The SA Vehicle Industry Thread

SA’s 9 least commonly registered cars of 2023

In 2023, South Africa’s new-vehicle market saw as many as 9 nameplates each managing just 1 or 2 registrations. Meet Mzansi’s single-digit cars: the 9 least commonly registered models of the year…

We’ve already examined South Africa’s best-selling passenger vehicles and most popular bakkies for 2023 (not to mention the top 10 automakers), so now it’s time to turn our attention to the other end of the table. So, which were Mzansi least commonly registered models last year?

Before we dive into the figures, we should point out that there are, of course, a number of potential reasons that these models find themselves on the list. For instance, a couple were imported to South Africa for “consideration” but didn’t end up being sold here. Others have technically not yet launched, while more still have been discontinued (so, little stock was available).

9 least commonly registered vehicles in SA in 2023

Haval H9 – 2 units

Kia Carens – 2 units

Ferrari Portofino M – 2 units

GWM Tank – 1 unit

Haval H2 – 1 unit

Kia EV6 – 1 unit

Ferrari Purosangue – 1 unit

Lexus LS – 1 unit

Volvo V90 Cross Country – 1 unit

 
Toyota sets new sales record, topping global sales charts yet again in 2023

Toyota's chairman said Tuesday he was "ashamed" of recent scandals involving subsidiaries of the Japanese auto giant, as the firm announced record vehicle sales of 11.2 million across its brands last year.

The bumper figure - an industry record - sees Toyota retain its position as the world's top-selling carmaker for the fourth successive year, thanks to a recovery in demand and easing chip shortages.

Toyota also topped the South African market in 2023 by a considerable margin, with an overall volume of 142,612 units giving it a record market share of 26.8%.

Taking only the Toyota and Lexus brands, global volume sales totalled 10.3 million units, but growth fell for Daihatsu, which is embroiled in a rigged safety test scandal.

It came a day after Toyota said it was suspending shipments of 10 models that use diesel engines linked with testing irregularities at an affiliate, Toyota Industries.

 
Anyone sat inside a Suzuki Fronx? Man, that burgundy on the seats, dash and door panels ruins a great car. Would've been the perfect replacement for our Ecosport!
 
Oh, and while I'm here...

I HATE that the car industry has completely adopted advertising cars by their installment amount per month instead of their list price. It just adds to the credit problem in this country and encourages people to only worry about the monthly installment and not the credit amount they are signing up for and over how many years.

Don't even get me started on 40% residuals and 84 months finance now available!!! Good luck to those folk who don't look after their cars, financing over 7 years.

/rant off
 
FlashSA said:
Anyone sat inside a Suzuki Fronx? Man, that burgundy on the seats, dash and door panels ruins a great car. Would've been the perfect replacement for our Ecosport!
Click to expand...
Try here, a good amount of Fronx traction here.

Suzuki Fronx

A new Suzuki crossover hits SA in ‘23. Suzuki Fronx is a Baleno-based crossover The Suzuki Fronx is one of two important reveals this week at the Auto Expo taking place in India. Here’s all you need to know about this new model that’s likely to come to SA. Based on the Suzuki Baleno/Toyota...
mybroadband.co.za
 
Here’s how many hybrids Toyota sold in South Africa in 2023

Just how well received are Toyota’s hybrids in South Africa? Well, let’s take a closer look at local sales of the Japanese firm’s dual-powered models in 2023 to find out…

Toyota South Africa Motors says sales of its hybrids increased 22% year on year in 2023. According to the Japanese firm’s local division, registrations of its dual-powered derivatives improved from 3 320 units in 2022 to 4 054 units last year.

The company shared the intriguing sales figures at its recent State of the Motor Industry (SOMI) 2024 event at Kyalami in Gauteng. A slide shown during the presentation indicated that the Corolla Cross Hybrid – Mzansi’s most affordable hybrid, currently starting from R486 100 in XS guise – accounted for the bulk of these sales.

