Geely confirmed for return to South Africa, where Proton is present – with EX5, Starray, RD6 EV pick-up?

Geely is returning to the South African market after its departure around a decade ago, according to Geely Auto CEO Jerry Gan, reported cars.co.za.

While the Chinese carmaker has yet to officially confirm the models it will bring to South Africa, it has made trademark applications for a selection of model names, which indicates the products that it intends to bring to the market. These include the E5 and EX5, EX2, EX3 and Starray, the latter referencing a crossover model that is sold as the Atlas in other markets.

Also registered for the market is the Riddara trade name, which could also indicate that the RD6 pick-up truck has been earmarked for introduction to South Africa. This was launched in Thailand in October 2024, priced from 899,000 baht (RM117k) at launch while the top variant offers up to 421 km of battery range.

Earlier, the Chinese carmaker also registered the Geometry and Farizon Auto names in 2021 in South Africa, and Zeekr in 2023, which also suggests the brands that could be brought to the market in the future.

The confirmation by Gan also marks Geely’s entry into yet another market where Proton is already present with the X90 and Saga, as well as being a right-hand-drive market, as Geely has also entered Thailand, Indonesia and Australia.

Geely’s entry into the aforementioned right-hand-drive markets raised questions about the company’s promise to use the Proton brand for right-hand drive (RHD) and ASEAN markets, after the Proton-Geely partnership was formalised in June 2017.

In response, the Geely Holding Group told paultan.org that “Geely remains dedicated to its initial pledge of making AHTV the regional production and R&D hub for the ASEAN markets,” responding to questions on the company’s commitment to Proton and Malaysia.

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