The SA Vehicle Industry Thread

Asgard85 said:
Having owned and enjoyed two Hondas so far in my life it is interesting to note that globally they have 2 models in the top 10 best sellers (Civic outsells Golf?!) yet here in RSA they don't even have a single model appearing in the top 50 sales list for January 2019. They manage this even with having budget models such as the Brio / Amaze available.
What the eff have the local team been doing here? Based on the apparent decline of this leading brand in RSA I'm not sure I have much confidence in the fortunes of FCA since they are now under the leadership of the former Honda boss.
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Glad you brought up the Civic. I really really question the logic of Honda Southern Africa Ito only bringing in the halo Type R model. What about the rest of the range? Very poor advertising does not help the cause either.

Honda cars used to be such a driving force in SA in the entire 90's with the Ballade & Civic.
 
FiestaST said:
Glad you brought up the Civic. I really really question the logic of Honda Southern Africa Ito only bringing in the halo Type R model. What about the rest of the range? Very poor advertising does not help the cause either.

Honda cars used to be such a driving force in SA in the entire 90's with the Ballade & Civic.
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Incredible to think that a company which is clearly performing well globally has been relegated to the halls of nostalgia here in RSA with a statement like yours above. Product that people want to by is obviously not a problem for Honda. As you point out, there is clearly something amiss with the local promotion, product decisions etc.

Pity.
 
Asgard85 said:
Incredible to think that a company which is clearly performing well globally has been relegated to the halls of nostalgia here in RSA with a statement like yours above. Product that people want to by is obviously not a problem for Honda. As you point out, there is clearly something amiss with the local promotion, product decisions etc.

Pity.
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Remember how popular Opel used to be in SA? Now no one gives it a second (or a first) thought. Brand suicide. It started the day they made "GSi" a trim level option that just changed the fabric on the seats.
 
asshat99 said:
Remember how popular Opel used to be in SA? Now no one gives it a second (or a first) thought. Brand suicide. It started the day they made "GSi" a trim level option that just changed the fabric on the seats.
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Your know, once I finished my comment above Opel was actually the next brand that popped into my head.
 
Toyota SA still eyeing local production of ‘new model’

The head of Toyota South Africa Motors says the local arm of the Japanese automaker is still “trying to get approval” to produce a new model at its Prospecton facility in Durban.

Speaking to Engineering News, Andrew Kirby, Toyota SA Motors president and CEO, confirmed production of the outgoing Corolla sedan would cease at the KZN plant in 2020 (although we suspect it could live on as the new Quest), when the automaker is due to start importing the new-generation model.

“We are trying to get approval for a replacement vehicle,” Kirby told the publication, which in August 2018 reported the brand was “investigating” the possibility of building a “more affordable” car locally.

“The key issue is to demonstrate that we are globally competitive and that we can achieve the required volumes to make the product viable.

“Right now, the South African market is under pressure and we don’t have another market in Africa that is generating volume. So this has been quite a difficult process for us. We hope to have an answer on the new model by 2020,” he revealed.

The Prospecton facility currently also produces the Hilux bakkie, Fortuner SUV and Quantum Ses’Fikile minibus.

Kirby furthermore said load-shedding was costing the firm – and other local manufacturers – plenty of money.

“The financial impact of losing production hours is enormous, because you need to make up through overtime, and overtime is expensive,” he told Engineering News.

“We are also not in a position to let our local or export customers down. We, as the South African industry, are working hard at maintaining a good reputation, especially as we try and secure future manufacturing investment.

“We are working closely with the City of Durban, and they have been understanding. We have been asked to reduce our daily consumption pattern by 20 percent and we have been making a big effort to do that.

