Motus, which sells one in every five new cars sold in South Africa, says its move to increase the number of Chinese brands in its showrooms around the country has yielded results as consumers continue to gravitate towards these brands, alongside Indian cars.“During the year we maintained a deliberate focus on optimising our brand portfolio and increasing the representation of Chinese vehicle brands across our dealership network. This strategy delivered strong results, with sales of Chinese and Indian brands in our South African operations increasing more than 200% compared with the previous year,” the company said on Tuesday.“The momentum was also evident in our international operations, where sales of Chinese brands increased by more than 300% in the UK and 44% in Australia, reflecting growing consumer acceptance and the successful expansion of our diversified mobility offering.”South Africa’s new vehicle market has been on a record-breaking spree as Asian brands reshape the local market, offering attractive value propositions across affordable brands and models, with first-time buyer participation also increasing.Business Day reported last week that Transnet Port Terminals (TPT) is set to report record vehicle handling volumes in its annual results, driven by a robust new vehicle market in South Africa.Cheaper and popular Asian brands have flooded the local market, resulting in more activity at the country’s ports.TPT’s 2025/2026 preliminary results for the year ended March show it handled a total of 910,424 fully built units in the period, comprising 52% exports, 42% imports and 6% transshipment.According to TPT CEO Jabu Mdaki, South Africa receives the highest number of imports from India, followed by China and Japan.Data collated by the Bureau for Economic Research shows South Africa’s vehicle trade deficit with China and India reached R90bn last year.The popularity of Chinese and Indian cars has been borne out in Motus’ results, which on Wednesday reported its passenger car volumes increased by 15.1% from 64,454 units to 74,188 units in the year ended June, “benefiting from strong demand for affordable entry-level vehicles and the continued shift in consumer preferences towards affordable brands”.Motus’ new vehicle sales increased by R1.3bn to R49.7bn in the year under review, while pre-owned vehicle sales remained flat at R25.4bn. The group’s income across its business units increased by 1% to R113.6bn, “primarily due to increased sales volumes in the South African vehicle market, partially offset by lower sales volumes in the UK retail commercial division and Australia retail.Motus CEO Ockert Janse van Rensburg told the company’s shareholders in the group’s 2024 annual report it was a mistake not to introduce Chinese brands in its ecosystem sooner, with the group now playing catch-up.“In our retail business in South Africa, our strategy regarding Chinese brand representation was initially too defensive.”Business Day