Mazda SA boss sounds warning to imported bakkies

With the BT-50 gone, Mazda SA’s boss has warned that other imported bakkies trying to compete with locally built stalwarts will continue to face “immense” challenges…

Back in March 2024, Cars.co.za broke the news that the Mazda BT-50 nameplate had been discontinued in South Africa after an 18-year run, with the Japanese firm’s local division citing “an extremely challenging landscape for imported vehicles competing directly with locally manufactured products”.

And now the head of the Mazda brand in Mzansi has hinted that other imported double-cab bakkies could follow suit. Craig Roberts, Managing Director at Mazda Southern Africa, was speaking to Cars.co.za during a podcast interview at Naamsa’s South African Auto Week 2024 in Cape Town.

*A facelifted BT-50 has been revealed overseas but won’t come to SA.*

“I’m sitting in the [Cars.co.za podcast] booth here and I’m looking across at a Mitsubishi Triton – just using that as an example. So, in that [light-commercial vehicle] space, we have a number of importers that are bringing in a competing vehicle in, let’s say, that double-cab space,” said Roberts, gesturing towards the new Triton exhibited just outside the booth.

“I’m looking at Mitsubishi Triton and Stellantis has got a Peugeot Landtrek on display here this week. The challenges in that segment – which is 30% of our total market – are immense, in terms of local versus imported product,” he said.

South Africa’s double-cab market is dominated by bakkies built right here in Mzansi, with the Prospecton-made Toyota Hilux, Silverton-manufactured Ford Ranger and Struandale-produced Isuzu D-Max ruling the roost in this segment.

“That was the reason, one of the tough decisions that we made, was to discontinue BT-50. We were no longer manufacturing that [model] locally – it was a fully imported vehicle,” explained Roberts.

*The pre-facelift 2nd-gen BT-50 was built in SA by Ford.*

As a reminder, the 2nd-generation BT-50 debuted in South Africa in 2012, initially produced locally by Ford, alongside the Ranger on which it was based. However, Mazda Southern Africa switched to a Thai-manufactured version at the facelift in 2017, before the Isuzu-built 3rd-generation BT-50 (likewise brought over from Thailand but now based on the D-Max) touched down in Mzansi in July 2021.

“From a price-positioning perspective – once duties, etc. had been calculated into the business case – it just did not prove a competitive business case for us to continue importing that vehicle. I think my colleagues in the other brands that are still importing [in] that particular segment, or that particular type of vehicle, are experiencing exactly that,” Roberts suggested.

*The Landtrek was also on display at SA Auto Week 2024.*

For the record, the Nissan Navara is also produced in South Africa (in Rosslyn), as is the 2nd-gen Volkswagen Amarok (which is built by Ford in Silverton). The Mahindra Pik Up, meanwhile, is assembled at a facility in the Dube TradePort Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in KwaZulu-Natal.

Imported bakkies still playing in Mzansi’s double-cab segment include the aforementioned Triton and Landtrek. Stellantis, however, plans to start local assembly of the latter at a facility in the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape towards the end of 2025.

*The P-Series is perhaps the most well known of the current Chinese contenders.*

Other fully imported contenders here include the Chinese-made GWM P-Series, the Japanese-built Toyota Land Cruiser 79, the US-manufactured Jeep Gladiator and the French-produced Ineos Grenadier Quartermaster, along with several other Chinese products (the Foton Tunland G7, LDV T60 and JAC T-Series bakkies, for instance). The new Kia Tasman (to be imported from South Korea) is slated to join the fray in the 2nd half of 2025.

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