“So far, we have been able to avert any production stoppage. So we haven’t lost any volumes, but if you walk into our plant, the lights are off and air-conditioning is off and some lines have stopped,” he said.

https://www.carmag.co.za/news/toyota-sa-still-eyeing-local-production-new-model/
 
For me Honda's are very expensive compared to their competition. If pricing were more in line, I'd be happy to buy another one.
 
handyman007 said:
For me Honda's are very expensive compared to their competition. If pricing were more in line, I'd be happy to buy another one.
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Examples? I respectfully disagree, they have such an odd line up, comparison is very difficult when for an example their entry level Honda Jazz has 6 airbags while the competitors has only two, their spec level and their model offering is just different, just look at the price and spec of the of Ballade and compare it to its closest rival from Hyundai or Kia.
 
thechamp said:
Examples? I respectfully disagree, they have such an odd line up, comparison is very difficult when for an example their entry level Honda Jazz has 6 airbags while the competitors has only two, their spec level and their model offering is just different, just look at the price and spec of the of Ballade and compare it to its closest rival from Hyundai or Kia.
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I was thinking about the Civic. In my mind I'm comparing them to Toyota Corolla. Happy to be proved wrong tho.
 
handyman007 said:
I was thinking about the Civic. In my mind I'm comparing them to Toyota Corolla. Happy to be proved wrong tho.
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Ok, but an expensive Civic should not become Hondas are expensive, same way the overpriced Yaris does not mean Toyotas are expensive.
 
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one think I never understood, is why some local company never brought the plans and designs for the Tazz or citi golf
and manufactured them here locally.

would have made a very good buisness desicion and employed lots of people.
 
And the 25 best-selling vehicles in the world in 2018 were

The studious folks over at Jato Dynamics have released their analysis of global automotive sales for 2018, revealing the 25 best-selling vehicles in the world.

The firm’s analysis of the world’s 54 top markets revealed that some 86 million vehicles were sold last year.

According to Jato, 2018 proved a “somewhat challenging” year for the global car market, as sales fell for the first time since 2009. Still, strong results in India, Brazil, Russia and South East Asia offset stalling sales in Europe, China and the United States. Interestingly, India became the world’s fourth largest car market, outselling Germany in 2018.

SUVs once again drove sales in the global market, with a record 29,77 million units sold last year. High demand for SUVs came at the expense of traditional cars, with MPVs posting the largest drop of the bunch, where volume was down 14 percent to six million units. Still, Jato said 2018 was a good year for bakkies, which outsold city cars, as global volume totalled 5,2 million units, up five percent on 2017.

So, which were the best-selling vehicles for the year? Well, Jato’s figures suggest Ford’s F-Series maintained its position at very top, where it was the only contender to register more than a million sales.

The Toyota Corolla likewise held steady in second, but the Volkswagen Golf fell from third in 2017 to seventh in 2018, registering the biggest drop in the global top 10 (partly due to the decline of diesel in Europe and perhaps also because some buyers are holding out for the eighth-generation model). The Honda Civic instead occupied third, while the Toyota RAV4 grabbed fourth (and the title of the world’s best-selling SUV) ahead of the fifth-placed Nissan X-Trail.

Volkswagen’s Polo, which was the second-best-selling passenger vehicle in South Africa behind the Polo Vivo in 2018, took 14th place (up five from 2017), while the Ford Kuga fell five spots to 18th. The Mercedes-Benz C-Class, meanwhile, just made it onto the list in 24th.

Check out the infographic below to see the rest of the top 25 (with total brand sales on the left and model sales on the right)…

https://www.carmag.co.za/news/25-best-selling-vehicles-world-2018/

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Volkswagen SA says Uitenhage production is ‘maxed out’

The head of Volkswagen Group South Africa says production at the Uitenhage plant is “maxed out”, with the local automaker heading for a record year in terms of number of vehicles built.

Speaking to Engineering News, VW SA CEO Thomas Schäfer revealed the firm was on target to produce nearly 162 000 units in 2019, up substantially from the 126 000 built the previous year.

