Throughout 2021, 464,122 new vehicles were sold in South Africa, making the country’s new-car market one of the smaller ones out there.
In countries like the United States (U.S.), 14.9 million new cars were sold during the same time.
Even when the local population of around 59 million people is taken into account, South African new-car sales in 2021 lagged behind countries such as Italy, which has a nearly identical population size and saw 1.46 million new cars moved during the year.
The countries
We selected 19 countries from all corners of the world to get a good picture of where South Africa lies in terms of annual new-car sales.
Despite having a relatively large population compared to many of the countries in this comparison, South Africa’s 464,000-odd sales in 2021 put it in 13th place out of the 20 countries on review.
China ranked as the largest market, thanks to a population of just over 1.4 billion people who bought 26 million new vehicles during this period.
The U.S. ranks second with 14.9 million sales and a population of 331 million, with Japan sitting in third with 4.5 million sales and 125 million people.
Surprisingly, India had the second-largest population of the 20 countries we looked at, at 1.38 billion, but ranked fourth in new-car sales at just over 3 million units.
Germany then placed fifth with 2.62 million sales, even though its 83-million-strong population is far below Brazil’s 212 million, which sits in sixth place with a smidge over 2 million sales.
The numbers
The 20 countries on review ranked as follows in terms of the number of new cars sold in the respective market in 2021:
- China – 26,280,000
- United States – 14,900,000
- Japan – 4,448,340
- India – 3,082,000
- Germany – 2,620,000
- Brazil – 2,075,223
- Canada – 1,640,000
- Russia – 1,570,000
- Italy – 1,460,000
- England – 1,400,000
- Australia – 1,049,831
- Thailand – 759,119
- South Africa – 464,122
- Argentina – 394,576
- Sweden – 301,008
- Egypt – 290,000
- Switzerland – 272,067
- United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) – 216,535
- Scotland – 137,120
- Ireland – 104,932
The number of new cars sold and population size of each of the 20 countries are detailed below.
Click on the underlined links for data sources.
| Country | New cars sold in 2021 | Population |
|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 394,576 | 45.4 million |
| Australia | 1,049,831 | 25.7 million |
| Brazil | 2,075,223 | 212.6 million |
| Canada | 1,640,000 | 38 million |
| China | 26,280,000 | 1.40 billion |
| Egypt | 290,000 | 102.3 million |
| England | 1,400,000 (estimate) | 55.9 million |
| Germany | 2,620,000 | 83.1 million |
| India | 3,082,000 | 1.38 billion |
| Ireland | 104,932 | 4.9 million |
| Italy | 1,460,000 | 59.6 million |
| Japan | 4,448,340 | 125.8 million |
| Russia | 1,570,000 | 147.5 million |
| Scotland | 137,120 | 5.5 million |
| South Africa | 464,122 | 59.3 million |
| Sweden | 301,008 | 10.4 million |
| Switzerland | 272,067 | 8.6 million |
| Thailand | 759,119 | 69.8 million |
| UAE | 216,535 | 9.9 million |
| United States | 14,900,000 | 331.5 million |
Join the discussion