Plans have changed, though. The affordable and smaller Chery Tiggo will be the first model built at Rosslyn. Likely followed by the Jaecoo J5, which uses the same platform as Tiggo 4, allowing Chery to scale its investment and tooling.
At the Rosslyn handover, there was an impressive display of Chery product signalling its intent. The most interesting being a fully kitted-out overlanding version of the forthcoming Chery KP31 double cab bakkie. Another model which could be produced at Rosslyn in the future. The KP31 is ideal for the local and African markets, where double cab bakkies command a premium and have strong demand regardless of the economic cycle.
Retooling Rosslyn
Tshwane has two distinct automotive development zones: Rosslyn and Silverton. BMW and Nissan have anchored the Rosslyn automotive development zone for decades, but that will now change dramatically with Chery’ s reconfiguration of the Nissan facility. Ford operates in the Tshwane specialised automotive zone, to the east of the capital city, with its well-established Ranger and Everest assembly plant.
For business owners in the automotive supply chain and automotive aftermarket specialists, what are the revenue and contracting opportunities? Over the last few years, Nissan has been underinvesting in the Rosslyn facility, and low production volumes have led to weak ordering from the dedicated supply chain.
Chery will spend a lot of money on retooling and modernisation. And that modernisation could be at a scale and technology threshold yet unseen in a South African automotive plant. The Chinese approach to automotive assembly is pioneering, using automation and artificial intelligence at a scale and integration that is decades ahead of what is currently the case in some South African automotive assembly plants and supply chains. Chery’ s retooling spend at the Rosslyn factory could be a once-in-a-decade opportunity for specialist industrial engineering companies in the South African automotive aftermarket.
For suppliers in the automotive aftermarket, the question is whether Chery will use an SKD, CKD, or WICKD assembly approach. Most legacy OEMs are CKD operations; some emerging brands in South Africa do small-scale SKD; and some peripheral Chinese brands are doing WICKD, which offers the least benefit to localisation. The scale of Chery’ s investment and ambitions would indicate it is moving towards an SKD approach, but government and suppliers will only be certain of that when the first Tiggo 4 models are built by the middle of 2027.
African export horizons
Can the incredibly affordable models offered by Chery, become even cheaper when made locally? South African electricity and labour costs will be higher than at Chery’ s Chinese assembly facilities. That means higher production costs in South Africa might offset the zero-tariff cost-benefit. Like all Chinese companies of its size, Chery has a longterm view that many legacy car companies lack, and it executes with urgency. Chery views the Rosslyn investment as a strategic one for its entire African business, to export South African-made Chery vehicles into the rest of Africa, taking advantage of low-tariff pan-African automotive trade agreements.
Although the new-vehicle market outside of South Africa and the Mediterranean African countries is very small, Chery believes in its future potential. Chery wants to use its Rosslyn facility and South African automotive engineering and development skills to create a manufacturing and product R & D hub for all African markets. Something that should excite younger engineers and technologists embarking on a career in the local automotive industry.
JULY | AUGUST 2026 7 WORDS IN ACTION