Chery names its first bakkie Grootman
Chery has named its first bakkie for South Africa Grootman, a name chosen by South Africans. The model is planned to make its local debut in the first quarter of 2027.
- Product News
- 2 October 2026
Subaru Southern Africa has teamed up with South African NGO The International Math Club Alliance (TIMCA) to improve numeracy and mathematical competence in under-privileged communities around the country.
TIMCA is an organisation that runs and co-ordinates maths clubs and workshops throughout the country. They empower children by teaching them mathematics, which improves their overall confidence, ability and agency to think for themselves. These clubs are run in under-privileged areas in partnership with schools, orphanages and for children with disabilities.
Subaru Southern Africa has donated a new Subaru Forester to the cause to assist with the transport of the team as they travel across the country. Nteo Nkoli, Marketing Manager at Subaru SA, says: “This is such a critical and admirable project for our country, and we saw the mobility challenges that TIMCA was experiencing, especially considering that many of the areas in which they work, are in rural communities. The donation of one of our Forester vehicles is a small step towards assisting this cause, and we hope we can do more in the future.” The Forester has been dubbed the Mathmobile.
The TIMCA team is currently building a new project in the Harrismith heartland that will touch the lives of 1 000 children early in 2022. By the end of 2022, TIMCA is hoping to have reached 1,600 children in the area with a view to increasing that to 2 000 children in 2023.
Colin Beck, Programme Director at TIMCA, says: “The experience and the processes we are developing in Harrismith, together with the capabilities of the Forester, really will enable us to take this programme further and further in South Africa. It’s a superb vehicle even more so on gravel roads and the purple colour really stands out.”
Nteo Nkoli encourages more people and organisations to get involved. “The TIMCA programme is a funded organisation, and it can only reach these kids through the assistance of others, and I’d like to extend that call to others to assist wherever possible.”
South Africa’s new vehicle market recorded aggregate domestic sales of 61 645 units in September 2026, an increase of 12.7% compared with the 54 706 units sold during September 2025.
SA Auto Week 2026 is scheduled to take place in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, from 13 to 16 October, with the event marking five years of SA Auto Week.
South Africa’s domestic new-vehicle market strengthened in September, recording 61 645 sales, its highest monthly total of 2026. Sales increased by 3 747 vehicles, or 6.5%, from August’s originally reported total and were 12.7% higher than in September 2025.