New car sales in South Africa rose 15.7% in 2025 — TimesLIVE

South Africa sold 597,338 new vehicles in 2025, 15.7% more than a year earlier, when 516,103 vehicles were sold. In September 2025, monthly sales reached 54,700 vehicles, the highest figure in 10 years. A column for TimesLIVE notes that passenger car sales that month totalled 38,603 units, the highest since October 2014.

Imports from India and China

According to the Automotive Trade Manual of the Naamsa association, South Africa imported 391,287 light vehicles in 2025, 28.6% more than the 304,175 units imported the previous year. India was the largest supplier, delivering 219,796 vehicles, or 56.2% of all imports. China supplied another 91,326 vehicles, accounting for 23.3% of imported light vehicles.

Combined, India and China provided nearly 80% of South Africa's light vehicle imports. The number of Chinese brands on the country's new-car market rose from eight in 2024 to 15 in 2025. Last year, buyers could choose from 56 light vehicle brands and 1,995 model variants.

More current news is available on the UA.News Telegram channel Telegram.

Competition and employment

Martle Keyter, CEO of operations at the Motor Industry Staff Association, named lower interest rates, improved access to credit, pent-up demand for vehicle replacements, and competition from affordable Chinese-brand vehicles and cars imported from India among the factors behind the market's revival.

In her assessment, sales growth creates work not only for dealers but also for service-centre employees, technicians, apprentices, advisers, financing and insurance specialists, parts sellers, and repair workshops. More than 311,000 workers are officially registered within the scope of the industry's collective bargaining council.

Keyter also believes that growing demand for new vehicles should be accompanied by investment in local production, supplier development, and skills transfer under South Africa's automotive plan through 2035.