South Africa's unbroken streak of rising vehicle sales now goes back 12 months.
South Africa’s unbroken record of surging new vehicle sales continued into September with a ninth consecutive month of increases this year, and third in a row of overall sales breaching 50 000 units.
Top 10 best-selling models
In a changed picture from August, the Toyota Hilux retained its position as the country’s best-seller, and the only vehicle to exceed 3 000 units with a total of 3 639 units, but this time ahead of the Volkswagen Polo and Ford Ranger.
Jumping one and two places respectively from last month, the Kariega-built Polo Vivo moved 2 470 versus the Silverton-made Ranger’s 2 270.
Keeping station in fourth, the Suzuki Swift remained the best-selling non-locally produced product with sales of 2 265, followed by the Isuzu D-Max, which jumped from sixth place last month to fifth with an offset of 2 054.
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Dropping four places to sixth, the Toyota Corolla Cross raked in 1 891 signatures, ahead of the Toyota Starlet, which recorded a similar place count but in the opposite direction from August.
Staying eighth, the Hyundai Grand i10 finished ahead of the Toyota Vitz, which recorded a four place hike to ninth position from August’s 13th.
Completing another even split between locally made and imported products in the top 10, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro placed 10th on 1 377.
Month in detail
Having broken a record set back in July 2017, the September numbers by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) yielded sales of 54 700 units, an uptake of 24.3% from the last year’s 44 000, and the official highest in a single month since September 2015.
In the various segments, passenger vehicles showed a second consecutive month of sales surpassing 30 000 units with an offset of 38 603, 28% up on last year’s 30 167, and its highest since October 2014.
Light commercial vehicles added to the month’s gains with sales of 13 078, an increase of 19.7% from the 10 924 examples moved last year.
As in August though, medium and heavy-duty commercial vehicle sales were mixed – the former decreasing 1.5% from 782 to 767, and the latter rising by 5.9% from 2 127 to 2 252.
For the second month in a row, new vehicle exports ended in the black with a substantial rise of 32.9% from last year’s 29 180 to 38 772 this year.
In total, dealer sales made up 80.1% or 43 817 of the 54 700 vehicles sold, with the rest being split up as follows:
- Rental agencies: 15.2%
- Corporate fleets: 2.7%
- Government: 2.0%
Naamsa reaction
“The broader economy surprised on the upside in the second quarter, with GDP expanding by 0.8%
year-on-year and household spending showing resilience. Yet the medium-term growth outlook remains
muted,” Naamsa said in a statement.
“Encouragingly for households, consumer inflation slowed to 3.3% year-on-year in August, below
expectations. Lower food, fuel, and transport costs have eased pressure on disposable incomes,
while subdued vehicle price inflation has helped sustain affordability in certain segments.
“This disinflationary trend offered some relief for car buyers, particularly in the small-car and entry-level categories, where cost sensitivity is the highest.”
Top 10 best-selling marques
The country’s best-selling brands, as well as their totals and market ranking from August, are as follows:
- Toyota – 14 146 (-)
- Suzuki – 6 072 (-)
- Volkswagen – 5 763 (-)
- Ford – 3 093 (+1)
- Hyundai – 3 005 (-1)
- Great Wall Motors – 2 620 (-)
- Isuzu – 2 478 (+1)
- Chery – 2 264 (-1)
- Kia – 1 706 (-)
- Mahindra – 1 524 (+1)
September top 50 best-sellers
- Toyota Hilux – 3 639
- Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 470
- Ford Ranger – 2 270
- Suzuki Swift – 2 265
- Isuzu D-Max – 2 054
- Toyota Corolla Cross – 1 891
- Toyota Starlet – 1 629
- Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 471
- Toyota Vitz – 1 446
- Chery Tiggo 4 Pro – 1 377
- GWM Haval Jolion – 1 215
- Toyota Urban Cruiser – 1 191
- Suzuki Fronx – 1 054
- Kia Sonet – 1 031
- Nissan Magnite – 1 013
- Toyota Fortuner – 842
- Volkswagen Polo – 789
- Omoda C5 – 784
- Suzuki Ertiga – 765
- Mahindra Pik Up – 750
- Renault Kwid – 669
- Toyota Starlet Cross – 666
- Volkswagen T-Cross – 606
- Mahindra XUV 3X0 – 601
- Toyota Rumion – 594
- Toyota HiAce – 591
- Toyota Land Cruiser 70-series – 526
- Jetour Dashing – 519
- GMW Haval H6 – 496
- Suzuki Baleno – 478
- GWM P-Series – 458
- Citroën C3 – 430
- Volkswagen Amarok – 392
- Volkswagen Polo Sedan – 390
- Ford Territory – 368
- Hyundai Exter – 355
- Chery Tiggo Cross – 350
- Nissan Navara – 337
- Renault Kiger – 332
- Chery Tiggo 7 Pro – 328
- Suzuki S-Presso – 305
- Renault Triber – 298
- Jetour X70 Plus – 296
- Ford Everest – 277
- Toyota Land Cruiser Prado – 276
- Suzuki Jimny – 270
- Hyundai i20 – 269
- MG ZS – 252
- Honda Elevate – 250
- Volkswagen Tiguan – 236
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