Toyota Hilux still leads the way as new vehicle sales soar in June

New vehicle sales have now gone 20 months without an overall decrease.


With the new ninth generation having debuted last month, the Toyota Hilux ended June as the nation’s best-seller as part of a yet another record for new vehicle sales.

A month of 1 000s

A month which saw the local automotive industry register 20 months of straight sales increases overall, the Hilux recorded an offset of 3 464 units, followed for the second month in a row by the Volkswagen Polo Vivo on 2 395 and the Ford Ranger on 2 150.

Ranking fourth, the combination of the Chery Tiggo 4 and Cross amassed sales of 2 070 units, its highest to date, thus retaining its position as the best-selling Chinese vehicle and non-locally produced model.

After posting a significant drop in May as a result of having been on run-out, the newly facelift Isuzu D-Max jumped six places to fifth, with a total of 1 724 units moved.

Dropping a place to sixth, the Hyundai Grand i10’s 1 627 saw it finish above the Great Wall Motors (GWM) Jolion’s 1 424 and the Suzuki Swift’s 1 388.

Completing an even split between locally-made and imported vehicles in the top 10, the Toyota Corolla Cross moved 1 356, while its stablemate, the Urban Cruiser, finished 10th with an offset of 1 356 units.

More surprises

In total, 12 models recorded sales of more than 1 000 units, this not including May’s standout, the Jetour T2, which dropped five places from 10th to 15th on 918.

Lower down, Omoda shifted 901 examples of the C5, while the Toyota HiAce moved 656 and the Volkswagen T-Cross a personal best of 619.

Wolfsburg’s record run also included 497 sales of the Amarok, while returning Tata shifted 514 units of the Tiago.

At the bottom end of the top 50, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ finished its first full month with the departure of 264 units from dealership floors.

Best-selling brands

Out of the best-selling brands, Toyota upped its tally significantly from May by selling 12 417 vehicles as opposed to 10 667.

Suzuki kept its second place on 5 689, followed by Volkswagen, whose sales include those of Audi, registered 5 613 units.

Staying steady in fourth and fifth places were Hyundai and Ford on 2 986 and 2 961, followed by GWM on 2 608 and Chery with 2 602.

Isuzu jumped two places from May to eighth in June on 2 121, while Jetour broke yet another record with its highest sales numbers to date of 2 054. Completing the top 10 was Mahindra on 1 669.

Top 15

  1. Toyota – 12 417
  2. Suzuki – 5 689
  3. Volkswagen – 5 613
  4. Hyundai – 2 986
  5. Ford – 2 961
  6. GWM – 2 608
  7. Chery – 2 602
  8. Isuzu – 2 121
  9. Jetour – 2 054
  10. Mahindra – 1 669
  11. Kia – 1 416
  12. Omoda & Jaecoo – 1 416
  13. Renault – 1 326
  14. BMW – 1 314
  15. BYD – 800

Month in detail

Despite the still high fuel prices in June, plus the added reduction in consumer spending, new vehicle sales once again surpassed 50 000 units in June to settle on 54 482.

An uptake of 15.3% from June last year’s 47 269, the figures posted by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) represented the month’s overall best since 2007.

The rest of the various segments were as follows:

Passenger VehiclesLight Commercial VehiclesMedium-Duty Commercial VehiclesHeavy-Duty Commercial VehiclesExports
202532 51112 1556431 96036 377
202638 39313 1716472 27133 879
Variation+18.1%+8.4%+0.6%+15.9%-6.9%

May Top 50 best-sellers

  1. Toyota Hilux – 3 464
  2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 395*
  3. Ford Ranger – 2 150
  4. Chery Tiggo 4 – 2 070#
  5. Isuzu D-Max – 1 724
  6. Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 627*
  7. GWM Haval Jolion – 1 424
  8. Suzuki Swift – 1 388
  9. Toyota Corolla Cross – 1 356
  10. Toyota Urban Cruiser – 1 174
  11. Suzuki Ertiga – 1 150
  12. Suzuki Fronx – 1 092
  13. Toyota Starlet – 968
  14. Toyota Vitz – 921
  15. Jetour T2 – 918
  16. Omoda C5 – 901
  17. Volkswagen Polo – 864
  18. Kia Sonet – 833
  19. Mahindra XUV 3X0 – 816
  20. Toyota Fortuner – 726
  21. Mahindra Pik Up – 701
  22. Toyota HiAce – 656#
  23. Volkswagen T-Cross – 619
  24. GWM P-Series – 565#
  25. Toyota Rumion – 561
  26. Jetour Dashing – 531
  27. Tata Tiago – 514
  28. Renault Kwid – 505
  29. Renault Triber – 498*
  30. Volkswagen Amarok – 497
  31. Nissan Magnite – 482*
  32. Toyota Land Cruiser 70-Series – 465#
  33. Hyundai i20 – 451
  34. Hyundai Exter – 405
  35. Jetour T1 – 398
  36. Toyota Starlet Cross – 398
  37. GWM Haval H6 – 389
  38. Suzuki DZire – 389
  39. Ford Everest – 380
  40. Chery Tiggo 7 – 365
  41. Suzuki Baleno – 355
  42. Toyota RAV4 – 355
  43. BMW X3 – 343
  44. Ford Territory – 343
  45. Toyota Land Cruiser Prado – 307
  46. Suzuki Across – 298
  47. Nissan Navara – 294
  48. Renault Kiger – 272
  49. Suzuki Eeco – 272
  50. Peugeot Landtrek – 267

    Note:
    *: Includes commercial variants
    #: Combinations of two models