Motoring

Pressure shows as new vehicle sales slide in October

The downturn in the country’s new vehicle sales continued in October with another monthly decrease. albeit not as hefty as in September.

Month of swapping

In an unchanged top four, the Toyota Hilux came out top with sales of 3 310, followed by the Volkswagen Polo Vivo on 2 280, its Durban-made stablemate, the Corolla Cross on 2 100, and its arch-rival, the Ford Ranger on 1 853.

ALSO READ: Hilux leads Vivo and Ranger in tanking September new car sales

Advertisement

Swapping places with the Isuzu D-Max for fifth and sixth places, the Toyota HiAce raked-in sales of 1 546 versus the former’s 1 464, while the Toyota Starlet replaced the Suzuki Swift in seventh place as the country’s best-selling non-locally made product with sales of 1 363 compared to 1 248.

Also staying steady, the Volkswagen Polo finished ninth on 1 235 with the outgoing Nissan NP200 completing the Top 10 with sales of 961 units.

Finer details

In a largely mixed picture, the figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) showed a 2% overall decrease from October 2022’s 46 350 to this year’s 45 445.

Advertisement

Out of the respective five segments, two ended on a towards trajectory, namely passenger vehicles by 3.5% from 30 980 to 29 912, and light commercial vehicles by 3% from 12 748 to 12 361.

Ending the month in the black though, medium-duty commercial vehicles recorded an uptake of 8.3% from 745 to 807 units, while heavy-duty commercial vehicles posted a substantial hike of 26% from last year’s 1 877 to this year’s 2 365.

After slumping by almost 30% in September, new vehicle exports headed the other way in October with a 39.5% increase from October for a total of 40 302 versus 28 891.

Advertisement

“Economic constrains continued to impact new vehicle sales during the month as rising cost of living and restrictive borrowing costs were depressing demand for luxury goods,” Naamsa said.

“The country’s weak economic growth rate, although still marginally positive, remains a key challenge for the new vehicle market going forward in view of the close correlation between new vehicle sales and the GDP growth rate.

“Alongside faster economic growth, moderate inflation and lower interest rates would go a long way to support the new vehicle market over the medium term,” the association concluded.

Advertisement

Top 10 musical chairs

Out of the country’s best-selling brands, only the top three kept station with Toyota placing first on 12 440 ahead of Volkswagen (6 595) and Suzuki (4 480).

In another reversal, Hyundai traded places with Ford to finish fourth on 2 638 compared to the Blue Oval’s 2 318.

Staying sixth, Nissan finished the month on 2 178 ahead of Isuzu on 1 848, with Renault retaking eighth place from Kia with sales of 1 606 versus 1 417. Finally, Haval dropped back to 10th position with a total of 1 389 units sold.

Advertisement

October Top 50 Best Selling Cars

POSMODELUNITS
1Toyota Hilux3 310
2Volkswagen Polo Vivo2 280
3Toyota Corolla Cross2 100
4Ford Ranger1 853
5Toyota HiAce1 546
6Isuzu D-Max1 464
7Toyota Starlet1 363
8Suzuki Swift1 248
9Volkswagen Polo1 235
10Nissan NP200961
11Chery Tiggo 4 Pro856
12Toyota Vitz779
13Nissan Magnite715
14Hyundai Grand i10705
15Renault Kwid661
16Hyundai i20635
17Volkswagen T-Cross641
18Toyota Fortuner629
19Volkswagen Polo Sedan628
20Mahindra Pik Up565
21Kia Sonet548
22Renault Kiger545
23Toyota Urban Cruiser544
24Suzuki S-Presso536
25Haval Jolion534
26Suzuki Ertiga498
27Suzuki Baleno490
28Toyota Corolla Quest483
29Haval H6472
30Suzuki Fronx415
31Suzuki Grand Vitara373
32Nissan Navara354
33Volkswagen Amarok352
34Toyota Rumion343
35Hyundai Venue311
36Kia Picanto302
37Hyundai H100301
38GWM P-Series281
39Toyota Land Cruiser 300279
40Suzuki Celerio276
41Renault Triber271
42Toyota Land Cruiser 70-series268
43Hyundai Tucson265
44Chery Tiggo 7 Pro250
45Ford Everest250
46Opel Corsa218
47Toyota Quantum207
48Volkswagen Tiguan197
49Chery Tiggo 8 Pro196
50Citroën C3194

NOW READ: Ford scores biggest as new vehicle sales dive in August

For more news your way

Download our app and read this and other great stories on the move. Available for Android and iOS.