As World Tourism Day arrives on September 27, Jetour is leveraging its global "Travel With Jetour" campaign to promote the travel and lifestyle side of its business in South Africa. The campaign is part of a broader effort by the brand to establish itself in the local market, roughly two years after entering it. Jetour registered its South African subsidiary in January 2024 and launched locally later that year.
Jetour introduced the right-hand-drive Dashing and X70 Plus models at a Johannesburg event in September 2024, followed by additional models. The brand gained significant recognition in May 2026 when the Jetour T2 won the overall title at the South African Car of the Year awards, also taking the Mild Adventure category. This marked the first time a Chinese-owned brand has won the overall title in the award's 40-year history.
The Jetour T2 has sold over 4,000 units locally since its launch, out of a reported 570,000 units sold worldwide. The model was selected as an official vehicle for the G20 Summit hosted in South Africa. Jetour also claims to have held the top-selling spot in the local boxy SUV segment by the second quarter of 2026. The company's dealer network received the 2025 Gold Award in the National Automobile Dealers' Association's Dealer Satisfaction Index.
Jetour's local strategy focuses on three areas: product line-up, services and partnerships "ecosystem," and marketing tied to culture and lifestyle. This approach includes a local owners' club, a fan music festival held in May 2025, and vehicle positioning built around outdoor and adventure use. The brand aims to create a community and experience-based brand, rather than solely competing on price and specifications.
Globally, Jetour operates through over 2,000 sales and service points across more than 100 markets, with relationships with over 2.5 million customers it calls "travellers." The company has also backed conservation-linked content, including "Return of the Cheetah," a documentary filmed in Namibia produced with Discovery, which won a Gold Telly Award in 2025.
A second season of "Return of the Cheetah" released this year added a further Gold Telly, two Silver Tellys, and a Gold Tower at the New York Festivals Advertising Awards. Jetour has funded similar projects tied to the Sindh ibex in Pakistan, the Tibetan antelope in China, and turtles in Malaysia. These initiatives fall under Jetour's marketing spend and aim to differentiate the brand from competitors.
The effectiveness of Jetour's broader "ecosystem" strategy in driving sales remains to be seen as the brand's presence in the market matures. The company's approach is similar to that of other Chinese brands entering the South African market in recent years, which have also adopted community and experience-based brand-building strategies.
Key points
- Jetour's "Travel With Jetour" campaign aims to promote the brand's travel and lifestyle business in South Africa.
- The Jetour T2 won the overall title at the South African Car of the Year awards in May 2026.
- Jetour operates through over 2,000 sales and service points across more than 100 markets globally.