 
42 percent of the cars South Africans buy are now imported from India

Alanis Morissette once sang “Thank you India”, likely for leading her onto a path of enlightenment during a vacation, but South Africa’s entry-level car buyers can be grateful to that nation up north for an entirely different reason.

Were it not for India’s motor manufacturing industry, South Africans would be severely starved of affordable cars, and clearly there is a huge hunger for them.

In 2023 a whopping 42% of all passenger cars sold in South Africa were imported from India, according to statistics released by Toyota recently. This represents a huge increase from the 28% recorded five years earlier in 2019.

Thankfully, South African-built cars didn’t lose too much ground in their own market, declining from a 25% share in 2019 to 24% in 2023.

The third biggest source country for local cars was China, its representation growing from 3% to 9% in five years, while Germany was down from 10% to 6% over the same period. Spain grew from 3% to 4% while South Korea dipped from 7% to 3%.

 
Who’s Leading The Passenger Car Sales Race in January 2024?

Top 10 Passenger Car Brands for January 2024

Toyota – 10 607 units
Volkswagen – 5 490 units
Suzuki – 5 235 units
Ford – 2 391 units
Nissan – 2 315 units
Hyundai – 2 171 units
Haval – 1 463 units
Chery – 1 425 units
Renault – 1 411 units
Isuzu – 1 405 units

www.carmag.co.za

Who's Leading The Passenger Car Sales Race in January 2024?

Despite the market being down significantly from January last year, passenger car sales are up from December. Here are the Top 10 for January.
www.carmag.co.za www.carmag.co.za
 
China edges past Japan to become world's biggest exporter of vehicles

China's global dominance in electric cars helped it overtake Japan as the world's biggest vehicle exporter last year, official data confirmed Wednesday.

Japanese giants such as Toyota and Nissan have been much more cautious than their Chinese counterparts like BYD on electric vehicles (EVs), banking instead on hybrid models.

Figures released Wednesday by the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association showed shipments of cars, trucks and buses rising 16 percent to 4.42 million last year.

But China exported almost 500,000 more - 4.91 million vehicles in total, as reported by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers this month.

China's customs bureau put the number even higher at 5.22 million, a huge year-on-year rise of 57 percent, with one in three fully electric vehicles.

 
10 best-selling bakkies in South Africa: January 2024

The first figures of the year are in! Here’s your monthly look at South Africa’s best- and worst-selling bakkies, this time for January 2024…

In January 2024, South Africa’s new-vehicle market suffered its 6th consecutive month of year-on-year decline, with sales falling 3.8% to 41 636 units. Bucking the trend in the broader market, the light-commercial vehicle (LCV) segment saw marginal growth, improving 2.3% to 10 871 units.

So, was there any movement on the list of South Africa’s best-selling bakkies? Well, though the Toyota Hilux range – which will gain both a new widebody GR Sport variant as well as 48V mild-hybrid derivatives in March – experienced a month-on-month fall of 7.5% to 2 645 units in January 2024, the Prospecton-built bakkie remained firmly in pole position.

The Ford Ranger found itself more than 700 registrations off the pace in 2nd place, ending 2024’s opening month on 1 914 units. Still, the Silverton-made contender finished comfortably ahead of the 3rd-placed Isuzu D-Max (1 336 units), despite the Struandale-manufactured bakkie growing its sales 31% compared with December 2023‘s effort.

Although the Nissan NP200 again failed to crack 4 figures, its final tally of 969 units was more than enough for it to retain 4th spot. Of course, with production at Rosslyn scheduled to end in March 2024, SA’s last surviving half-tonne bakkie will start to slide down the rankings as local stock runs dry in the coming months. Meanwhile, the KwaZulu-Natal-assembled Mahindra Pik Up (578 units) completed an unchanged top 5.

