STATE OF THE INDUSTRY
Courtesy National Automobile Association of South Africa
WITH THE STRONGLY PERFORMING importers/manufacturers in the Top Ten segment continuing to do well, it was apparent that market leader Toyota would continue to dominate, as well as outstripping its nearest rivals by several thousand units sold.
With total sales of 11,123 units, Toyota achieved the remarkable performance (thanks to Hilux) of providing the overall top seller with sales of 3,995, which was more than 1,600 units better than its traditional Ranger rival – that recorded 2,337 sales.
Toyota’s other stars included Corolla/ Auris/Quest (1,845), Fortuner (999), and RAV whose 448 sales almost matched Hyundai’s 480 sales recorded by Tucson, and which was considerably better than Volkswagen’s Tiguan figures of 224.
As usual, Volkswagen (8,012) slotted into second place with the Polo Vivo (2,942) being the top-selling passenger car, followed by Polo (2,324), and Golf 7 on 441 sales. The Group’s Audi range also had a reasonable month with 794 total sales, while the Amarok (224) should be doing much better.
In third place on 6,175 sales, Ford Motor Co. relied, as always, on the Ranger, Fiesta (1,447), EcoSport (814), and Everest on an impressive 556 vehicles sold. There’s still some work to be done concerning the newly relaunched Kuga, and the model’s total sales of 30 units will have to be addressed.
Nissan (5,098) traditionally used to slot in at number six, but fully deserves its fourth place with some good results by the
NP200 on 1,638 units sold, the NP300 on 947 units sold, as well as the Datsun GO which recorded 558 sales. The formidable Navara, however, continues to disappoint with only 159 units sold.
Staying in fifth overall, Hyundai (3,147) had a reasonable month with all its models performing well – notably the Tucson (480), Creta (418), i20 (577), and the Grand i10 (490) sales.
Isuzu, soon to be without the GM albatross around its neck, slots in at six (2,609) with some distinguished performances by the Isuzu KB (1,440), Chev Ute (412), as well as the Opel total of 271 units sold.
Mercedes-Benz continues to cling to seventh overall with a total of 2,476 sales, while Renault (2,399) will probably overtake the German brand within a month or so. Renault’s stars were the Kwid (758), Sandero II (413) and Kadjar with 342 recorded sales.
Fast approaching in Renault’s rearview mirror, Korean carmaker Kia (2,007) has upped its game from 1,575 in August, thanks to its increasingly popular Rio of which 795 found new homes, and the brilliant little Picanto (970), which should crash through the one thousand barrier in the near future.
Struggling in the last place of the Top Ten rankings, BMW (1,664) will be licking its wounds after having sold 1,805 cars in August 2017.
Among the manufacturers/importers falling outside the Top Ten rankings, Porsche, yet again, deserves a special mention for selling 102 vehicles, while
Mitsubishi (146) also improved somewhat thanks to its increasingly popular Pajero Sport (96).
Maserati (14) will have a good giggle at the expense of Ferrari (1), while the iconic Bentley nameplate went to three new owners.
Struggling along, as they have done for the past number of months, Peugeot recorded only 90 transactions. Distinctly, Suzuki sold 943 cars, continuing to choke Japanese carmaker Honda, which sold a total of 623 vehicles.
Typically, sales during the second half of the year are higher than aggregate sales in the first half, and an overall improvement of around 1.5% is a strong possibility.