News / 1 September 2023 / Albert du Toit

Best-selling car brands in South Africa

With a massive 12,233 sales under its belt in August, Toyota was South Africa’s best-selling car brand by a big margin.

The manufacturer bested second place by over 6,000 units, with VW assuming this position by virtue of its 5,972 sales.

Suzuki remained steadfast in third owing to 4,332 new customers getting their hands on its cars, with Ford assuming the fourth spot by moving 2,724 models.

Hot on its heels, the fifth position went to Hyundai with 2,637 transactions, and sixth to Nissan with 2,377.

Isuzu was the last manufacturer to eclipse 2,000 sales with a total of 2,045, walking away with seventh place as a result, while Haval, Renault, and Kia occupied the remaining positions in the top 10 best-selling brands with 1,819, 1,750, and 1,550 units sold, respectively.

In total, the South African automotive industry recorded 45,679 sales in August, a decline of 3.1% year on year, while export sales grew by 33.5% to 41,462 vehicles.

From these domestic sales, the passenger car market was responsible for 28,951 units, the light-commercial vehicle segment – which includes bakkies and mini-buses – for 13,652 units, medium commercial vehicles for 702 units, and heavy commercial vehicles for 2,374 units.

Out of the aggregate industry performance, an estimated 83.8% represented dealer sales, 12.2% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 2.8% represented sales to industry corporate fleets, and 1.2% represented sales to government.

“The weak performance of the passenger car market reflected the impact of rising costs of living and lower disposable income on consumer sentiment and the ability to be active in the new vehicle market. Affordability along with delayed replacement cycles appear to be driving new vehicle sales,” said Naamsa, the automotive business council.

“On the positive side, the significantly less daytime loadshedding since June 2023, interest rates that were put on hold in July 2023 for the first time since November 2021, and inflation now firmly falling within the 3%- 6% target band, have been providing some relief for consumers.”

Be that as it may, with energy and logistical constraints expected to remain present for the foreseeable future, the medium-term outlook for the new vehicle market continues to reflect subdued demand for high-priced items such as cars and bakkies.