News / 3 August 2026 / Michael Taylor

The top 10 car brands motorists are buying in South Africa

The South African new-car industry sold an impressive total of 57,708 units in July 2026, supported by a substantial fuel price reduction at the start of the month that brought relief to motorists and businesses.

The 57,708 units represent an increase of 6,150 units compared to the 51,558 sold in July 2025, marking a strong year-on-year improvement of 11.9%.

Toyota was the car brand of choice for most consumers, selling a staggering 14,142 units in a single month.

This was followed by Suzuki, which maintained its lead over VW with 5,994 sales to the latter’s 5,799, putting the two rivals neck and neck.

Hyundai came fourth with 3,058 purchases, while Ford rounded out the top five with 2,927 sales.

Chery then managed to overtake GWM to become South Africa’s best-selling Chinese car brand, with the two automakers selling 2,709 and 2,504 sales, respectively, putting them in sixth and seventh place.

Isuzu claimed the eighth spot thanks to 2,435 customers, and Jetour was the third Chinese brand to crack the top 10 with 2,034 sales.

Last but not least is Kia, which beat Omoda & Jaecoo and Mahindra for the final spot in the top 10, moving 1,920 examples.

Taking a broader look at the industry, passenger car sales clocked in at 40,912 units, their best sales month since September 2014, representing a 12.5% YoY increase from the 36,354 sold in July 2025.

Light commercial vehicles like bakkies and minivans, meanwhile, accounted for 13,710 units, a 10.6% increase from the 12,401 sold last year.

An estimated total of 48,949 vehicle sales last month were attributed to dealerships (84.8%), while 11.2% went to the rental industry. Another 2.2% were the result of government sales, and the remaining 1.8% went to corporate fleets.