Beijing Automotive Group (BAIC) South Africa is set to significantly ramp up its local manufacturing footprint, with plans to begin assembly of its newly launched B30 off-road SUV at its factory in the Eastern Cape as early as January.
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This move marks a strategic shift toward deeper localization, coming as Chinese automakers look to Africa as a crucial growth market. Facing intense pressure from a damaging price war in their home market, and tightening trade restrictions from Europe and the US, companies like BAIC, BYD, and Chery—among the approximately 18 Chinese car brands active in South Africa—are accelerating their investment outside of China.
The introduction of the B30 marks an important technical upgrade for BAIC’s production line in Gqeberha, Eastern Cape.
BAIC South Africa CFO Anele Geza confirmed that the new B30, which includes both combustion engine and hybrid models, will be assembled locally using a Completely Knocked-Down (CKD) process. This method assembles cars from numerous small parts, allowing for a significant increase in local content—the percentage of components sourced within South Africa.
This contrasts with the current models assembled at the plant, the BAIC B40 Plus and Beijing X55 Plus SUV models, which utilize a Semi-Knocked-Down (SKD) process, involving assembly from larger, partially pre-assembled components imported from overseas.
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The commitment to increased local content through the CKD process is a welcome development for the domestic automotive industry. Multinational car makers with South African factories, including Toyota and Ford, have long advocated for increased local production by newcomers. This is crucial for preserving the domestic manufacturing base and moving the country closer to its goal of producing up to 1.4 million vehicles by 2035 while increasing the overall local content percentage.
BAIC South Africa CEO Yang Yixin reinforced this long-term commitment, telling delegates at the B30 launch, “We will continue to introduce more new models while steadily expanding local production and value creation.”
