The report reveals a shift in how car buyers evaluate brands and make decisions. Consumer choices are increasingly being shaped earlier in the journey, often before any direct interaction with a dealership or brand. Search behaviour, social conversation and peer validation are no longer just awareness drivers, they are actively determining which brands make it into consideration.
"The battle in South Africa's automotive market is no longer just for market share, it's for mental availability at the moment of decision," says Mongezi Mtati, Senior Brand Strategist at Rogerwilco. "With 92% of car buyers completing their research online before visiting a dealership, search behaviour, social conversation and sales data can no longer be seen in isolation. They are part of the same system and the brands that understand how they move together will always be a step ahead."
One of the most significant findings is the growing concentration of influence in online conversations. While overall brand mentions grew by 10% in 2025, the number of contributors driving those conversations fell by 11%. This is not a sign of disengagement but consolidation. In a price-sensitive market, buyers are more deliberate and the voices that carry weight are fewer and more influential.
At the same time, challenger brands, particularly from Asia, are gaining ground, driven by strong digital visibility, competitive pricing and positive sentiment. Chery saw the most dramatic shift, with a 510% increase in social mentions, rising nine places to become the most mentioned passenger car brand in South Africa, overtaking BMW, which declined by 13%.
This surge reflects a combination of factors: strong product performance from the Tiggo 4 Pro, a high-impact collaboration with media personality Ashley Ogle and growing reports of a potential local assembly plant. For consumers, localisation signals permanence, investment and long-term commitment.
Chery was not alone. GWM and Mahindra saw sales jump more than 40% in 2025, while Jetour, barely on the radar twelve months ago, is already posting record monthly sales figures in early 2026 and breaking into the top 10.
Heritage brands, meanwhile, continue to hold strong. Toyota extended its market leadership for a 46th consecutive year while Suzuki overtook Volkswagen for second place, supported by consistent search visibility, product-market fit and its community partnership with Orlando Pirates. The data does not point to a decline of legacy brands but to a more competitive market where digital presence is as important as brand history.
Rogerwilco's WOLF share-of-search data highlights where the next competitive battle is unfolding. The share of organic automotive search occurring outside brand-owned platforms grew from 54% in 2024 to 62% in 2025, with publishers, aggregators and marketplaces capturing a growing proportion of high-intent traffic. AutoTrader alone recorded over 649 million searches in 2025, more than 21 every second.
Search behaviour is also becoming more precise. Buyers are no longer searching broadly by brand or category but for specific models, specifications and pricing. The Toyota Starlet recorded a 108% increase in monthly search volume, while the Suzuki Swift saw a 72% rise. These are signals of buyers entering the market with defined intent and shorter paths to decision.
"Brands are no longer competing to be discovered," says Shaun Pearson, Social Tech Product Owner and Consumer Insights Specialist at YOUKNOW Technologies. "They are competing to remain present and credible throughout the decision journey. Visibility alone creates interest, but it is sustained relevance and real-world validation that ultimately drives conversion."
The report identifies three priorities for automotive marketers: aligning visibility with intent at model level, actively managing brand presence across third-party platforms and connecting brand and conversion activity around a single view of the customer journey.
With fuel price increases and inflationary pressure flagged by Naamsa as emerging headwinds for the remainder of 2026, the window to act while the market is still expanding is narrowing. Any erosion of affordability will sharpen scrutiny further and the brands with the clearest, most accessible digital presence at the point of decision will be best placed to retain buyer consideration when conditions tighten.
"The brands that will lead this market are not necessarily the loudest or the best-funded; they are the ones that treat search, social media and reviews as connected signals, not separate channels. And that integration is becoming more urgent,” notes Mtati. “Generative AI is increasingly shaping the recommendations buyers encounter before they visit a website or a showroom. If a brand isn't showing up credibly in those environments, it is being decided against before the conversation has even started."
The full 2026 South African Automotive Report is available for download here.
