If you want a quick summary of the state of the South African auto industry, you need to look no further than the list of the best-selling cars.
The Automotive Business Council recently published the official sales figures for October 2025, revealing that the top three passenger cars in South Africa are the VW Polo Vivo, the Suzuki Swift, and the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro.
In other words, the top three best-selling models are made in South Africa, India, and China.
It’s an interesting pattern that highlights a much broader trend in our market, where locally-made vehicles still dominate, but where Indian and Chinese imports are rapidly gaining favour with consumers.
These were the top 15 best-selling passenger cars in South Africa last month, and where they are made:
- VW Polo Vivo – South Africa
- Suzuki Swift – India
- Chery Tiggo 4 Pro – China
- Toyota Corolla Cross – South Africa
- Toyota Starlet – India
- Haval Jolion – China
- Suzuki Fronx – India
- Toyota Urban Cruiser – India
- Hyundai Grand i10 – India
- Kia Sonet – India
- Toyota Vitz – India
- Toyota Starlet Cross – India
- Nissan Magnite – India
- Omoda C5 – China
- VW Polo – South Africa
The Polo Vivo is still the number one passenger car in South Africa, but its upmarket sibling, the Polo, has fallen a long way to 15th place – a far cry from where it would have placed a few years earlier.
Both hatchbacks are made at VW’s factory in Kariega in the Eastern Cape and have been big sellers for many years, but the Polo’s sales have started to decline due to its ever-growing price tag.
Today, the cheapest Polo starts at R373,800 – a steep price for a B-segment hatchback – and many consumers have started to look elsewhere for more affordable transport.
A significant portion of all vehicle sales in South Africa are for models under R300,000, which is illustrated by the top three models – the Vivo, the Swift, and the Tiggo 4.
Affordability is King in South Africa
It’s not hard to understand why these three models are so popular when you look at their price tags:
All three cars fall below the critical R300,000 threshold, which is often used a benchmark for affordability in South Africa.
Even here, the locally-made Vivo is the most expensive of the three, especially when you consider that the Chery is a crossover while the VW is a hatchback.
It underscores a problem with the South African auto industry, which is that it produces very few cars that are accessible to the average household.
Only three of the top 15 models are South African-made, while all of the others are sourced from India or China.
Even Toyota, the largest automaker by a wide margin, lacks an affordable, locally-made product, which is why many of its cheaper cars are now rebadged Suzuki cars imported from India.
The one area where domestically produced vehicles still dominate is bakkies, as the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger, and Isuzu D-Max are still among the best-selling models in the country.
More so than other vehicles, bakkies tend to benefit from local production because of their workhorse nature, as this means they quickly rack up miles and are kept for years on end, leading to steady demand for replacement parts and a widespread dealer network.
However, even this sector is starting to become unaffordable for South Africans, as the cheapest Hilux, Ranger, and D-Max double cabs (the body type primarily aimed at private households) all cost over half a million rand now:
- Toyota Hilux Double Cab – R528,800
- Isuzu D-Max Hilux Double Cab – R567,200
- Ford Ranger Double Cab – R620,000
Bakkie enthusiasts tend to be more brand-loyal than other car buyers, but even so, it remains to be seen how long these models will remain on top when comparable models from China and India are entering the market at prices below R500,000.
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