This comes after the automaker invested an additional R6,1-billion (since 2015) in new products, the plant and suppliers.

“If we could produce more, we would, but we are maxed out. We are on three shifts [a day] and we are already working on Saturdays,” Schäfer told the publication, before describing 2018 as the “best year in VW SA’s existence”.

The local arm of the Munich-based company produces the Polo hatchback (including the GTI) for local and export markets, while also building the Polo Vivo for South Africa.

In January 2019, VW SA shipped off 5 749 units of its Polo to foreign markets, making it the biggest exporter of vehicles from local shores for the month.

“It is a good problem to have, to be maxed out,” Schäfer said, adding that VW SA had “met and exceeded” all of its targets for 2018.

https://www.carmag.co.za/news/volkswagen-sa-says-uitenhage-production-is-maxed-out/
 
thechamp said:
Examples? I respectfully disagree, they have such an odd line up, comparison is very difficult when for an example their entry level Honda Jazz has 6 airbags while the competitors has only two, their spec level and their model offering is just different, just look at the price and spec of the of Ballade and compare it to its closest rival from Hyundai or Kia.
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Here is an excellent article on their problem. https://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/what-has-happened-to-honda-in-sa/44673

The civic would simply not be competitive. CR-V is overpriced in SA compared to rivals. South Africans are not savvy enough yet to let specification override brand perception.
 
asshat99 said:
Here is an excellent article on their problem. https://www.cars.co.za/motoring_news/what-has-happened-to-honda-in-sa/44673

The civic would simply not be competitive. CR-V is overpriced in SA compared to rivals. South Africans are not savvy enough yet to let specification override brand perception.
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I agree on the Civic and I don't have an opinion on the CR-V as I have not yet done my research. I think it will just be right if we we to agree that most manufactures has overpriced models in their line ups which are not value for money, that should however not be used to discredit the whole brand. The Jazz and the Ballade and excellent value for money as an example, use that compare cars tool on cars.co.za to compare the Ballade to other similary priced small sedans from manufacturers.

I still insist that their problems lies more on their range of cars than anything else, they don't have the right models to compete with the others, A Jazz is fine for what it is but it is not a Polo competitor, since we don't have the Civic hatch they also don't have a Golf competitor, they also don't have something to compete with a Corolla since they did whatever they did with the Civic sedan. Their SUV line up is the only one that make sense. I will post my findings soon on the CR-V.
 
thechamp said:
I agree on the Civic and I don't have an opinion on the CR-V as I have not yet done my research. I think it will just be right if we we to agree that most manufactures has overpriced models in their line ups which are not value for money, that should however not be used to discredit the whole brand. The Jazz and the Ballade and excellent value for money as an example, use that compare cars tool on cars.co.za to compare the Ballade to other similary priced small sedans from manufacturers.

I still insist that their problems lies more on their range of cars than anything else, they don't have the right models to compete with the others, A Jazz is fine for what it is but it is not a Polo competitor, since we don't have the Civic hatch they also don't have a Golf competitor, they also don't have something to compete with a Corolla since they did whatever they did with the Civic sedan. Their SUV line up is the only one that make sense. I will post my findings soon on the CR-V.
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Read again: South Africans are not savvy enough yet to let specification override brand perception.
Honda don't have a golf and polo competitor here because they know it would be completely uncompetitive on a price basis. So they try their niche vehicles.
 
SEE: Best selling passenger cars, bakkies so far in 2019

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), reports that 42 374 vehicles were sold during January 2019, 3514 units less than the 45 888 units sold during the same period in 2018.

The Volkswagen Polo continues to be the best-selling passenger car in South Africa during the first month of 2019.

During January 2019, the popular hatchback accumulated a total sales figure of 2512 units. It was followed by the Polo vivo, which managed 2461 units in second place.

Toyota Corolla/Quest/Auris sold 2202 units placing it in third place.

Toyota is unstoppable and leading the sales in bakkies range with Hilux selling more than 2 700 units in January.

