Features / 1 December 2025 / Michael Taylor

Best-selling car brands in South Africa

South Africa’s auto industry delivered a strong performance this November with impressive 54,896 sales.

This marks a 12.5% year-on-year increase from November 2024, and year-to-date sales are 15.4% stronger than they were over the last corresponding period.

Toyota was the top dog as usual, selling an incredible 13,576 units over the last 30 days.

This was followed by Suzuki, which also had a strong showing with 6,385 units.

VW wasn’t far behind in third place with 6,044 sales, and Ford managed to overtake Hyundai to claim fourth place with 3,095 purchases.

The Korean automaker, meanwhile, landed in fifth place with 3,051 units.

Outside the top five, GWM continues to be the best-selling Chinese car brand in South Africa with 2,534 units, though Chery managed to close the gap and place seventh with 2,506 sales.

As a result, Isuzu dropped down to eighth place with 2,124 units, and Kia came ninth with 1,828 showroom success stories.

Last but not least is Renault, which knocked Mahindra out of the top 10 thanks to its 1,415 customers.

Of the 54,896 vehicles sold in South Africa last month, 43,702 (79.6%) were thanks to dealer sales while 16.3% went to the rental industry.

Another 2.4% went to the government, and the remaining 1.7% were snapped up by industry corporate fleets.

Passenger car sales clocked in at 39,158 units, which is an 11% improvement from November 2024.

Light commercial vehicles like minivans and bakkies saw an even bigger jump in sales, increasing 20.5% to 13,048.

Unfortunately, vehicle exports declined by 3.9% to 37,285 units, though Naamsa noted that the slight drop is understandable in the wake of renewed geopolitical tensions and lower global demand.