Too many cooks are spoiling the broth, reckons Jordan Schmidt.

Chinese products are inundating our automotive sector, and it's highly likely that you've observed the vast array of Chinese cars currently cruising our roads. It appears that an almost endless number of Chinese brands are emerging from the shadows with a particular interest in our market space. It's completely getting out of hand at this point.

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Traditionally, car ownership boils down to taste. Whether you are an enthusiast or just an average road user, you know who the established players are in the automotive space. But there's a near-endless influx of not only new cars but also new brands from China – some 13 are now present – with more on the way. I am growing increasingly worried that legacy brands, which have spent decades building networks and consumer trust, will soon be overwhelmed by the affordable, showroom-attractive cars flooding the market. Yes, Chinese cars are affordable, and yes, they come well equipped, but what you gain in creature comforts, you lose in craftsmanship and soul. Worse still, it also brings a cutthroat element into our South African automotive space that threatens to skew the market into margins over customer integration and experience.

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It also feels increasingly like South Africa is the soft target for Chinese carmakers – an easy-in for selling cars, which in other parts of the world won't be as well received. Normally, I would say that affordability is a good thing since it mobilises people at a lower cost. Yet, I can't help but shake the feeling that there's more beneath the surface, opportunism that takes advantage of a developing nation such as South Africa to move cars at scale in the name of multilayered trade agreements.

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Credit where it's due, though. Brands such as Chery and GWM are consistently improving their quality to match that of well-established manufacturers. But we are now approaching the point where the sheer number of Chinese cars threatens to permanently disrupt the balance of our motoring industry.

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There’s no question that Chinese cars have, and are, improving at an astronomical rate. But with this unrelenting arrival of new brands, we haven’t had time to see if their reliability claims hold up beyond the warranty periods and often fine-print million-kilometre promises. Until such time that we can see if reliability is indeed a focus for especially these new emerging brands, I think that I'll stick to the tried and tested badges.

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