Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max and Ford Ranger rule the roost

South Africa’s status as bakkie country remained firmly intact as the Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max and Ford Ranger lead the overall March new vehicle sales figures.

According to the official Naamsa (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa) sales numbers for last month, 3 920 units of the Toyota Hilux were sold, followed by the Isuzu D-Max on 2 289 and the Ford Ranger on 2 247.

The top-selling passenger car and fourth best-selling vehicles overall in March was the Volkswagen Polo Vivo (2 016), followed closely by the Toyota Corolla Cross (1 839).

The rest of the top ten best-selling vehicles in March 2023 are made up by the Toyota HiAce (1 600) in sixth, the Toyota Fortuner (1 409) in seventh, the Nissan NP200 (1 404) in eighth, the Toyota Starlet (1 276) in ninth and the Suzuki Swift (1 248) in 10th.

Toyota Hilux leads the way

Toyota enjoyed yet another runaway month on the sales charts having no fewer than five cars in the top ten best-sellers. Out of these five, the Hilux, the Corolla Cross, the Fortuner, the HiAce and the Starlet, only the latter is not built at the Japanese carmaker’s Prospecton plant in Durban.

Toyota sold 1 836 vehicles in March more than it did in April for a total of 13 406. Following Toyota for total sales in March is the Volkswagen Group (6 139), Suzuki (3 734), Hyundai (3 032) and Nissan (3 012).

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While the Fortuner and Corolla Cross remained Mzansi’s most popular choices in the SUV/crossover segment, the Haval Jolion (940) and Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (918) also enjoyed an excellent month on the sales charts.

The Chinese pair were followed by the production twins, the Renault Kiger (842) and Nissan Magnite (682), the Kia Sonet (670) and the Haval H6 (572).

Mahindra on the rise

Naamsa’s report for March also shows that the Mahindra Pik Up enjoyed yet another record month with sales of 966, firmly entrenching itself as South Africa’s fourth best-selling one-tonner bakkie behind the Toyota Hilux, Isuzu D-Max and Ford Ranger.

The Nissan Navara (475) won the fight as the fifth best-selling one-tonner against the Toyota Land Cruiser PU (406), the new VW Amarok (401) and the GWM P-Series (372).

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