China’s Chery Formally Takes Over Nissan’s South Africa Factory, Plans African Hub for EVs and Exports
China’s Chery Automobile formally took over Nissan’s car manufacturing plant in Rosslyn, Pretoria, on Friday, July 3, under a deal first announced in January, with executives pledging millions of dollars in upgrades and the creation of nearly 3,000 jobs as the company moves to establish South Africa as its African hub for manufacturing, exports, research and development, and regional operations. Chery, China’s largest car exporter, said vehicle production at the site is expected to begin in mid-2027 following a 12 to 18-month decommissioning and retrofitting period.
Chery Auto Executive Vice President Zhang Guibing told reporters the company had committed to retaining all 692 existing employees at the plant and that the project would create nearly 3,000 direct and indirect jobs across manufacturing, supply chains, and related services. “Our long-term goal is to turn the Rosslyn plant into a complete auto centre with research and development, supply chain operations, and training, supporting Chery’s expanding presence and the goal of exceeding 100,000 annual vehicle sales in South Africa,” Zhang said.
What Chery Acquired
The transaction, completed on Friday, covers the land, buildings, and associated assets of Nissan’s Rosslyn facilities, including the main factory and a nearby stamping plant used to produce body parts such as doors. Chery also plans to bring in suppliers from China, particularly for electric and intelligent vehicle components, as it transitions the Rosslyn site from conventional to new energy vehicle production.
The Rosslyn plant was one of two Nissan manufacturing facilities on the African continent — the other being in Egypt — and had operated for roughly 60 years, making it one of the oldest and most historically significant automotive manufacturing sites in Africa. Nissan South Africa’s model range and local market share had shrunk significantly in recent years, with the plant’s utilisation falling as the Japanese parent company launched a global recovery plan in May 2025 that included the closure or sale of seven production facilities over two years.
Nissan’s Exit From a Shrinking Market
Nissan sold 20 percent fewer vehicles in South Africa in 2025 compared with the previous year, contributing to a global financial deterioration that has seen the company report five consecutive quarterly net losses since 2024, its worst year for sales in more than two decades. The Rosslyn sale is the seventh factory closed or sold by Nissan in the past 18 months. Nissan will retain a market presence in South Africa through imported vehicles, including the face-lifted Patrol SUV and the new Tekton sub-compact SUV, both slated for launch in 2026.
A Pattern of Chinese Automotive Expansion
Chery’s takeover makes it the third Chinese brand to manufacture vehicles in South Africa, following BAIC, which opened a plant in Gqeberha in 2018, and Foton, which began building trucks locally shortly after. The acquisition is the most significant marker yet of Chinese automotive manufacturers’ growing presence in South Africa’s automotive sector, which contributes nearly 5 percent to GDP and supports more than 130,000 direct and indirect jobs.
South Africa’s automotive retail market has already been reshaped by the arrival of Chinese brands at price points that undercut established Japanese, European, and American competitors. Motor Industry Staff Association CEO Martlé Keyter said the Chery move was broadly welcomed by labour. “Misa believes that the manufacturing and assembling of Chinese vehicles locally is vital for the survival of the automotive industry, including the local manufacturing of parts and components. With Chery taking the lead in this regard, it will not only sustain jobs but also create more employment opportunities.”
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa similarly welcomed Chery’s investment as one that would offer employment to the majority of Nissan’s affected employees.
Chery’s Global Manufacturing Push
The South Africa acquisition is part of a broader pattern of Chery securing manufacturing footholds in markets where Chinese brands face tariff or political barriers to selling purely through imports. Chery is also building electric vehicles in Nissan’s former Barcelona plant in Spain and was reported to be in talks about taking over production at Nissan’s Sunderland facility in the United Kingdom. In India, Chery has signed platform-sharing deals with Tata Motors and JSW Motor to manufacture Chery-designed vehicles using Indian brand names — an arrangement designed to navigate India’s restrictions on direct Chinese investment and market entry, as reported earlier in this session.
Regional and Global Impact
The Rosslyn handover illustrates a structural shift accelerating across the global automotive industry: established Japanese and European carmakers retreating from emerging and mid-tier markets, while Chinese manufacturers, led by Chery and BYD, move in to capture the vacated manufacturing capacity and market share. For South Africa, whose automotive sector sits at the core of its industrial economy, the transition from a Japanese to a Chinese anchor investor at its most historically significant plant marks a geopolitical as much as a commercial realignment — one playing out not through diplomatic negotiation but through private commercial transactions driven by cost competition and capital availability.
China’s automotive expansion into Africa, and specifically its pivot from pure exports to local manufacturing in South Africa, provides Beijing with industrial and employment goodwill that strengthens its diplomatic and commercial standing in the African Union, where China has invested heavily through the Belt and Road Initiative. The creation of 3,000 jobs in a country with an unemployment rate above 30 percent carries direct political weight.
For the broader global automotive sector, the Chery-Nissan transfer is a vivid illustration of a dynamic that analysts including Ferdinand Dudenhöffer at the Centre for Automotive Research have described as China exporting its automotive dominance in much the same way Japan did 50 years ago — not just through products but through factories, supply chains, and industrial footprints.
Background
Chery Automobile was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Wuhu, Anhui province, China. It is China’s largest car exporter and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange following an IPO in late 2025. South Africa’s automotive manufacturing sector is dominated by seven original equipment manufacturers, with Toyota, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Isuzu, and previously Nissan all operating production facilities in the country. Nissan opened its Rosslyn plant in the early 1960s and at its peak produced vehicles including the Datsun Pickup, which was at one point the best-selling foreign vehicle in South Africa. Rosslyn, located north of Pretoria in Tshwane municipality, sits within a well-established automotive manufacturing corridor with access to component suppliers, logistics infrastructure, and a trained workforce.
What Happens Next
The Rosslyn plant will undergo decommissioning and retrofitting over 12 to 18 months, with Chery targeting the start of vehicle production in mid-to-late 2027. Chery has announced it will build the Jetour T1 and T2 SUV models at the Rosslyn facility, with those models confirmed at the Auto China 2026 show in Beijing earlier this year. The company expects to bring in Chinese suppliers for electric and intelligent vehicle components, and plans to progressively expand the plant’s role to include research and development and regional operations for its African market strategy, with a stated target of exceeding 100,000 annual vehicle sales in South Africa.
