Johannesburg - Despite all the economic doom and gloom, exacerbated by record levels of load shedding, rising interest rates and high fuel prices, South Africa’s new vehicle market continues to grow, albeit at a slightly slower pace.
According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), 47 786 new vehicles were sold in September 2022, representing an increase of 10.8% over the same month last year.
While passenger car sales have led the growth for most of this year, last month it was bakkies that took the lead, with a year-on-year sales growth of 15.3%, versus 9.7% for the cars and SUVs. The latter was fuelled by the rental car industry, which accounted for 18.9% of sales.
On the sales charts, it was the usual suspects that dominated, with the Toyota Hilux leading the way with 2 842 sales, followed by the Volkswagen Polo Vivo, at 2 473.
The Isuzu D-Max was the country’s second most popular bakkie in September, with a volume of 1 968, while the Ford Ranger managed 1 604 sales, which is impressive considering that the current model will be replaced soon.
On the passenger car front, the Polo Vivo’s closest challenger was the Toyota Urban Cruiser, which found 1 946 homes last month. It was followed by the Toyota Hi-Ace (1 526), Toyota Corolla Cross (1 434) and Volkswagen Polo (1 371).
SA’S 50 TOP SELLING VEHICLES: SEPTEMBER 2022
Toyota was the country’s top-selling manufacturer overall, with a volume of 12 059, almost double that of second place Volkswagen’s 6 750. Suzuki took third place with 4 355 units, followed by Hyundai (3 146), Nissan (2 649) and Renault (2 601).
Year-to-date, South Africa’s new vehicle market is 13.4% ahead of where it was at the same time last year, according to Naamsa.
Exports have also shown some impressive growth, gaining 14.4% year-to-date. September was a particularly strong month for exports, which grew by 104.6% versus the same month last year, to 41 474.
SA’s top export products were the Ford Ranger (9 829), Volkswagen Polo (9 656), BMW X3 (7 014), Toyota Hilux (6 820) and Mercedes C-Class (6 501).
On the local front, the market remains price sensitive, as indicated by the quantity of affordable hatchbacks and SUVs that feature near the top of the sales charts.
“Consumers are looking for value in the new vehicle market,” said WesBank marketing head, Lebogang Gaoaketse.
“Despite the demand being in favour of new vehicle deals, the average deal size has remained consistent year-on-year, indicating that affordability remains a major consideration. Consumers are also making the choice in the face of pre-owned deals that display price inflation of over 20%.”
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