Chery has become one of the fastest growing car brands since its return to South Africa in 2021, as part of a fast-expanding influx of low-cost, highly-specced vehicles from China.Disrupting a market long dominated by legacy brands, affordable Chinese imports enable many buyers to buy a new vehicle at prices once associated with the used market, leading to marques such as GWM and Chery becoming top-10 sellers. In April, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro made history by becoming South Africa’s best selling passenger car, the first Chinese car to top the sales charts.However, this rapid expansion has raised concerns over parts availability, dealer support and long-term service infrastructure as sales volumes rise.Five months after having a minor accident in her new plug-in hybrid SUV, a Gauteng customer says her vehicle is still off the road because replacement parts could not be sourced.Danny Flax, owner of a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid, says the vehicle has been at the workshop after what she describes as a minor cosmetic bump, with repeated delays caused by parts shortages and incorrect components being supplied to the repairer.Chery supplied her with a regular petrol model as a rental car, but Flax said: “I didn’t buy a R612,000 plug-in hybrid to pay for a petrol rental and a monthly instalment on a car I haven’t seen in five months.”There is a massive disconnect between the aggressive sales push in SA and the actual local infrastructure available to support these vehicles once they leave the showroom— Danny Flax, owner of a Chery Tiggo 7 plug-in hybrid“There is a massive disconnect between the aggressive sales push in SA and the actual local infrastructure available to support these vehicles once they leave the showroom,” she added.Flax said her issue was not an isolated case and provided correspondence from several other Chery owners facing similar delays, who had waited months for parts with allegedly little communication from the company.She also said the Motor Industry Ombudsman of South Africa (Miosa) had indicated it could not intervene because it had no control over overseas parts supply chains, leaving consumers with limited recourse.In an initial response to Business Day, Chery South Africa national marketing and communications manager Verene Petersen disputed claims of a systemic parts shortage and attributed much of the delay to communication failures between the panel shop and Chery’s parts division.Petersen said Chery first became formally involved in the matter on March 19, when the complaint was escalated and arrangements were made for a rental vehicle.According to Chery’s timeline, the first batch of required parts was collected by Chery Edenvale and supplied to the panel shop on March 27. Further parts were supplied on April 20 after the repairer placed an additional order, while replacement trim components were delivered on May 4 after an incorrect part had initially been supplied.“As you can see, our team has tried their best to assist the customer from the date the matter was brought to our attention in March this year,” Petersen said.“The problem seems to be a lack of comms from the panel shop to the customer rather than a parts supply issue.”Flax rejected this version, accusing the company of leaving out more than two months from the timeline and denying that the vehicle was close to completion.“The vehicle has been immobilised since January 2026. I have insurance records and towing logs proving the car has been out of my possession for five months,” she said.The damaged rear bumper of Danny Flax’s Chery Tiggo 7, which has been off the road since January while awaiting replacement parts. (DANNY FLAX) She also disputed Chery’s claim that the vehicle would be ready by May 13, saying the panel shop had informed her that incorrect parts had again been supplied and that the correct components were now subject to a 10-week waiting period.Flax argued that while the original damage resulted from an accident, the dispute now centred on service delivery obligations under the Consumer Protection Act, particularly the requirement for services to be performed within a reasonable time.She said the matter had been escalated to the National Consumer Commission and that she was now seeking a full refund of the vehicle rather than repairs.In a subsequent response to Business Day on May 14, Petersen acknowledged that Chery had experienced parts-related delays following a systems migration in February.“We changed systems on February 9, which caused downtime of three weeks. This resulted in the initial delay experienced by both the panel shop and the customer. I apologise for this,” she said.“Within days, we identified problems and have been actively working to resolve these technical problems with the relevant local and overseas stakeholders. The key issue our parts department faces now is clearing back orders whilst eliminating duplicates created during the downtime experienced. “Our Parts fill rate has dropped from 99% to 96% in the last three months and the team is working around the clock to restore supply to the standard which dealers and end customers have come to expect from Chery South Africa.”She added that once the systems were operational again, ordered parts were generally supplied within a week, and that customer care staff had been providing updates throughout the process.She maintained that a combination of factors contributed to this bad customer experience rather than actual parts availability.Petersen also said Chery had obtained a recorded assurance from the panel shop that the vehicle would be ready on May 13, but later learned from the customer that this had not happened.“We understand the customer’s frustration and anger at this stage,” she said, adding that Chery had contacted the customer to arrange a meeting.On May 19 Flax reported that the panel shop had completed the basic body assembly but her vehicle had heat damage to the rear quarter-glass rubber moldings and weather seals.“The panel shop has accepted full liability for this secondary damage, and a new parts order must now be placed with Chery to replace these compromised seals,” she said.At the time of publication, Flax’s car was still in the workshop.Business Day