Automakers mull plant sharing to cut costs

Author

Brian Ambani
October 08, 2025

Dear subscriber, due to the upcoming public holiday in Kenya, we will not be publishing on Friday, Monday and Tuesday. Have a fruitful weekend and see you on Wednesday!

Chinese automaker Chery Group is considering a partnership with other manufacturers to make vehicles in South Africa. The firm is weighing up forming a joint venture, developing its own greenfield facility or making use of another manufacturer's existing plant. It currently produces its vehicles in China, and building its own African factory would be costly, it says. 

  • Chery manufactures EVs like the Chery eQ5, iCar V23, QQ Domi, Luxeed S7 and plug-in hybrids like Tiggo 8. 

  • Local production could reduce consumer prices. An assessment by Chinese automaker Great Wall Motor says local assembly in South Africa could lead to a 4% gain in margins over importing completely built-up vehicles. 

  • Our take: Factory sharing could boost South Africa as an EV exporter to other African countries… Read more (2 min)

The number of electric vehicles registered in Egypt between July 2021 and September 2025 hit 18,506, according to the Egyptian Compulsory Vehicle Insurance Pool. Out of this, 15,950 are cars while the rest are scooters, vans, trucks and buses. Last month alone, new electric cars registered in Egypt hit 1,324, highlighting the country’s rapid EV adoption. 

  • Egypt has withdrawn fuel subsidies, leading to cumulative price increases of up to 25% in 2023 and a further increase of up to 15% in April 2025. This has pushed Egyptians towards EVs and hybrids. 

  • The country has more than 10 million licensed vehicles, meaning EVs are still a tiny proportion.   

  • Our take: Egypt will need to strike a balance between ensuring charging companies are profitable and keeping prices affordable… Read more (2 min)

Mobility Rising has aggregated 14 new electric mobility jobs across Africa this week. East Africa leads the listings, driven by multiple openings from Spiro, Zembo, and GOGO Electric. West Africa follows closely, with steady recruitment by MAX and Greenwheels signalling continued growth in Nigeria and Ghana. North and Southern Africa registered the fewest roles.

  • Spiro is back on the job board after a three-week absence, signalling renewed momentum in its regional hiring drive. The addition of a Senior Cybersecurity Manager role highlights growing concern around data protection and digital infrastructure as the company scales operations.

  • There’s a noticeable uptick in tech-oriented roles across Africa’s mobility sector, from embedded systems engineers at Balancell and EVRaid to digital marketing leads at Spiro. This trend points to a deeper integration of technology in vehicle systems, communications, and operational management.

  • Click here to see the new roles… (2 min)

Kiri EV conducts an electric mobility training in Nairobi, Kenya

Events

📅 Join experts at the EV Revolution Africa in Ghana (Oct 9)

📅 Attend Kenya’s National Public Transport Summit (Nov 26)

📅 Register for Renewable Energy Forum Africa happening in Ghana (Dec 3)

Various 

🏍️ Blu EV partners with Barq to distribute their e-motorcycles in Alexandria

⚡ Everlectric spreads EV-as-a-service model to Western Cape, South Africa

💰 Solareff to sell its major stake in Grid Cars (SA’s charge point operator)

Seen on LinkedIn 

Trey Ngugi, Founder of Yieldbnk, says, “The EV wave is unstoppable, and the value capture benefits they give both personal and business use cases cannot be compared to their combustion engine counterparts. I reckon two key levers will accelerate the EV adoption wave, cheap energy availability (Grid & Charging stations) and cheap ownership onramps (financing and dealer networks).”