At Auto China 2026 this weekend, President of Jetour International, Mr Ke Chuandeng, made the exciting announcement that from 2027, Jetour will be producing some of their models locally in South Africa. The announcement marks another significant step for South Africa’s automotive industry, and its growing role in global vehicle production. Auto China 2026, also known as the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition 2026, is currently underway, running from 24 April to 3 May 2026.
While Jetour and Chery are positioned as separate brands locally, they are closely related at a global level, with Jetour being one of the brands under the Chery Group umbrella.
Chery’s recent acquisition of the Rosslyn manufacturing plant from Nissan means Chery South Africa transitions from an importer to a local manufacturer. By mid-2027, Chery aims to produce 50 000 units annually and create over 3 000 jobs across manufacturing and supply chain sectors. Importantly for Jetour, Mr Chuandeng’s announcement indicates that the increasingly popular T-Series, launched in South Africa in October last year, will begin local production at the plant from next year.
Since the launch of this series, the Jetour T1 and T2 models have seen better than expected sales, with over 4500 units of the T-Series already sold in South Africa.
While Auto China 2026 features a broad mix of internal combustion, concept and performance vehicles, this year the focus is firmly on electrification, hybridisation and intelligent mobility systems. Electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) technologies are no longer an optional offering, but a core to any automotive brand’s future success.
Fast-tracking developments in line with this locally, Jetour also recently launched its PHEV models in South Africa, the T1 and T2 iDMs, which are already on sale locally.
Under the theme “Future of Intelligence”, this year’s Auto China exhibition is officially the biggest ever, spanning two exhibition centres amounting to 380 000 square metres, and establishing Auto China among the largest and most influential automotive shows globally. Here, over 1 450 vehicles are on display, including the launch of over 180 new global models and 71 concept cars and prototypes.
Since its inception in 1990, Auto China has evolved into a flagship event for both the Chinese and global automotive industries. Auto China attracts hundreds of thousands of industry and public visitors over its 10-day run, making it also one of the world’s most visited automotive exhibitions.
“Being at Auto China this week has been an important moment for us,” said Nic Campbell, Vice President of Jetour South Africa. “This announcement to produce the Jetour T-Series locally positions South Africa as an integral part of Jetour’s global ambitions and underscores the growing influence of Chinese automakers in our market. This is undoubtedly a very exciting time for Jetour. In just 18 months since launching independently in South Africa, we have introduced four internal combustion models and two PHEV models, with further upgrades and new models planned for this year and next. This latest step into local production really marks a significant next phase in our journey.”
