Motus no longer imports Chery, Foton and FAW passenger cars and bakkies into South Africa, says Motus Emerging Brands MD Pedro Pereira.

Motus is the division of the Imperial group encompassing all things motoring. Motus is set for a separate listing on the JSE in October, following the unbundling of the Imperial group.

Pereira says some of the Chinese brands decided to focus on exports to left-hand-drive markets, as right-hand-drive markets failed to deliver the desired economies of scale.

Foton bakkies and FAW passenger cars did not achieve much success in South Africa, with the car parc for each brand at about 4 000 vehicles.

Chery was fairly popular, however, with a car parc of about 7 000 units.

“Chery hit the sweet spot with the very affordable Tiggo sports-utility vehicle (SUV), but then low-cost competition from more established brands pushed it out of the market,” says Pereira.

He adds that Motus still supports and services all Chery, FAW and Foton bakkie and passenger car products.

The good news for Foton owners is that the brand looks likely to remain in South Africa, supported from head office in China.

With the Chinese brands removed from the Motus Emerging Brands stable, Japanese brand Mitsubishi and Indian brand Tata remain.

There are no plans to acquire any new brand – Chinese or otherwise – soon, says Pereira.

Both Tata and Mitsubishi require some brand building work from the Motus group.

Tata sales have dropped from a peak of just short of 15 000 units a year in 2006, to 1 800 vehicles sold last year.

Mitsubishi sales reached about 2 000 units in 2017.

“We aim to reach 5 000 units a year for each brand by 2021,” says Pereira.

Motus would like to continue distributing Tata cars and bakkies in South Africa, he adds. Motus and Tata are, however, currently locked in negotiations on the way forward for the importation and distribution of Tata cars and bakkies in the domestic market.

A lack of new product is the biggest reason for the recent drop in Tata sales, he notes.

The Tata Indica, Vista and Manza hatchbacks are all at the end of their life cycle.

“The Bolt medium hatchback will remain,” says Pereira.

New products forthcoming from Tata include the Tiago small hatch and Tata Nexon small SUV.

The Tiago will compete with the likes of the Renault Kwid, while the Nexon will face up to the popular EcoSport, for example, in what is becoming an increasingly popular, highly competitive segment of the local market.

In the light of the discussions around the way forward for the Tata brand, the launch dates of these vehicles are not set in stone, but may happen be in the next 12 months.

The current Tata bakkie and passenger car parc in South Africa is 70 000 units.

The current best-seller is the Tata Super Ace workhorse.

Mitsubishi Comeback
The once financially troubled Mitsubishi brand is making a comeback globally following its takeover in 2016 by the Renault-Nissan alliance.

As Renault and Nissan operate as separate brands in South Africa, the expectation is that Mitsubishi will remain an independent marque, says Pereira.

“Through joining the Renault-Nissan alliance, Mitsubishi has seen renewed investment in research and development, and there are a number of new products coming through.”

The South African car-buying public can expect to see the Eclipse Cross SUV on showroom floors early next year, with the Triton pickup to receive a significant facelift in the same time frame.

“The Xpander multipurpose vehicle is also coming to South Africa soon,” says Pereira.

The biggest sellers in the local Mitsubishi stable are the Pajero Sport and Triton.

The Triton is currently only available in double cab derivatives in the local market.

“We believe we can reach 5 000 units a year by securing an affordable price to bring the Triton single and club cab to South Africa. We are looking into the options available to us to do this,” says Pereira.

“Mitsubishi is definitely in South Africa to stay.”

There are currently 41 Mitsubishi dealers in South Africa, most of them part of multifranchise dealers.

There are 33 Tata dealers, also mostly multifranchise, and with most of these dealers owned by Motus.

“Our current biggest challenge, as Motus Emerging Brands, is the weak rand,” notes Pereira. “Product availability is there, product fit is there, but the question is, can we bring these products to the local market at the right price?”