Many South Africans are opting to buy Chinese car brands, defying current market challenges, according to the latest data released by Standard Bank.
Despite overall retail sales facing pressure, the number of Chinese cars financed by the bank has consistently increased year-on-year since 2022.
Standard Bank said its sales data showed that the proportion of Chinese car brands increased from just over 6% in 2022 to 7.4% in the first half of 2024.
Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance Head of Automotive Retail, Derick De Vries, said the growth was intriguing when considering the broader decline in new vehicle sales in the country.
“Even though Chinese brands currently represent less than 10% of our retail sales, their upward trajectory is remarkable given the challenging market conditions,” said De Vries.
The Automotive Business Council’s quarterly reviews confirm that year-on-year, new vehicle sales have been declining since the third quarter of 2023.
In the second quarter of 2024, new vehicle sales dropped by 9.6% compared with the corresponding quarter in 2023. However, Standard Bank Vehicle Finance financed more new Chinese car brands during this period compared with the same quarter in 2023.
GWM Haval, is the most popular Chinese brand financed by Standard Bank since 2022, followed by Chery and BAIC.
These Chinese cars find favour in Gauteng, where Standard Bank concluded 54% of Chinese car brand deals, followed by KwaZulu Natal (18%) and the Western Cape (10%) which has also contributed to their growing presence.
Additionally, the car market for Chinese brands is expanding. The proportion of used Chinese car brands financed by the bank increased from 20% in 2022 to 36% in July 2024.
The growing popularity of used cars in general is also evident across the market, accounting for 70% of Standard Bank’s vehicle asset finance sales for the year-to-date, compared with 62% in 2022.
De Vries said the brands were clearly gaining significant traction, reflecting the broader global trend where Chinese vehicles were taking more market share, driven by competitive pricing and growing consumer confidence.
"We are seeing a notable shift in the South African automotive market because of the popularity of Chinese car brands. We constantly see GWM brands in the top ten of Naamsa’s (The Automotive Business Council) ‘Vehicle Sales by Manufacturer list’,” he said.
