Jameel Motors to add a new Chinese car maker to the South African automotive landscape

If you haven’t had your fill of Chinese car brands in South Africa, you’re in luck. A few new faces will launch shortly when Jameel Motors makes its first entry into our local market. But here’s where things get a little confusing.

Jameel Motors will make its initial foray into SA’s car market but at least initially, it’ll distribute cars made by Changan and Deepal. The former will see standard vehicle models turning up, including sedans, SUVs, and bakkies (powered by petrochemicals); the latter is responsible for EVs.

What’s up, Jameel?

There’s little data for the vehicles we can expect from Jameel Motors, though the company shared images of its Changan Hunter (seen above) with the announcement. The bakkie is a 2.4l turbo diesel that could prove popular in the local market. Also seen was the Deepal S07, a high-tech EV in the SUV segment with up to 475km of range.

The announcement also featured images of the Changan Alvsin, a compact sedan, as well as the brand’s 1.5l turbo X7 mid-sized SUV. We can’t be sure these are among the launch vehicles, but it seems a little silly to use their images to punt the announcement and not have them turn up. We’re not in marketing, though, so what do we know?

We do know when official confirmation of Jameel’s first crop of vehicles will turn up. More or less. The launch is slated for Q4 2025, so it could well be that there will be something unexpected under your Christmas tree. Someone will have to like you enough to buy you a car, but that’s a problem for you to solve.