Hilux leads Toyota sales

“In December alone, Toyota recorded a market share of 45,7% in the Light Commercial Vehicle segment – which translates to 4 939 out of the 10 161 vehicles sold by the company last month. As many as 3 233 Hilux and 1 221 Hiace models found new homes in December,” says Toyota.

This while the industry, in general, posted its lowest cumulative sales 18 years in 2020.

Commenting on 2020 aggregate sales, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) says, “Vehicle sales are linked to the strength of the economy and the pandemic not only deepened an existing economic recession, but its severe impact resulted in the domestic new-vehicle market in 2020 dropping back to the levels of two decades ago.”

“It was a bittersweet year of retail for Toyota. Although we are pleased to have ended the year with an aggregate market share of 23,7% – coupled with an extraordinary December result which saw us record a monumental 27,1% share of the retail pie – we also lost a lot of sales to the pandemic. That said, in the second half of the year, the local automotive industry has shown tremendous resilience – almost matching pre-Covid-19 sales in some instances… and that was most encouraging. And here, we truly do owe our dealer network a huge debt of gratitude; to every single hard-working man and woman who makes dealership sales, fleet sales and service departments such a great place to work, buy or service a car – thank you! Thank you for your tireless effort and dedication to your jobs. And thank you for your partnership,” says senior vice president of sales and marketing of TSAM, Leon Theron.

Further to this Toyota indicated that its new Starlet, was leading their passenger vehicle sales in December.

According to Theron, 2021 will likewise be a challenging year for the local automotive sector. “The virus will still be a huge factor in the economy this year, and this will have a notable impact on the retail of motor vehicles in the course of 2021. We hope that our Toyota, Hino and Lexus dealers and all the Toyota staff at various touchpoints will be up to the task.”