Africa is a pickup, SUV and commercial-vehicle story for Chinese automakers, with South Africa as the anchor market and local assembly beginning to take root.

South Africa: the anchor

Africa is primarily a pickup, SUV and commercial-vehicle story, and South Africa is the anchor market with the best data. Some 15 Chinese brands were active there in 2025. GWM (including Haval, Tank and Ora) was the top-selling Chinese automaker at about 27,200 units and a 4.6% share (up from 3.7%), rising about 44% to become the #6 brand overall. Chery grew sharply — targeting roughly 39,000 units for the year and, with its Omoda, Jaecoo and Jetour sub-brands, ranking as high as #4 in some months — while BYD is small but now reports to the industry body NAAMSA and is expanding its dealer network.

Egypt, Nigeria, Morocco

Egypt is a fast-emerging volume market where Chinese cars topped passenger-car sales in January 2025, with Chery, MG and BYD in the top ten and Chinese OEMs supplying the bulk of EV sales; the government has signalled a shift toward tariffs that reward local assembly. Nigeria is earlier-stage, with GAC and others evaluating assembly to position the country as an ECOWAS hub. Morocco is the manufacturing and battery play: leveraging free-trade access to the EU, it has drawn billions in Chinese battery investment, including Gotion High-Tech's Kenitra gigafactory — Africa's first, with a first phase targeted for 2026.

The localisation turn

The through-line for 2025–2026 is a move from importing fully built vehicles toward local assembly. GWM and Chery both announced plans in late 2025 to assemble in South Africa, where the APDP programme rewards local content, and Jetour signed a roughly $123 million deal with Egypt's Kasrawy Group to assemble the T1 and T2 for the local market and export. Legacy manufacturers are lobbying for higher import tariffs on Chinese and Indian fully built units, adding pressure to build locally. Africa remains overwhelmingly ICE, with Chinese brands leading the small but growing EV and hybrid segment.

South Africa figures via NAAMSA; other-country data from local media and company releases.

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