Motoring

The top selling cars from South Africa’s most popular brands – with pricing

Staff Writer

 ·16 Apr 2022

New data from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) shows that South Africa’s new-vehicle market has been on an upward trajectory in the first quarter of 2022.

Total domestic new vehicle sales in March 2022 amounted to 50,607 – the highest monthly sales figure since the pre-pandemic October 2019 sales.

Toyota continued its reign as the leading manufacturer of local car sales, with 15,008 units sold, 4,861 of which were Hilux’s. Volkswagen Group, with 6,433 vehicles sold locally, was in second with Hyundai third with 3,816 units.

Of the total reported industry sale of 50,607 vehicles, 85.8% or 43,411 units represented dealer sales,  an estimated 8.2% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 4.6% to the government and 1.4% to industry corporate fleets.

New passenger car sales for March 2022 had a substantial increase of 7,191 when compared to the year before.

Fewer people were interested in light commercial vehicles as well as bakkies and mini-buses when compared to March 2021, with a decline of 389 units.

These brands sold the most vehicles locally:

• Toyota – 15 008 units
• Volkswagen Group – 6 433 units
• Hyundai – 3 816 units
• Suzuki – 3 347 units
• Nissan – 3 132 units
• Renault – 2 600 units
• Ford – 2 235 units
• Haval – 2 036 units
• Kia – 1 910 units
• Isuzu – 1 723 units

2022 expectations

“Escalating inflation risks, ongoing record fuel prices, low and stagnant economic growth and a rising interest rate cycle will impact the new market negatively going forward,” said Naamsa.

This paired with the South African Reserve Banks raising the interest rates and the upward trend is set to continue over the balance of the year in an effort to subdue inflation.

The rise in interest rates by the South African Reserve Bank paired with the upward trend is set to continue over the balance of the year in an effort to subdue inflation.

“Global growth is expected to moderate as the Russia-Ukraine conflict increasingly impacts on demand and supply chains, in particular in Europe, the domestic industry’s top export region.”

Naamsa noted that despite the decline in vehicle exports during March, prospects for 2022 remain optimistic on the back of further new locally manufactured model introductions during the year.

BusinessTech looked at the vehicles that sold the most units from major brands in March:

Toyota

• Toyota Hilux 2.7 Double Cab S
• R479,200

Volkswagen Group SA

• Volkswagen Polo Vivo Hatch 1.4 Trendline
• R235,000

Hyundai

• Hyundai Venue
• From R266,500

Suzuki

• Suzuki Swift 1.2 GA
• R184,900

Nissan

• Nissan NP200 1.6i Safety Pack
• R203,900

Renault

• Renault Kwid
• R180,400

Ford

• Ford Ranger
• From R408,700

Haval

• Haval Jolion
• From R317,900

Kia

• Kia Picanto
• R193,995

Isuzu

• Isuzu D-Max
• R424,900

Mahindra

• XUV300 1.2T W4
• R234,999

Fiat

• Fiat 500
• R223,900

Honda

•  Honda WR-V
• R307,600

Peugeot

• Peugeot 208
• From R302,900

BMW

• BMW X3
• From R896,224

Jeep

• Jeep Grand Cherokee
• From R899,900

Land Rover

• Defender
• From R1,232,294

Audi

• Audi Q3
• From R619,100

Citroen

• Citroen C3 Aircross
• From R401,900

Lexus

• Lexus NX
• R806,000

Mazda

• Mazda CX-5
• From R493,100

Mercedes-Benz

Naamsa had limited reporting on Mercedes figures as the car manufacturer did not submit detailed figures for March 2022. Based off previous findings as well as the 2021 AutoTrader Annual Car Industry Report , the C-Class is the most enquired after Mercedes vehicle.

• Mercedes C-Class Coupe
• From R857,956

Mini

• Mini Countryman
• From R612,086

Mitsubishi

• Mitsubishi Pajero Sport
• From R656,995

Opel

• Opel Corsa
• R299,900

Subaru

• Subaru Forestor
• From R496,000

Volvo

• Volvo XC60
• From R750,963

Read: Cape Town plans to spend R1 billion to end peak-hour traffic jams