Motoring3.04.2025

All the cars built in South Africa

There are 15 distinct vehicles being assembled in South Africa in April 2025.

South Africa’s domestic car manufacturing industry began when Ford opened an assembly plant in Port Elizabeth (now Gqeberha) 101 years ago, where it manufactured the world’s first mass-produced car — the Model T.

Over the next few years, two other major manufacturers — General Motors and Chrysler — rolled out local production facilities.

While they have since exited the country, several others launched South African assembly plants in the 1950s.

As of 2025, nine vehicle companies make cars in South Africa: Ford, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Isuzu, Hyundai, and Mahindra.

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers in South Africa, the manufacturing industry contributed 3.2% to South Africa’s growth domestic product in 2023.

In that year, South Africa’s assembly plants produced a record 633,337 vehicles. Nearly 400,000 of these units were exported to other countries.

The production data for 2024 is yet to be revealed, but exports are confirmed to have dropped 22.8% due to key markets shifting towards new energy vehicles and increased competition from Chinese brands.

While most locally-produced models are exported, some are highly popular among South African car buyers.

Five out of the top 10 cars sold in South Africa in February 2025 were assembled locally. These were the Toyota Hilux, VW Polo Vivo, Ford Ranger, Isuzu D-Max, and Toyota Corolla Cross.

Five other models were also in the top 30 — the VW Polo, Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up, Toyota Fortuner, Toyota Hi-Ace, and Nissan Navara.

Listed below are these 10 top-selling models and five other cars made in South Africa.

It should be noted that many of the models have numerous derivatives, and the image is only for one of those variants.