The sudden shift in Pretoria’s industrial landscape signals a seismic realignment of global automotive power, as a sixty-year Japanese legacy makes way for the aggressive manufacturing ambitions of the Chinese motor industry. This transition is not merely a change of signage on a factory gate but a definitive moment in South Africa’s economic history, marking the end of Nissan’s decades-long era of local assembly and the commencement of Chery’s first major manufacturing foothold on the continent. This industrial handover arrives as Chinese brands achieve a historic milestone, capturing an estimated 13% of the total South African passenger car market in 2025.
Nissan Motor Co. has officially agreed to sell its historic Rosslyn manufacturing assets to Chery South Africa, a move slated for completion by mid-2026 pending the necessary regulatory clearances. The comprehensive transaction includes the land, all physical buildings, and the crucial nearby stamping plant that produces vehicle body components. While Nissan intends to maintain its commercial presence in the region through an import-only business model, the production of the Navara pickup at the facility will cease in May 2026, with future units sourced from Thailand.
The acquisition places Chery at the helm of a facility with an annual capacity of approximately 45,000 vehicles, providing the infrastructure needed to transition from a high-volume importer to a localised manufacturer. This strategic move is bolstered by a broader market recovery, as vehicle sales hit a decade-high in late 2025, providing a robust economic backdrop for Chery’s investment. By taking over the Rosslyn site, Chery gains immediate access to established production lines and a specialised stamping plant, which are essential for its strategy to integrate further into the South African supply chain.
The roles in this industrial handoff are clearly defined: Nissan facilitates the exit by providing the infrastructure and a year-long transition period, Chery powers the future of the site with fresh capital and localised production targets, and the South African government manages the policy framework to ensure the deal aligns with national automotive development goals. This arrangement ensures that the factory does not fall into obsolescence, which would have been the easier financial path for Nissan, but instead remains a productive asset for the national economy.
Strategically, this divestiture highlights Nissan’s global move towards asset-light operations in regions where scale has become difficult to maintain against rising costs and underutilisation. For Chery, however, the move signals an aggressive expansion to secure its supply chain against global logistics volatility. The brand is also diversifying its sub-brand portfolio, evidenced by the recent Omoda C7 launch in the local market, which further cements its presence in the premium SUV segment.
When viewed against the global backdrop, the pace of the Chinese ascent in South Africa is staggering; while European and Japanese brands took decades to cement their status, Chinese manufacturers have surged from a negligible presence in 2020 to a dominant market force today. This end of production for Nissan mirrors trends seen in South America and Southeast Asia, but the Rosslyn deal represents a faster-than-anticipated move into heavy manufacturing. While competitors like Volkswagen and Toyota have spent decades refining their local footprints, Chery is attempting to replicate that level of integration in a fraction of the time.
Chery’s execution has been defined by a rapid-fire deployment model, moving from its local relaunch to full-scale factory acquisition in roughly four years. Their ability to clear market entry hurdles and secure a top-ten sales ranking for models like the Tiggo 4 Pro — which saw a 39% sales increase in the last year alone — has provided the necessary revenue and confidence to invest in physical infrastructure. This popular Chinese vehicles list highlights that the transition from import to local assembly will likely be handled with the same clinical efficiency, supported by upcoming models like the Jaecoo J5 hybrid.
The human element of this deal remains the most critical short-term success, with Chery committing to offer positions to the majority of the 800-strong workforce currently employed by Nissan on comparable terms. This preservation of high-level manufacturing skill sets prevents a brain drain from the Rosslyn automotive cluster and provides a lifeline to a supplier network that was facing an existential crisis following the end of Nissan’s NP200 production. Even traditional European brands are shifting their strategies in response to this new competition, as seen with the Alfa Romeo Junior EV launch, which aims to capture the growing electric vehicle segment.
Ultimately, this deal poses a significant question for the future of industrial policy: will the influx of Chinese manufacturing capital revitalise South Africa’s “crown jewel” industry, or does it signal an irreversible dependency on a single geopolitical partner? As Chery begins to retool the Rosslyn lines to support its soaring sales volumes, the success of this venture will be measured by whether it can foster a truly local ecosystem of components and skills, or if the facility will simply serve as a high-end assembly point for parts designed and produced elsewhere.
