Chinese firm BAIC has suddenly started reporting individual model sales figures to Naamsa. Here’s how many vehicles the brand sold in South Africa in January 2024…
Though the BAIC brand established itself in South Africa as long ago as 2016 (with its first model launching the following year), the Chinese firm has only just started to report individual model sales figures to industry representative body Naamsa, beginning with January 2024.
So, just how well is BAIC South Africa – the local subsidiary of the Chinese state-owned BAIC Group, which traces its roots back some 66 years – selling in Mzansi at the moment?
Well, BAIC registered 295 new vehicles across the country in January 2024, ranking 18th on the list of SA’s best-selling automotive groups overall. For the record, that’s 2 units more than Honda managed last month and 7 units short of Mazda’s total. It was also enough to put BAIC in 14th place in the passenger-vehicle segment.
Though the Chinese brand once offered the D20 hatch and D20 sedan as well as the X25 crossover in South Africa, its local range currently comprises just a pair of nameplates: the B40 Plus (which is known as the “BJ40” in some markets but was christened “B40” instead when it landed in SA in October 2021) and the Beijing X55 (which touched down in November 2022).
In January, the Beijing X55 accounted for more than 94% of the company’s registrations, finishing the month on 278 units. The B40 Plus, meanwhile, had to settle for just 17 units. Interestingly, all 295 new vehicles were sold via the dealer channel.
As a reminder, the 3-strong Beijing X55 range (with each derivative employing a 130 kW/305 Nm turbocharged 1.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine) kicks off at R429 900, while the B40 Plus portfolio comprises 5 variants, running from R574 500 to R699 500. The latter model is available in turbopetrol and turbodiesel guise, with each engine displacing 2.0 litres.
BAIC South Africa has been threatening to launch the B80 – which bears more than just a passing resemblance to the Mercedes-Benz G-Class – for quite some time (back in August 2022, the company suggested the launch was planned for October of that year), but this model has yet to materialise.
In mid-2023, the company announced it had 38 dealerships nationwide, adding that it hoped to reach 50 outlets “by the end of 2023” (the current number is unknown as BAIC SA’s website was down at the time of writing). BAIC SA also said plans were “underway to increase the production capacity” of its assembly plant in the Coega industrial development zone in Gqeberha, which has reportedly seen very little action since the joint-venture operation with the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) commenced back in 2016.
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