Chinese car companies charge into Africa
Business & Technology
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You’ve probably never heard of car brands like Haval or Chery, but visit West and southern Africa, and you’ll quickly get accustomed to seeing the Chinese marques.
- In Zimbabwe and Nigeria, brands like Great Wall Motors, BYD, and Geely are launching new SUVs and electric vehicles back-to-back. In South Africa, Haval’s H6 SUV is among the top five best-sellers.
- Not only cars, but buses, scooters, and even tricycles developed by Chinese companies are taking hold in the continent, giving China a first-mover advantage on electric vehicles of all shapes.
The takeaway: If Chinese car brands can take hold in Africa, they can basically succeed anywhere. That’s because Africa’s new car market is uniquely hard to enter:
- Used cars still reign king in Africa, with many coming from Japan — though several African countries now ban the import of cars more than a few years old.
- A lack of domestic production, patchy supply chains, and trade barriers within the continent have frustrated long-established brands, let alone new ones.
Also relevant: China has been Africa’s largest trading partner since it surpassed the United States in 2009, and in the first nine months this year trade was up 38.2% to a record $185.2 billion. It’s also Africa’s fourth-largest investor this year, with two-thirds of investment concentrated in 12 specific countries.
