Features / 16 May 2026 / Warren Hawkins

The brands exporting the most cars out of South Africa

While South Africa’s new vehicle market maintained its strong start to the year in April, the export market suffered a slight contraction by comparison.

According to the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa), domestic demand continued to anchor the overall industry activity despite the increasingly uncertain global backdrop.

Naamsa’s data showed that last month’s domestic new vehicle sales represented the best April performance since 2013, rising to 47,979 units – an increase of 5,512 units, or 13.0% – from the 42,467 vehicles sold in April 2025.

Unfortunately for local manufacturers, the export market did not share in this success, as export volumes decreased marginally year-on-year last month.

“Exports remained under pressure in April 2026, with vehicle export sales reaching 30,939 units, down 1,290 units, or 4.0%, compared to the 32,229 units exported in the corresponding month last year,” noted Naamsa.

“While ongoing geopolitical developments and their impact on key destination markets continue to weigh on export performance, the April decline was largely driven by the LCV segment, which contracted sharply by 42.9% due to the phased rollout of new-model production by a key exporter”

The country’s top exporter in April was VW, which produces every Polo sold worldwide at its Kariega plant, right here in South Africa.

The prominent German passenger carmaker managed to ship 10,512 units out of the country last month, beating two luxury brands – and compatriots – in the process.

These were BMW, which claimed second place with 6,100 exported units – mostly X3 SUVs built at its Rosslyn plant – followed closely by rivals Mercedes-Benz.

The latter managed to build and ship 5,500 units, which comprised mainly C-Class sedans built at its plant in East London, now KuGompo City.

Following these were two brands often caught up in South Africa’s bakkie battles, Ford and Toyota, which shipped 4,183 and 3,443 models respectively last month.

Isuzu exported a total of 356 units, and Nissan managed 348,

South Africa’s top vehicle exporters

Despite South Africa’s car manufacturers struggling in 2026, manufacturing and the automotive industry as a whole remain crucial players in the local economy.

Below is a list of the country’s top exporters in April 2026. Click on their underlined names to learn more about each manufacturer’s local offerings and line-ups.