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
Stellantis South Africa has announced organisational changes for the Executive Committee with two new members joining.
Charl Timms (photo) has been appointed Commercial Director. He joins Stellantis from the BB Motor Group and was formerly the Director of Sales and Marketing for Nissan South Africa.
He is an established performer and business value creator with extensive experience in the entire spectrum of marketing and sales management, including strategic planning, branding and communications, as well as performance management. He has worked for leading automotive brands Nissan, Toyota and Suzuki in the MENA markets, South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.
Carl holds a master’s degree in Organisational Leadership together with multiple other industry-specific certifications. He has hands-on experience in increasing brand preference and value, sales volume, share and profitability through implementing defined market-required business plans.

The second appointment is Evanie Vather as the new Head of Customer Experience, Training and Dealer Network Development.
Evanie joins Stellantis after 19 years at Nissan South Africa, most recently responsible for Marketing & Sales Control & Finance transformation for Africa. With over 20 years’ experience in the automotive industry, she is a seasoned executive having held several positions in aftersales, sales, export operations, finance and strategic planning.
She is passionate about developing people and inspiring high-performance teams and has a solid background in strategic business and general management.
With vast exposure to Africa operations, she has experience in various roles and sectors, such as sales support, business and strategy planning, inter-company business, export business planning and operations, and aftersales business planning and support.
She has also acquired skills in new business development through the setting up of two assembly plants in Africa and key account management.
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.