Though home to over a billion people, low incomes and high import duties have long hampered manufacturers efforts to sell more cars in Africa. Unreliable power availability and a lack of charging infrastructure have meanwhile held back EV uptake.
But companies including BYD, Chery Auto and Great Wall Motor GWM are aiming to leverage low prices to advance where others have struggled and use an expansion in South Africa as a stepping stone in a continent-wide strategy.
We treat South Africa as a very important market for our global expansion, said Tony Liu, CEO of Chery South Africa, calling Africas most developed car market a gateway to the African continent.
Nearly half of the 14 Chinese automotive brands currently active in South Africa launched only last year. More, including DongFeng, Leapmotor, Dayun and Changan, are set to enter the market soon.
And as new players move in, more established companies are looking into producing cars locally, allowing them to benefit from a government incentive programme offering rebates for domestically made vehicles.