2022 Toyota Corolla Cross The Toyota Corolla Cross was South Africa’s best-selling passenger vehicle in October.
Johannesburg - As the new vehicle market continues to grow at a steady pace, with October seeing an 11.4% year-on-year growth for the industry as a whole, Toyota is clearly taking no prisoners.
Fully back on track after re-opening its local Prospecton plant in mid-August, following the devastating KZN floods that closed it for four months, Toyota enjoyed a clean sweep of the podium last month. The Hilux found 3 336 new homes last month, followed by its locally-produced Corolla Cross counterpart (2 014), and the Indian-built Urban Cruiser (1 820).
Next up it was a close tussle between the current Ford Ranger (remember there’s a new and potentially game-changing model coming soon) and the Isuzu D-Max, which both saw a volume of just over 1 800 units. In the compact hatchback race, the Suzuki Swift, with its volume of 1 693 units, edged out the evergreen Volkswagen Polo Vivo (1 583).
SA’S 50 TOP SELLING VEHICLES: OCTOBER 2022
As you would expect, Toyota sold the highest volume overall by a significant margin, with a total sales figure of 12 574. It was followed by Volkswagen (4 904), Suzuki Auto (4 112), Nissan (3 011) and Hyundai (2 703).
Haval was the dominant Chinese player once again, in sixth place overall with 2 602 sales, and the H6 enjoyed a particularly strong month with a volume of close to 1000 units, and the Jolion was not far behind.
South Africa’s passenger car market still enjoyed the lion’s share of the vehicle sales pie in October, with 30 597 units sold, while bakkie and LCV sales amounted to 12 738. It was the latter that enjoyed the strongest year-on-year growth, however, at 14.3%, versus the 10.4% achieved by the cars.
Although the vehicle market’s growth is slowing, it is still looking likely to top the 500 000 mark by year-end, says WesBank marketing head Lebogang Gaoaketse. In fact, year to date the market has grown by just over 50 000 units, versus the same period last year, which is effectively a full sales month all on its own.
"October sales remained reassuringly robust given the logistical disruptions experienced during the month,” Gaoaketse added.
“With the rise in interest rates last month and the economic outlook provided by the mid-term budget, South African consumers are faced with a balancing act of affordability versus a growing need to replace their vehicles, a decision largely delayed over the past two years given the pandemic. It provides a cauldron of opportunity for the motor industry to meet the needs of motorists.”
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