Best-selling car brands in South Africa

Toyota was able to hold on to its title as South Africa’s best-selling carmaker, managing to rack up 12,704 purchases in September.

Second place was likewise secured by its consistent holder, VW, which tallied 6,316 sales over the same period, and Suzuki was able to take the final podium position thanks to 4,478 transactions.

Ford then claimed fourth place with 2,807 purchases, which was closely followed by Hyundai who rounded out the top five with 2,665 units finding new homes.

It was also a good month for Nissan, which was the final automaker to push past the 2,000-unit mark with 2,130 sales, while Isuzu, Kia, Renault, and Haval all made it into the top 10 with more than 1,500 showroom success stories.

In total, the South African motor industry recorded 46,021 vehicle sales in September 2023, marking a year-on-year decline of 4.1% from the same month last year.

Exports, meanwhile, saw 36,247 units getting shipped overseas, translating to a 12.6% decline from September 2022.

Passenger vehicles accounted for 29,669 of the units sold last month, while light commercial vehicles (CVs) like bakkies moved 13,169 units. Medium CVs sold 827 units, and heavy CVs moved 491 units.

Of all the cars sold, approximately 37,149 units (or 80.7%) came from dealership sales, while 6,241 units (14.6%) went to the rental industry. Another 1,321 units (2.9%) were taken by corporate fleets and the remaining 1,310 units (2.8%) by the government.

Naamsa attributed the general drop in car sales to concerns over consumer affordability, citing a SARB report that South Africa’s household debt surpassed household disposable income by 62.5% this year.

The industry also faces potential upward pressures stemming from an elevated inflation outlook, fluctuations in the exchange rate, rising fuel prices, and increased energy costs, it said.