The Old Diocesan Issue 12 - Magazine - Page 67
PHOTOGRAPHS SUPPLIED
HOT TOPIC
one hand and EVs on the other,” he
tells us. “But this might be the best
car I’ve ever owned. The value and
build quality are unquestionable,
and the improvements in EV
technology make it the practical
choice. Plus, if you want outright
performance, electrical power
provides instant maximum torque,
so the acceleration is terrific.”
Just like that, the petrolhead
has turned torquehead.
China has come to dominate
the EV market in recent years,
Alan explains, with BYD having
taken over from Tesla as the
biggest-selling electric-car
manufacturer in the world. In
2025, the company sold more than
2.25 million EVs worldwide, and a
similar number of hybrids.
“BYD was an obvious choice
for me in the end,” he says. “But
I do tell all my mates to do their
homework. When you’re getting
into new territory, you have to
give them a test drive.”
Enter Tim, stage left. “I can’t tell
you how many times the ‘Should
I buy Chinese?’ conversation
comes up these days,” he says.
“And the one thing we all agree
on is that the value proposition
is becoming impossible to ignore.
It’s almost a status symbol in
itself; buying Chinese now shows
how savvy you are. One of my
mates just returned from the
UK after living there for four
years, and promptly bought
a Haval H6 GT at a fraction
of the price of the BMW X3
he was considering. And then,
I rocked up at my weekly padel
game, and my partner arrived in
his new BYD Sealion. Last thing
he’d told me was he was also
getting a BMW. And they’re both
ODs. Hey, someone should write
an article about this…”
And here I am, writing what
may well be the first in a series
of “hot topic” features.
Starting price
Starting price
R3.5 million
R650 000
The Mercedes-Benz G-Class versus the GWM Tank 300: similar rugged,
boxy looks on the outside, styling cues on the inside, and serious off-road
capabilities – but the one from Germany can be five times the price.
In our annual BrandMapp survey
of consumer-class adults in South
Africa – roughly defined as the
14 million who live in taxpaying
households – we measure car
ownership at 65%. This pretty
much accounts for the 9.2 million
licensed passenger cars on the
road. Of these, about 5% are now
Chinese brands, with Haval and
Chery the most driven, primarily
because they’ve been in the
market the longest. A particularly
interesting note is that the vast
majority of these owners overindex for “loving their cars”,
a hallmark of traditionally
“emotional” brands like Mini,
Alfa Romeo, Porsche and Jaguar.
Of the respondents who intend
to buy a new car this year, a hefty
10% said they were seriously
considering a Chinese brand –
a rising trend that gels with what
official vehicle sales are telling us.
In January this year, Chinese vehicle
manufacturer Chery – which
includes Jaecoo, Jetour and Omoda
– replaced Volkswagen as South
Africa’s third-best-selling carmaker.
We’ll return to the top two shortly,
but that’s indicative of a seismic
shift – and it’s only just begun.
In the Chinese domestic market,
there are about 150 brands on
offer, of which more than 20 will
be on sale on our shores by the
end of this year. These cars are not
necessarily “cheap”. An entry-level
Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, for example, is
about R270,000, not much less than
VW’s top-selling Polo Vivo. They do,
however, offer huge bang for buck.
South Africans have long been
notoriously status-oriented when
it comes to car choices, spending
above their means to be able to
plonk an Audi or Mercedes key fob
on the bar counter. As Naamsa
CEO Mikel Mabasa recently put it
in a Business Day article, “The fact
is that South African consumers
are saying they want to focus on
value more than prestige. They’re
saying they’re no longer worried
about buying a badge; they want
to buy value.”
We scratched our heads to find
an OD insider who could shed
some light on the matter, but it
seems we’re more interested in
buying cars than making or selling
them. “Call Chris Scoble,” said Alan.
So I did. Chris was at the helm of
Nashua for most of his working life
before joining up with his brother
Eric at Auric Auto / Mekor Group,
purveyors of quality automotive
vehicles, mostly new, sometimes
used, for the past four decades.
Connection to Bishops? Sort of.
Their dad and uncle were ODs,
THE OLD DIOCESAN | 63
