Toyota Starlet gives Volkswagen Polo and Polo Vivo a scare

The Toyota Starlet is breathing down the necks of traditional runaway leaders the Volkswagen Polo and Polo Vivo as South Africa’s top-selling new passenger car.

The pair of Volkswagen hatchbacks have led the charts by significant margins over the last few years. But In October, Toyota sold 1 452 Starlets to close the gap on the Polo (1 693) and Polo Vivo (1 571).

The Toyota Starlet, which has replaced the Toyota Etios, has enjoyed huge success since its arrival in September 2020. Just short of 13 000 Toyota Starlets have been sold over the last 13 months.

Another Toyota, the compact Urban Cruiser SUV, was the fourth best selling new passenger in South Africa in October with 1 270 units sold.

Fifth is the Haval Jolion, another SUV, which continued its local success by breaking the four-digit mark with 1 020 units sold.

The rest of the top 10 best-selling passenger cars in Msanzi in October were the Kia Picanto (982), Renault Kwid (814), Renault Kiger (811), the Suzuki Swift (803) and the Toyota Corolla Quest (802).

The Toyota Hilux again topped the light commercial vehicle’s sales charts with October sales of 2 470. By selling 1 556 HiAce minibuses, the Japanese carmaker also secured the second place on the list.

The Isuzu D-Max (1 548) managed to stay ahead of the Ford Ranger (1 363), which sales have again suffered due to stock shortages as a result of the extensive upgrades to the Silverton Assembly Plant, on the LCV list.

Nissan enjoyed another good month with the new Navara by recording sales of 650. The NP200, however, had an unusual poor month. The GWM Steed (618) and Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up (561) both outsold the NP200 (520), with the GWM P-Series (501) breathing down its neck.

Toyota kept it position as the top-selling manufacturer with 9 928 vehicles sold in October, giving it almost 25% of the overall market share. Second was Volkswagen with 5 975, followed by Nissan (3 059), Hyundai (2 804), Suzuki (2 593), Renault (2 480), Kia (2 343), Haval (2 330), Ford (2 148) and Isuzu (1 934).

ALSO READ: Suzuki posts new record as vehicle sales rise in September

Although the total of 41 035 new vehicles sold in October showed an increase of 6.1% from October 2021, sales were affected by adverse effects. According to the Automotive Business Council, a three-week strike in the steel and engineering sector and the return of load-shedding impacted the new vehicle market and vehicle exports.

Exports suffered heavily with the 23 685 units exported in October 2021 reflecting a significant fall of 30% compared to October 2020.

For more information on the October 2021 new vehicles sales in South Africa, click here.