The Volvo EX30 Leads The Way In South Africa As BEV Sales Go Up 35% In 2024 – CleanTechnica

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Sales of battery electric vehicles (BEV) breached the 1,000 units per year mark in South Africa for the first time ever in 2024. Last year, 1,257 BEVs were sold in South Africa, up 35% from 929 units sold in 2023.

The Volvo EX30 led the way with 406 units, taking 32.3% of the BEV market. In second place was the BMW iX3 with 221 units, taking 17.6% of the BEV market. In third place was the Volvo XC40 with 103 units, which was 8.2% of the BEV market. In the overall market, 515,712 vehicles were sold in South Africa in 2024. That means BEVs only had a market share of 0.24%. That’s still very low! With only 3,212 BEVs sold since 2018, its clear to see that sales of BEVs have been slow in South Africa compared to similar auto markets around the world. This is due to the limited variety of BEV models in the country, coupled with high import duties and taxes levied on electric vehicles. This means most of the vehicles available in the global market would end up being quite expensive compared to their equivalent ICE vehicles if they were introduced in South Africa. This price difference would be more prominent in the smaller vehicle segments, making it a bit challenging to sell those EVs to the wider customer base.

Taxes in South Africa are set at 18% for ICE imports vs. 25% for EV imports. There is also the ad valorem tax for EVs, which pushes the cost of an EV to more than 2× that of the average price of a new ICE vehicle of a similar make/model in most cases. This is probably why the majority of EV models in South Africa are premium models where EV pricing is more competitive than in the smaller vehicle segment. Then again, people who buy $100,000 cars probably aren’t too worried about an extra $10,000 — maybe that’s the key matter.

2023 and 2024 were really the years where we started to get a bit of stability in terms of the BEV model range offered in South Africa. That means we can now get a good idea of how some of the models fared in each year. This comparison of course will exclude 2024’s top selling BEV, the Volvo EX30, which was not yet available for deliveries in South Africa in 2023. The biggest gainer was the BMW iX3, which recorded 221 sales in 2024 compared with 129 units in 2023. A few other BEV models saw some decent increases in sales, notably the GWM Ora. In 2024, 43 units of the GWM Ora were sold, compared with 18 units in 2023. The Mercedes-Benz EQA was another one that recorded some progress, with 34 units registered in 2024 compared with 28 units in 2023. One of the biggest losers was the Volvo XC40, which saw sales drop from 150 in 2023 to 103 in 2024. That’s probably due to Volvo fans going for the more affordable EX30 in 2024. The BMW iX1 also lost significant ground, with sales dropping from 129 in 2023 to 80 in 2024. The MINI hatch lost sales as well, from 96 in 2023 to 69 in 2024. However, this is more likely to be due to the gap between the arrival of the new MINI, which was launched last year. The MINI has been a regular feature in the South African BEV sales charts over the past couple of years and will probably bounce back in 2025, as the new model will have a full year of sales.

The Porsche Taycan also saw a big drop, from 17 units in 2023 to just 1 in 2024! Model changeover issues perhaps as well? BMW and Mercedes-Benz generally saw sales drop in 2024. BMW is a popular brand in South Africa, and I quite like the i4. One would have expected BMW sales to grow given the fact that models from BMW’s stable had been leading the sales charts from 2018 until Volvo models surged ahead a couple of years ago. It’s a pity that the i4’s sales aren’t kicking on after a decent start in 2023. Audi didn’t offer many models for most of 2024, but the company is set to launch some very exciting models in 2025. I am looking forward to those! Overall, are there problems for the BMW and Mercedes-Benz? Or will 2024 see some traction from the German brands?

The story here is really that South Africans are crying out for more affordable BEVs. It’s not a surprise that one of the more affordable models available in South Africa, the Volvo EX30, which starts from around R800,000 ($43,000), topped the charts and took over 30% of new BEV sales. Most of the models on that list besides the GMW ORA cost way more than that, with a lot of them well over R1 million ($53,540).

There is something odd, though, that I picked up. BYD, the world’s second largest BEV manufacturing company and the largest new energy vehicle company, launched several models in South Africa over the past 18 months, including the ATTO 3, the Dolphin, and the Seal. But from the looks of things, BYD is yet to register any sales in South Africa, which is quite strange! BYD has been quite aggressive in new markets — such as Australia, New Zealand, Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, and Egypt — but that doesn’t look to be the case in South Africa. We will take a deeper look into this matter and do a followup article.

BYD is definitely one of the companies that could help catalyse sales of BEVs in South Africa, as there are several models — such as the Seagull (Dolphin MINI) — that are set to get a right-hand-drive version and could land at a price point below R500,000 ($26,766). These could be a very attractive proposition. Other brands that are looking to bring more affordable BEV models to South Africa include Chery and Dongfeng. The South African BEV space is falling behind similar or relatively similar markets such as Thailand and Australia. A lot of work is needed to catch up!

Another interesting thing to note is that the worst of electricity rationing seems to be over now in South Africa. Although load shedding did not appear to discourage EV buyers too much during the worst periods, it’s still good to see that it’s getting close to a year without load shedding. With more BEV models launching in 2025, this year looks set to be an even bigger year for BEV sales in South Africa.