Chinese car manufacturers Great Wall Motor (GWM) is considering whether to share a manufacturing facility in South Africa with another carmaker or acquire an existing plant if available and has held talks with Mercedes-Benz as it considers its options, regional officials said on Wednesday.
Chinese motor makers seeking global growth have built more car factories in overseas markets to protect themselves as foreign regulators consider measures against imports of Chinese-made vehicles.
“We have had discussions with Mercedes-Benz since last year and we have also had discussions with Nissan,” said Kevin Lee, MD. GWM South Africa Said during the Haval H6 plug-in hybrid SUV launch presentation.
“Contract assembly is one option. The other option is to buy a plant, as building a new plant takes time.”
Lee said GWM continues to engage with multiple stakeholders on local production and plans to meet with the South African government in China during the upcoming annual auto show.
GWM was overtaken by Chinese rival Chery Automobile in using Nissan's plant in South Africa, which the maker of the Tiggo SUV has agreed to buy.
Chief Operating Officer Conrad Groenewald said the company was still assessing which models it would produce locally.
East London
“We've launched a new product, a global product codenamed EC15. My vote is on that one, because I think it's a better product, giving us more opportunities for localization and potential export to Europe,” Groenewald said.
Mercedes-Benz South Africa said in an email response that the company's East London plant is focused on production of the C-Class and that it does not comment on speculation about the future product portfolio and production planning process.
Reading: Chery to acquire Nissan's historic Roslyn plant
However, it added that “customer and market requirements are constantly changing. Mercedes-Benz strives to ensure that all of its production sites remain globally competitive, are at an optimal operating point and adapt to new requirements whenever necessary.”
Last year, Mercedes-Benz South Africa CEO Andreas Brand told Reuters that the East London plant had previously produced vehicles for various brands, noting that “technically there is no reason why it couldn't happen again”.
GWM, with a 5% market share in South Africa and ranked sixth in vehicle sales, on Wednesday expanded its Haval H6 line-up with the launch of a new plug-in hybrid variant, hoping to capture the growing share of customers who are opting for hybrid and electric vehicles.
It aims to capitalize on the growing compact SUV segment, which is popular with families and commands a large share of the SUV market. — (c) 2026 Reuters
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