Isuzu D-Max the biggest winner of September record vehicle sales month

Although exports remained on the downwards trends, domestic sales recorded its highest monthly uptake of recent times. South Africa’s new vehicle sales recorded not only its 23rd month of consecutive increases in September, but after numerous attempts, finally breached sales of 60 000 units for the first time D-Max surprises In a further uptake from August, 15 models sold more than 1 000 units, once again headed by the Toyota Hilux with 3 769 and the Volkswagen Polo Vivo with 2 553. While the top two remained unchanged from August, the Isuzu D-Max emerged as the biggest top 10 gainer, jumping three places from sixth to third with an offset of 2 551 units. This saw it displace the Ford Ranger as the second best-selling bakkie behind the Hilux, with the Blue Oval’s offering dropping a notch from third in August to fourth in September on 2 502. Also falling down one place from fourth to fifth, the combination of the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and Tiggo Cross, under the Tiggo 4 banner, remained the best-selling imported and Chinese vehicle on 2 251. Taking sixth place, one down from August, the Suzuki Swift registered 2 012 sales, followed by the Toyota Corolla Cross, which stayed seventh on 1 964. In eighth place, the Toyota Starlet swapped places with the Hyundai Grand i10 with respective sales of 1 573 and 1 526. Completing an even split between imported and locally produced vehicles in the top 10, the Toyota Starlet Cross jumped two places from August’s 12th to finish 10th in September on 1 478. Best-selling brands Out of the best-selling brands, Toyota’s offset rose from August’s 13 814 to 15 366, with Suzuki’s tally also rising to 6 668 from 6 505. Inclusive of Audi, Volkswagen kept its third place standing on 5 968, up from August’s 5 668, while Ford remained fourth on 3 190. Staying steady in fifth, Hyundai recorded an offset of 3 057, while the performance of the D-Max saw Isuzu displace both Chery and Great Wall Motors (GWM) to finish September in sixth place on 3 022. Wuhu-based Chery remained the best-selling Chinese brand, though on 3 004, with its rival from Baoding placing eighth on 2 700. The former’s Jetour division kept its position in ninth place on 2 036, with the same applying to Kia, which again finished 10th on 1 840. Top 15 Toyota – 15 366 Suzuki – 6 668 Volkswagen – 5 968 Ford – 3 190 Hyundai – 3 057 Isuzu – 3 022 Chery – 3 004 Great Wall Motors (GWM) – 2 700 Jetour – 2 036 Kia – 1 840 Renault – 1 711 Omoda & Jaecoo – 1 503 Mahindra – 1 398 BMW – 1 396 Tata – 883 Month in detail Amid higher international oil prices and a 25 basis point hike in the repo rate by the Reserve Bank, August saw vehicle sales crest 60 000 units. According to the September figures by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), sales increased by 12.7% from last year’s 54 706 to 61 645. The rest of the various segments were as follows: Passenger VehiclesLight Commercial VehiclesMedium-Duty Commercial VehiclesHeavy-Duty Commercial VehiclesExports202538 61513 0997632 22938 782202644 29114 3617892 20431 473Variation+14.7%+9.6%+3.4–-18.1% September Top 50 best-sellers Toyota Hilux – 3 769 Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 553* Isuzu D-Max – 2 551 Ford Ranger – 2 502 Chery Tiggo 4 – 2 251# Suzuki Swift – 2 012 Toyota Corolla Cross – 1 964 Toyota Starlet – 1 573 Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 526* Toyota Starlet Cross – 1 478 GWM Haval Jolion – 1 351 Toyota Urban Cruiser – 1 328 Suzuki Ertiga – 1 270 Suzuki Fronx – 1 184 Volkswagen Polo – 1 005 Toyota Vitz – 949 Omoda C5 – 936 Toyota Fortuner – 908 Kia Sonet – 838 Jetour T2 – 757 Toyota HiAce – 649 Toyota Rumion – 642 Volkswagen T-Cross – 596 Jetour Dashing – 584 Renault Triber – 578* Mahindra XUV 3X0 – 575* Renault Kwid – 528 Mahindra Pik Up – 521 GWM P Series – 517# Suzuki Baleno – 511 Tata Tiago – 490 Hyundai i20 – 479 Nissan Magnite – 479 Renault Kiger – 463 Toyota Land Cruiser 70-series – 452# Jetour T1 – 441 Volkswagen Amarok – 430 BMW X3 – 425 Jaecoo J5 – 410 Ford Territory – 399 Chery Tiggo 7 – 392 GWM Haval H6 – 385 Suzuki DZire – 370 Hyundai Exter – 362* Kia Seltos – 352 Citroën C3 – 321 Suzuki Across – 305 Toyota RAV4 – 290 Suzuki S-Presso – 280 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ – 278Note:*: Includes commercial variants#: Combination of two models