South Africa 1984: Toyota Corolla starts its reign
Toyota Corolla
* See ‘Read more’ for the Top 10 best-selling models, thanks to Miguel for the data! *
In 1984 the Toyota Corolla is the best-selling car in South Africa, in what could be the start of a 20-year long reign. I only have intermediary rankings for the period (1986, 1988, 2000, 2004 and 2005) but they all show the Corolla at #1 so this could mean the model has stayed atop the ranking in South Africa for 21 years… If you know this info for sure please comment on this post.
Toyota Cressida
BMW 3 Series
Toyota manages a 1-2 this year with the Cressida at #2, followed by the BMW 3 Series – very interesting to see a model that expensive so high in the ranking – the Ford Sierra and Escort. The Mercedes 200/300 ranks 6th, notice the appearance of the Renault 9 in 9th place.
Full Year 1984 Top 10 Ranking Table below.
South Africa Full Year 1984:
| Pos | Model | 1984 |
| 1 | Toyota Corolla | 1,990 |
| 2 | Toyota Cressida | 1,813 |
| 3 | BMW 3 Series | 1,198 |
| 4 | Ford Sierra | 830 |
| 5 | Ford Escort | 813 |
| 6 | Mercedes 200/300 | 811 |
| 7 | Nissan Pulsar/Langley | 756 |
| 8 | Mazda 636 | 644 |
| 9 | Renault 9 | 637 |
| 10 | VW Golf Jumbo/Jetta | 601 |
These are definitely not full year figures. Corolla sold closer to 25,000 p.a.
The Renault 9 had good sales because they were pulling out of South Africa at the time and sold them cheaply.