Who made the cut? January’s best-selling Chinese vehicles are…

South Africa’s new vehicle sales record run continued into January, with a 16th consecutive month of increases.

Still on the up

With an uptake of 7.5% year-on-year, the local industry started the year with a sales tally of more than 50 000 units on 50 073.

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By comparison, sales for the same time in 2024 amounted to 46 594.

Best-selling brands

A month where imported vehicles outranked locally assembled products six to four, no less than four Chinese brands featured in the top 15.

Last year’s best-selling vehicle, the Chery Tiggo 4, again featured in the top 10 at fifth, with arch rival Great Wall Motors (GWM) 10^th with the Haval Jolion.

Since November, Chery-owned Jetour once again provided the biggest surprise, with an offset of 1 550 units, headed by the T2, which moved 665 examples.

Of the four mentioned brands, Wuhu accounted for three, as its Omoda & Jaecoo division finished 13th, with the C5 as its top-seller.

Admits the growing impact of Chinese vehicles, the best-selling marques for January were as follows

Great Wall Motors – 2 521
Chery – 2 258
Jetour – 1 550
Omoda & Jaecoo – 1 413
MG – 458
Foton – 428
JAC – 270
BAIC – 228
Changan – 72
Leapmotor – 6

_{NOTE: Excluded is truck brand, First Automotive Works (FAW). Also not ranked are BYD, Dongfeng, GAC, Geely, JMC and LDV, which don’t report figures to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).}