10 best-selling bakkies in South Africa for January 2024

1. Toyota Hilux – 2 645 units

2. Ford Ranger – 1 914 units

3. Isuzu D-Max – 1 336 units

4. Nissan NP200 – 969 units

5. Mahindra Pik Up – 578 units

6. GWM P-Series – 351 units

7. Nissan Navara – 296 units

8. Volkswagen Amarok – 222 units

9. Toyota Land Cruiser 79 – 127 units

10. GWM Steed – 104 units

 
2024 vehicle market off to a slow start: these were the 50 top sellers in January

South Africa’s sad state of economic affairs continues to reflect in the new vehicle market, with January seeing a 3.8% year-on-year decline.

According to Naamsa last month’s vehicle sales totalled 41,636 units, down from 43,294 in January 2023, marking a fifth consecutive monthly decline for the industry.

This downturn was driven by passenger car sales, which fell by 6.7% year-on-year, while the light commercial vehicle market saw a welcome gain of 2.3%. Medium and heavy commercial vehicles gained 13.3% and 7.9% respectively.

84.3% of all vehicle sales took place through the dealer channels last month, while the rental industry accounted for 11.5% (a healthy 15% of passenger car sales). Corporate fleets and government accounted for 2.2% and 2.0% of the pie respectively.

It was business as usual on the sales charts, with the Toyota Hilux taking the bakkie lead with 2,645 units finding homes, while the Ford Ranger managed an impressive 1,914 units and the Isuzu D-Max trailed with 1,336.

50 best-selling vehicles in South Africa: January 2023

1. Toyota Hilux - 2,645
2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo - 2,034
3. Ford Ranger - 1,914
4. Toyota Corolla Cross - 1,660
5. Suzuki Swift - 1,566
6. Toyota Starlet - 1,479
7. Isuzu D-Max - 1,336
8. Toyota Hi-Ace - 1,194
9. Volkswagen Polo - 1,079
10. Toyota Fortuner - 974
11. Nissan NP200 - 969
12. Chery Tiggo 4 Pro - 914
13. Nissan Magnite - 843
14. Hyundai Grand i10 - 766
15. Suzuki Ertiga - 657
16. Suzuki Baleno - 625
17. Toyota Vitz - 622
18. Toyota Urban Cruiser - 589
19. Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up - 578
20. Haval Jolion - 567
21. Kia Sonet - 510
22. Volkswagen T-Cross - 502
23. Renault Kiger - 483
24. Suzuki Jimny - 445
25. Suzuki S-Presso - 434
26. Haval H6 - 421
27. Suzuki Fronx - 391
28. Renault Triber - 388
29. Hyundai i20 - 379
30. Toyota Rumion - 372
31. Renault Kwid - 356
32. GWM P-Series - 351
33. Volkswagen Polo Sedan - 346
34. Chery Tiggo 7 Pro - 330
35. Ford Everest - 329
36. Suzuki Celerio - 300
37. Nissan Navara - 296
38. Beijing X55 - 278
39. Hyundai Tucson - 274
40. Toyota Corolla Cross - 274
41. Suzuki Grand Vitara - 265
42. Volkswagen Tiguan - 257
43. Volkswagen Amarok - 222
44. Kia Picanto - 208
45. Chery Tiggo 8 Pro - 181
46. Hyundai Venue - 176
47. Hyundai H100 Bakkie - 173
48. Toyota Land Cruiser 300 - 171
49. Kia Pegas - 164
50. Volkswagen T-Roc - 159

 
Ford Ranger Trumps Hilux Sales in Double Cab Segement for 2023

Double Cab Top 5 for 2023
Ford Ranger – 20 662
Toyota Hilux – 18 227
Isuzu D-MAX – 8 524
GWM P-Series – 4 009
Nissan Navara – 3 599

www.carmag.co.za

Ford Ranger Trumps Hilux Sales in Double Cab Segement for 2023

With 2023 well behind us, we dig into the data to determine who sold the most single-cab, double-cab cab and extended-cab bakkies.
www.carmag.co.za www.carmag.co.za
 
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