Locally-produced car exports jumped by 177.7% in July 2022 when compared to the corresponding month in 2021.
According to Naamsa’s sales statistics, a total of 31,242 vehicles shipped from South Africa to other countries during the month, an immense 19,990 units more than last year.
The domestic car manufacturing industry comprises large brands including the likes of BMW, Ford, Isuzu, Mahindra, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, and VW.
Locally-produced popularity
BMW makes the evergreen X3 at the Rosslyn assembly plant outside Pretoria for the global market, and this SUV is regularly also in the manufacturer’s top three best-selling models in South Africa.
Plant Rosslyn produces 75,000 units of the X3 every 12 months, with 96% bound for markets outside of our borders, said the company.
Mercedes-Benz is another premium carmaker building autos in South Africa, in the form of the C-Class luxury sedan for worldwide export.
Ford has also made an immense impact on the local car-building industry after producing the Ranger and Everest in Silverton, Pretoria for the better part of 10 years.
The company will soon continue with the production of the next-gen Ranger as well as the new VW Amarok at this assembly plant following extensive upgrades to the tune of R15.8 billion, enabling the facility to now churn out 200,000 bakkies per year for both left-hand and right-hand-drive regions.
The Amarok isn’t the only South African-made VW, though, as since 1996 the company has been fabricating the fan-favourite Polo in the Eastern Cape and by May 2022, it had already produced close to 4.2 million of these hatchbacks with more than a million destined for export.
Likewise, Isuzu assembles one of the best-selling vehicles in the country, the D-Max, in the Eastern Cape, Nissan builds its range of utilitarian offerings including the Hardbody, Navara, and NP200 in Gauteng, and Mahindra produces its range of Pik Ups in KwaZulu-Natal.
Finally, South Africa’s most-loved car brand, Toyota, puts together the Corolla Cross, Corolla Quest, Fortuner, Hiace, and Hilux in Durban, though not all of these model ranges are meant for other regions.
This particular facility was out of production for over three months due to floods that ravaged the area in April, but by August the company announced that nearly all the production lines are up and running again.
Top exports
Detailed below are the top vehicle exports for South Africa for July 2022.
BMW and Mercedes-Benz’s export figures are according to Naamsa’s estimates.
Click on the underlined prices for more information.
1. VW Polo – 11,526 units exported
- Starting price – R319,700
2. Mercedes-Benz C-Class – 8,147 units exported
- Starting price – R896,956
3. Ford Ranger – 6,587 units exported
- Starting price – R340,400
4. BMW X3 – 3,700 units exported
- Starting price – R938,724
5. Nissan Navara – 479 units exported
- Starting price – R341,500
6. Isuzu D-Max – 421 units exported
- Starting price – R401,700
7. Nissan NP200 – 81 units exported
- Starting price – R210,500
8. Nissan Hardbody – 33 units exported
- Starting price – Discontinued in South Africa
9. Ford Everest – 26 units exported
- Starting price – R588,300
10. Toyota Hilux – 3 units exported
- Starting price – R313,300
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