South Africa Weighs Higher Car Import Duties As WTO Bound Rates Come Into Focus

A worker cleans a BMW i7 xDrive60 electric car while it is charging at a BMW dealership in Sandton, South Africa, on 27 October 2023. Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko

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.

In the same parliamentary sitting on Tuesday, 27 January, 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.