SA’s best selling bakkies and cars

FOLLOWING A tumultuous July that was marred by civil unrest, the South African new vehicle market showed some encouraging signs of recovery in August.

A total of 41 425 vehicles were sold last month, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) reported, and it was passenger cars that led this growth, gaining 40% year-on-year, largely thanks to a rebounding rental industry. Light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales grew by just 3.6% versus August last year.

Although LCVs were down overall, the Toyota Hilux was the best-selling vehicle, accounting for 3 335 sales, according to WesBank. The Toyota Hiace emerged as the second best selling LCV, with 1 361 sales, followed by the Isuzu D-Max.

Interestingly, for the first time in recent memory the Ford Ranger was not in the LCV top three, and this appears to be as a result of the upgrades that Ford is making at its Silverton plant as it gears up to produce the next-generation Ranger.

In the passenger car race, the Volkswagen Polo enjoyed a strong sales month with 2 563 units finding homes, WesBank reported, and this in spite of a facelifted model being on the horizon for early 2022. The Volkswagen Polo Vivo was South Africa’s second best-selling car in August, with 1 724 units, followed by the Toyota Starlet, with 1 203 sales.

Naamsa unfortunately no longer releases the full list of individual sales figures to the media. |