Best-selling bakkies vs Best-selling double cabs in South Africa – The big difference

Every month, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) publishes a report compiling all of the sales data for every major vehicle manufacturer in the country as a way to track the performance of individual models.

The report includes separate categories for passenger and light-commercial vehicles (LCV), the latter of which details the monthly sales statistics for every bakkie in South Africa.

A key distinction

While the numbers naturally fluctuate from month to month, it’s easy to see that local motorists have their favourite brands, with Toyota, Ford, and Isuzu almost always claiming the top three positions in each month’s best-seller lists.

For example, in September 2023, Toyota sold 3,249 units of the Hilux, while Ford sold 2,413 Rangers, and Isuzu moved 1,639 D-Max units, putting them well ahead of other brands like Mahindra’s Pik Up or the GWM P-Series, which saw 578 and 376 purchases, respectively.

However, something that makes bakkie sales less clear-cut than those of passenger models is the fact that the former is offered in a variety of body types intended to suit the needs of individuals, large companies, and independent contractors alike.

This is why bakkies tend to have far more derivatives in their line-up than other types of vehicles. The Hilux, for example, currently has 41 options on the market comprised of single, extended, and double cabs, in comparison to a passenger car like the Corolla Cross with its seven trim levels.

The issue this presents is that many bakkies tend to have a very broad price range, starting with a bare-bones commercial single cab all the way up to a flagship double cab with all of the brand’s latest technology, and it is unclear how popular a particular 4×4 is in relation to a specific market segment, as Naamsa only reports bakkie sales as a whole, instead of dividing them into their more niche categories.

Different market, different leaders

At the recent launch of the new Ranger Wildtrak X, Ford showcased a table compiling the country’s year-to-date double cab sales data as of August 2023, revealing that the next-gen Ranger is actually South Africa’s best-selling lifestyle bakkie when viewed in this light.

This is in contrast to Naamsa’s data where the Toyota Hilux has dominated the LCV sales charts by a wide margin for months on end, bearing in mind these figures combine the sales of single, extended, and double cabs.

The following table shows the double cab sales for every bakkie in South Africa so far in 2023, according to Ford:

If we look at the big three of Toyota, Ford, and Isuzu, one of the main reasons for this discrepancy between the above figures and Naamsa’s data may come down to price, as the cheapest Hilux single cab starts at R356,600, while the base D-Max starts at R431,800.

The most affordable Ranger single cab, on the other hand, is set at R494,400, making it R62,600 more expensive than the Isuzu, and R137,800 more than the Toyota.

Additionally, with business owners no longer being able to claim VAT on extended cabs like they used to a few years ago, leading to these body styles becoming far less sought after, it suggests that a significant portion of Hilux and D-Max sales are single cabs bought for commercial purposes, while Ford’s market share is more concentrated on private individuals purchasing double cabs to use as their everyday vehicle.

Further illustrating this point is a comparison of Ford’s double cab data contrasted against Naamsa’s monthly sales reports, which you can see in the three tables below for the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hilux, and Isuzu D-Max.

One important thing to note is that the next-generation Ranger single and super cab only went on sale at the end of March, which partly explains why the Ranger percentages for January, February, and March are so high.

Ford Ranger

Toyota Hilux

Isuzu D-Max