If you woke up this morning without visiting this year’s Festival of Motoring over the weekend, you missed out. Held at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit, it is the best place to see some of the new vehicles making their way to South Africa. You can even do a few laps on the track in anything from the average sedan to high-performance speed machines. Well, you can’t now; it’s over. But there’s always next year.
If you’re still curious about the new vehicles heading our way, you’re in luck. Stuff had boots on the ground during the Festival’s media day to gather that sort of info (and do a few laps, if we’re honest). Here’s what Saffas can expect in the coming months.
Bring on the bakkies
We’ve already mentioned that Geely’s new Riddara RD6 all-electric bakkie is coming, and that it’ll cost at least R612,000. But that wasn’t the only bakkie on show. Chery had its still-unnamed KP31 on display, kitted out to make it look like it could survive the apocalypse. Voting on the new name closes tonight, Monday, 31 August 2026. Following that, one of the six shortlisted names will be chosen. Those are: Bakkie, Brahman, Chief, Grootman, Nduna, and Orca.
There’s no official word on when it will be available for purchase just yet, or what it’ll cost. But a look at the spec sheet tells us it won’t be cheap. It will likely use a plug-in hybrid 2.5-litre turbodiesel engine outputting 350kW and 800Nm of torque. The other bit of news is that the KP31 (or whatever it ends up being called) could eventually be manufactured at Chery’s newly acquired Rosslyn plant near Pretoria. But that will only be confirmed later.
Electrification speeds up
If there’s one thing you can count on with South Africa’s automotive landscape, it’s that the wave of new energy vehicles shows no signs of slowing down. Of the 17 brands that presented to the media, only six were not Chinese-owned. Of those six, only Suzuki announced that it was joining the EV craze, with its e Vitara.
First announced last year as the brand’s first fully electric vehicle, this compact SUV seems to tick a lot of boxes. Suzuki SA is proposing the four-wheel-drive variant for the country “should conditions support it.” If it does land here, the 4WD e Vitara is equipped with two electric motors, one over each axle, and a 61kWh battery. The system will produce outputs of 135kW and 307Nm, and offers a claimed range of 395km.
Chery showed off its new Chery Q EV, and GWM had its Ora 5 on display. Can you tell which is which?
You can also expect new EVs, hybrids, and a few REEVs (Range-Extended Electric Vehicle) from brands including Dong Feng, Changan, Omoda and Jaecoo, iCaur, Lepas, and Baic in the coming months. What an exciting time to go car shopping.
And now, here’s some eye candy to tempt you into marking next year’s Festival of Motoring on your calendar.
