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Bakkie sales: South Africa’s top five vs global hard-hitters
South Africa is bakkie country, a trait shared with Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the United States, but how does it compare?
Besides South Africa, bakkies are also favoured elsewhere, most prominently in parts of Latin America, the United States and Asia-Pacific. Image: iStock
South Africa is known the world over for its love of bakkies reflected month after month on the annual National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) sales figures.
Predictability those sales figures are headed by the Toyota Hilux with the Isuzu D-Max and Ford Ranger vying for the second and third steps on the podium, no less than four bakkies featured among January’s top ten best-selling vehicles.
Bakkie importance
While passenger vehicles still accounted for the most of the 43 509 vehicles sold in South Africa last month, 31 072 to be exact, light duty commercials contributed 10 622 to the final tally that resulted in a 13th straight month of vehicle sales increases.
Topped by the Hilux on 2 769, the D-Max edged out the Ranger by a tiny margin, 1 273 versus 1 269, to finish second, with the NP200 fourth on 886. The surprise though was the Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up that ranked fifth with sales of 819 units.
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In doing so, it made for a top five all assembled in South Africa as Hilux and Scorpio Pik-Up production take place in Durban, Ranger and NP200 assembly in Pretoria and D-Max production in Gqeberha, formerly Port Elizabeth.
On the other side of the world, the popularity of bakkies is equally well vested with Australia, Brazil, Thailand and the United States being key markets renowned for the favouring of single, extra and double cabs above SUVs, sedan/hatchbacks and MPVs.
Us versus “the world”
As a comparison, here is how South Africa’s top five best-selling bakkies in January stacked up against those from the markets in question.
South Africa
43 509 vehicles sold
| POS | BAKKIE | UNITS SOLD |
| 1. | Toyota Hilux | 2 769 |
| 2. | Isuzu D-Max | 1 273 |
| 3. | Ford Ranger | 1 269 |
| 4. | Nissan NP200 | 886 |
| 5. | Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up | 819 |
Australia
84 873 vehicles sold
| POS | BAKKIE | UNITS SOLD |
| 1. | Ford Ranger | 4 749 |
| 2. | Toyota Hilux | 4 131 |
| 3. | Isuzu D-Max | 1 843 |
| 4. | Mazda BT-50 | 1 253 |
| 5. | Mitsubishi Triton | 1 253 |
Brazil
130 460 vehicles sold
| POS | BAKKIE | UNITS SOLD |
| 1. | Fiat Strada | 7 000 |
| 2. | Toyota Hilux | 3 435 |
| 3. | Fiat Toro | 3 281 |
| 4. | Volkswagen Saveiro | 2 714 |
| 5. | Chevrolet S-10 | 2 039 |
Thailand
total sales not reported
| POS | BAKKIE | UNITS SOLD |
| 1. | Isuzu D-Max | 11 820 |
| 2. | Toyota Hilux | 10 349 |
| 3. | Ford Ranger | 2 428 |
| 4. | Mitsubishi Triton | 1 246 |
| 5. | Nissan Navara | 268 |
United States
544 382 vehicles sold
| POS | BAKKIE | UNITS SOLD |
| 1. | Ford F-series | 55 001 |
| 2. | Toyota Tacoma | 17 851 |
| 3. | Toyota Tundra | 6 473 |
| 4. | Ford Maverick | 6 272 |
| 5. | Honda Ridgeline | 3 161 |
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