Best-selling Hatchbacks in South Africa – starting at R175,000
Despite the challenges faced by South Africa’s motor industry, including high lending rates, elevated inflation levels, and lower household income, there are still some popular brand and model choices among those who managed to purchase a new car last month.
The Naamsa New Vehicle Sales stats show aggregate domestic new vehicle sales in November 2023 – at 45,075 units – reflected a decline of 4,911 units, or a fall of 9.8% from the 49,986 vehicles sold in November 2022.
Additionally, the November 2023 new passenger car market at 29,384 units had registered a significant decline of 4,052 cars, or a loss of 12.1%, compared to the new cars sold in November 2022.
Adding to this is the 3.9% fall in domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies, and mini-buses, and the 13.5% loss in sales in the medium commercial vehicle segment.
Naamsa added that the new vehicle market bore its most significant losses during November since the beginning of 2021, when the market was beginning its slow recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Sales were 1.3% below the pre-pandemic level of 2019 at the beginning of 2023. For the year to date, it was now 0.6% ahead of the same period in 2022, which means that, depending on the December sales figures, it could miss out on returning to the pre-pandemic level after three years,” it said.
According to sales data from Naamsa, the VW Polo Vivo remains South Africa’s favourite hatchback, despite the industry-wide decline in sales.
The Vivo hatchback sold 1,913 units, which is lower than the 2,280 units sold in the previous month. The Toyota Starlet, the second most popular hatchback in November, recorded 1,176 unit sales compared to 1,363 units in October.
Similarly, the Suzuki Swift was able to hold third place despite a drop from 1,248 units to 1,117 units.
Hyundai’s Grand i10 moved up to fourth place with 965 units sold, surpassing the VW Polo and Toyota Vitz, which sold 930 and 855 units, respectively.
The top 10 best-selling hatchbacks, including the abovementioned models, and how many units were sold in November 2023 are listed below.
1. VW Polo Vivo – 1,913 units
- Starting price: R259,400
2. Toyota Starlet – 1,176 units
- Starting price: R252,100
3. Suzuki Swift – 1,117 units
- Starting price: R205,900
4. Hyundai Grand i10 – 965 units
- Starting price: R234,500
5. VW Polo – 930 units
- Starting price: R348,200
6. Toyota Vitz – 855 units
- Starting price: R189,900
7. Renault Kwid – 589 units
- Starting price: R192,999
8. Hyundai i20 – 565 units
- Starting price: R325,500
9. Suzuki S-Presso – 446 units
- Starting price: R174,900
10. Suzuki Baleno – 414 units
- Starting price: R247,900
Read: Huge loss for SA Taxi