By Nqobile Dludla JOHANNESBURG, Jan 28 (Reuters) - South Africa's automotive industry is not calling for steep hikes in vehicle import duties and instead wants targeted auto policy adjustments to
BMW CEO: South Africa's Auto Industry Not Pushing for High Import Duties
South Africa's Automotive Industry and Tariff Discussions
By Nqobile Dludla
Current Import Duty Landscape
JOHANNESBURG, Jan 28 (Reuters) - South Africa's automotive industry is not calling for steep hikes in vehicle import duties and instead wants targeted auto policy adjustments to support domestic manufacturing, BMW South Africa's CEO said on Wednesday.
Impact on Consumers and Market
Peter van Binsbergen was responding to questions on remarks to parliament by the country's international trade commissioner, flagging the gap between South Africa's 25% duty on imported vehicles and the 50% maximum rate allowed by the World Trade Organization.
BMW's Performance in the Market
In the same parliamentary sitting on Tuesday, deputy trade minister Zuko Godlimpi told lawmakers that his ministry is reassessing hiking tariffs on imported vehicles.
"Fifty percent is the bound rate within WTO. I can tell you now, no one's asking for that from the industry side. That must be very clear," van Binsbergen told journalists. "He (the commissioner) was just saying what's possible."
"We're looking for a fine-tuning of all the levers within APDP and not just one big hammer," said the CEO, who is also president of the country's car industry body Naamsa, referring to South Africa's automotive production incentive scheme.
A jump to the 50% ceiling would be "a shock to the system", said van Binsbergen, warning of unintended consequences for consumers, "the worst being affordability for the entry-level consumer".
BMW LEADS PREMIUM SEGMENT
The CEO said BMW's South African arm recorded the highest-ever premium segment share locally for its BMW brand last year, growing to 46.2% from 44.3% in 2024 despite ongoing affordability pressures and intensifying competition, including from Chinese brands.
The BMW brand also grew retail sales by 12% in 2025, while its Rosslyn plant produced more than 79,000 vehicles last year, the highest volume in the plant's 52-year history.
The automaker plans to launch the BMW iX3, the first model from the all-electric "Neue Klasse" series, in South Africa in the second half of the year.
The model is one of BMW's great hopes in the premium electric vehicle market globally. In South Africa, the BMW brand has a 22% market share of the battery electric vehicle segment.
(Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Jan Harvey)
