Cars.co.za report offers interesting insights
Cars.co.za recently launched Industry Report 2026 at its DealerCon summit, offers insight into the forces shaping South Africa’s vehicle market.
- Dealer News
- 22 September 2026
Chinese electric vehicle (EV) giant, BYD, said on 29 March that it was large enough to shake off the impact of a bruising price war and faltering demand in China, according to Reuters.
This comes after reporting a mammoth elevenfold increase in fourth-quarter profit.
The company could extend its lead in the Chinese market owing to an expanding range of products that is helping it overtake Volkswagen to become the top-selling brand.
BYD's size would help it maintain strong profit margins despite a price war and the end of EV subsidies, Chairman Wang Chuanfu told reporters in Hong Kong on 29 March, referring to developments that occurred after the end of the fourth quarter.
On 28 March, the company posted a quarterly profit for October-December of 7.3 billion yuan ($1.06 billion), up from 602 million yuan a year earlier.
The gross profit margin for automobiles and related products, which accounted for 77% of BYD's revenue in 2022, increased to 20.4%, well above the 3.7% margin in 2021.
More than 40 auto brands, including BYD, followed Tesla's January 6 move to cut prices to defend market shares amid weakening demand.
But BYD is among the few winning market share. Bolstered by its Dynasty and Ocean series of plug-in hybrids and pure electric cars, BYD overtook Volkswagen in February for the second month in four.
BYD accounted for 41% of so-called new energy car sales in the world's biggest auto market for the first two months of the year. Tesla, by contrast, had an 8% share.
Wang said he expected the company's vehicle sales to grow more than 80% in the first quarter, which would outperform the overall market but mark a slower pace compared to BYD's more than 200% sales increase in 2022.
The Chinese EV giant has been slowing output since the start of the year when Beijing ended a national subsidy programme for EVs and plug-in electric vehicles.
Cars.co.za recently launched Industry Report 2026 at its DealerCon summit, offers insight into the forces shaping South Africa’s vehicle market.
Nissan has introduced the Tekton, a new compact SUV for the South African market. The model is built on the Renault‑Nissan alliance’s CMF‑B platform and is closely related to the Renault Duster, sharing engines and mechanical components.
At the recent DealerCon 2026, hosted by Cars.co.za automotive excellence was celebrated by honouring top executives in the automotive retails industry.
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