Features / 20 October 2026 / Warren Hawkins

The cars South African women are buying instead of Mazda, Audi, and BMW

Five years ago, Mazda, BMW, and Audi ranked among the top ten car brands women bought most often, but have since been replaced by relative newcomers Chery, Jetour, and Mahindra.

This is according to market intelligence company Lightstone Auto, based on new and used light vehicle sales data sourced through its Signio system since the start of 2021.

Andrew Hibbert, Lightstone Auto Data Analyst, explained that nearly all women buyers are concentrated in urban centres and spoilt for choice, with a wider variety of new and used vehicles than ever before.

Despite this variety, South Africa’s favourite car brand, Toyota, has remained a favourite among the nation’s women buyers since 2021, remaining on top in 2026.

“Toyota has been the preferred brand across all sales to women (new and used combined), with a 17% share in 2021, rising to 19% in 2023, before slipping back to 17% so far in 2026,” explained Hibbert.

Suzuki currently ranks second, having overtaken VW last year, while Chery and Ford complete the top five. The four best-performing brands in 2026 make up 50% of all light vehicles purchased by women.

Looking at the wider top ten brands bought by women in 2026, the list has changed significantly since 2021.

“Coming out of Covid, Toyota and Volkswagen were on top, followed by Ford and Hyundai, with Nissan completing the top five,” explained Lightstone Auto.

“From 6 to 10, we found Suzuki, Mazda, BMW, Haval and Audi, and the top ten made up a combined 81% of sales to women.”

Five years later, Mazda, BMW and Audi have slipped out of the top ten cars bought by women in South Africa to be replaced by Chery, Jetour and Mahindra.

Women buyers are also buying a wider variety of vehicles in 2026, compared to 2021, with the top ten this year responsible for a combined 79% of sales to women, against 81% five years ago.

Preferred car brands among women in South Africa

South Africa’s slow transition to New Energy Vehicles (NEVs) translated into this segment as well, as 80% of female buyers are currently choosing petrol-powered ICE vehicles, according to Hibbert.

“This share has grown from 77% in 2021. Back then, 23% of sales were diesel-powered ICE vehicles, while so-called NEVs made up a mere 0.1% of the market,” he explained.

“In 2026, we see the preference for diesel ICE vehicles shrinking, now down to 17%, while the NEV share has grown to 3%.”

As a result, no NEV-specific brands made it to the list of ten best-selling cars to women in South Africa in 2026.

The ten car brands women bought most often in our market in 2026 are listed below.