Who made the cut? January’s best-selling Chinese vehicles are…

Chery Tiggo 4 has started 2026 as the best-selling Chinese car in South Africa. Picture: Chery South Africa’s new vehicle sales record run continued into January, with a 16th consecutive month of increases. With an uptake of 7.5% year-on-year, the local industry started the year with a sales tally of more than 50 000 units on 50 073.

A month where imported vehicles outranked locally assembled products six to four, no less than four Chinese brands featured in the top 15. Last year’s best-selling vehicle, the Chery Tiggo 4, again featured in the top 10 at fifth, with arch rival Great Wall Motors (GWM) 10thwith the Haval Jolion. Since November, Chery-owned Jetour once again provided the biggest surprise, with an offset of 1 550 units, headed by the T2, which moved 665 examples.

Of the four mentioned brands, Wuhu accounted for three, as its Omoda & Jaecoo division finished 13th, with the C5 as its top-seller. Admits the growing impact of Chinese vehicles, the best-selling marques for January were as follows NOTE: Excluded is truck brand, First Automotive Works (FAW). Also not ranked are BYD, Dongfeng, GAC, Geely, JMC and LDV, which don’t report figures to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa). January’s top 20 best-selling Chinese vehicles were as follows: