Affordable Chinese brands expanded at nearly nine times the pace of the overall market to help 2025 South African new-car sales record their highest number in more than a decade.
Chinese marques lifted their market share to more than 17% of total new passenger vehicle sales last year. There are about 20 Chinese brands in South Africa, with the latest being Chery subsidiary Lepas, which made its debut earlier this month.
According to the TransUnion South Africa fourth quarter 2025 Mobility Insights Report, total new passenger vehicle sales reached 422,103 units in 2025, representing 20.1% year-on-year growth.
Momentum remained firm into the final quarter, with 114,246 vehicles sold in just the fourth quarter of 2025, making it the strongest quarterly performance based on volume of the post-pandemic period.
Affordability
Factors supporting the sales boom included eased interest rates, improved vehicle pricing and a decisive shift in how consumers evaluate vehicle affordability, said TransUnion.
While sales reflected a clear recovery, underlying patterns such as aggressive pricing of enhanced specifications and extended warranties revealed a market increasingly shaped by value, sharper segmentation and intensifying competition.
“This recovery is real, but it is far from uniform,” says Ayesha Hatea, senior director of research and consulting at TransUnion Africa.
“What we’re seeing is not a return to old buying patterns, but a more deliberate, affordability-driven market where consumers are weighing value, monthly repayments and long-term ownership costs far more carefully.”
Improved affordability shifted demand back towards new vehicles in the fourth quarter, with new vehicle registrations rising 30.1% year on year, compared with just 0.7% growth in used vehicle registrations. The used-to-new ratio declined to 2.9, down from approximately 3.8 in 2024.
This shift was supported by record-low new vehicle inflation of 1.2% in 2025, alongside 1.9% deflation in used vehicle prices, making monthly repayments on new vehicles increasingly competitive, said TransUnion.
These trends align with a broader macroeconomic environment focused on easing pressure on household finances, as reinforced in South Africa’s 2026 budget delivered by finance minister Enoch Godongwana, though TransUnion’s data shows vehicle demand remains highly sensitive to interest rates, fuel costs and financing conditions.
Hatea says when repayment gaps narrow, buyer behaviour changes quickly.
Affordability remains the single most powerful lever in sustaining demand. The survey showed that consumer sentiment had a modest improvement in the fourth quarter, with the share of consumers planning to buy a vehicle in the next three months rising from 17% in the third quarter to 19% in the fourth.
Youth economy
That improvement was driven primarily by younger consumers aged between 18-29. Purchase intent in this group increased to 25%, while Millennials (ages 30-45) rose to 21%, compared to 14% for Gen X (ages 46-61) and 7% for Baby Boomers (ages 62-80).
“The centre of gravity is shifting,” Hatea notes. “Growth is increasingly coming from younger, more price-sensitive buyers rather than the top end of the market.”
Demand among high-income households has begun to normalise, but continues to show the strongest purchase intent at 20%, though marking a 34% decrease in the third quarter, indicating a cooling in premium-led purchasing.
Electrified mobility
Electrified mobility continued to gain traction in 2025, with new energy vehicle (NEV) sales reaching approximately 16,700 units, representing 4% share of new passenger vehicle sales, up from just 0.3% in 2021.
Conventional hybrids lead plug-in hybrids and full-electric models in the sales charge, reflecting consumer preference for lower upfront costs and limited reliance on charging infrastructure, said TransUnion.
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