Ford ranger is giving toyota a good run for their money currently in second place with just a little over 600 units behind the leaders.

Nissan NP200 maybe small in size but it is flying out of the dealer shops, in January this bakkie sold 1 483 units and booked a place as 3rd most selling bakkie in South Africa so far.

https://www.wheels24.co.za/News/SA_...assenger-cars-bakkies-so-far-in-2019-20190301

Figures 1.JPGFigures 2.JPG
 
South Africa’s 10 best-selling bakkies of February 2019

The sales figures for February 2019 are in … and 926 units separate the top two vehicles as the battle for the title of South Africa’s best-selling bakkie starts all over again.

According to Naamsa, February’s new vehicle industry sales came in at 43 251 units, representing a decrease of 6,5 percent, year on year. The light commercial segment (14 123 units), however, showed a noteworthy improvement of 7,1 percent compared with the corresponding month in 2018.

So, what exactly happened in terms of bakkie sales in the second month of 2019? Well, the Toyota Hilux was again at the top of the table, with the Ford Ranger settling for second place (after the first two months of 2019, the Japanese bakkie finds itself 1 526 units ahead of its Blue Oval rival).

The Nissan NP200, meanwhile, held steady in third spot, with the Isuzu D-Max – which has switched from the KB badge – remaining in fourth (its final figure comprised 991 units of the D-Max and 195 units of the KB). The Nissan NP300/Hardbody again rounded out the top half of the table, retaining fifth place.

The Volkswagen Amarok, meanwhile, more than doubled its month-on-month total to climb one place to sixth, while the Mahindra Pik-Up fell a spot to seventh. The Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-up remained in eighth, with the GWM Steed again claiming ninth. As in January, the Nissan Navara grabbed the final spot on the list.

That means there was no room for the Mahindra Bolero (59), Mitsubishi Triton (25), Fiat Fullback (18) 0r Mazda BT-50 in February. Unfortunately, Mercedes-Benz South Africa doesn’t report individual model sales, so it’s hard to tell exactly how many X-Class units were sold during the month.

See the top ten list below, and have a look at January 2019’s figures here.

South Africa’s 10 best-selling bakkies of February 2019:

1. Toyota Hilux – 3 504
2. Ford Ranger – 2 578
3. Nissan NP200 – 1 999
4. Isuzu KB/D-Max – 1 186
5. Nissan NP300/Hardbody – 922
6. Volkswagen Amarok – 495
7. Mahindra Pik-Up – 226
8. Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-up – 224
9. GWM Steed – 145
10. Nissan Navara – 111

https://www.carmag.co.za/news/south-africas-10-best-selling-bakkies-of-february-2019/
 
SA car sales: Polo Vivo finds love in February

The Volkswagen Polo Vivo comprehensively outsold its big brother, the Polo, becoming the best-selling car in February 2019.

A favourite amongst car buyers, the Vivo secured a huge sales figure of 2692 units. That figure not only makes it last month’s best-selling passenger car but also the second-best selling vehicle in South Africa behind the Toyota Hilux (3504 units).

The second-placed Polo sold off 1605 units, while the soon-to-be-replaced Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest secured third place with 1247 units sold.

Look at the Kwid!

Renault’s budget-beating Kwid jumped up the sales chart to fourth place, following an impressive month in which it sold 1069 units. It toppled regular best-sellers such as the Toyota Fortuner (950 units) and Hyundai Grand i10 (901 units) as the last vehicle in our list to exceed the 1000-mark.

The Toyota Etios slots into seventh place with 660 units sold, followed by the Hyundai i20 on 542 units. The Datsun Go, refreshed towards the end of 2018, sold 529 units.

The Kia Picanto goes tenth with 483 units.

https://www.wheels24.co.za/News/SA_...les-polo-vivo-finds-love-in-february-20190303IMG_1206.JPG
 
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