagen for second place, with its vast line-up of affordably priced Indian-built vehicles resonating with real-world budgets.
Chinese brands are also gaining ground rapidly and, although not major players in the entry-level space, their mid-range SUVs are slowly taking the market by storm, with the Chery Group by far the biggest player in this segment.
Although Chery, Omoda & Jaecoo, and Jetour are marketed as separate entities in South Africa—with the former two falling under the same corporate umbrella locally—internationally they are all owned by the Chery Group, meaning they are essentially part of the same family.
And here’s where it gets interesting from a local perspective.
According to our calculations, the three Chery Group entities—Chery, O&J, and Jetour—sold a combined total of 21,743 vehicles during the first four months of 2026 in South Africa.
While this still falls significantly behind Toyota’s 47,147 total, it came close to Suzuki’s volume of 23,382 units, while also overtaking Volkswagen, which managed 20,002 units from January to April.
When it comes to local production, Chery is also putting its money where its mouth is, having recently purchased Nissan’s plant in Rosslyn, Gauteng, where it will produce Jetour’s T-Series SUVs as well as a Chery-branded pick-up model.
The production plans are ambitious, with the group aiming to build 50,000 units annually from mid-2027, while creating 3,000 jobs across the manufacturing and supply chain sectors.
Both brands went from strength to strength in the most recent sales month of April, with Chery enjoying its strongest sales month of the year at 2,462 units. The key driver was its Tiggo 4 Pro and Tiggo Cross line-up, which recorded 1,871 units.
“April was an excellent month for Chery South Africa, with nearly 2,500 vehicles sold,” commented Jay Jay Botes, general manager for Chery South Africa.
“It’s a clear reflection of the strength of our Tiggo range. The Tiggo 4 Pro continues to be our key volume driver, and the introduction of the Tiggo Cross LiT derivative has added further momentum to an already strong performer.”
Jetour also enjoyed its strongest month of 2026, with a total volume of 1,804 units, of which over 1,000 belonged to the T-Series family.
IOL Motoring