Could the Mitsubishi L200 top the Senegalese models ranking?
* See the Full article by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Andrea *
Up until today I had not managed to get official sales information by brand for Senegal but thanks to Andrea we now have a little bit more insight on this sub-saharian market, and The Africa Project continues to map out this fascinating continent little by little. Granted, the data is a little… well dated as it is from 2008 when an estimated 6,000 new vehicles were sold in the country.
Street scene in Dakar, Senegal. Picture by Alexandre Foulon, all rights reserved.
However it reveals a very interesting fact about the Senegalese market: that Mitsubishi leads the manufacturers ranking ahead of Toyota, Ford and Volkswagen. If confirmed and still valid in 2013, this would make Senegal the only country in the world where Mitsubishi is crowned. The Japanese manufacturer’s previous “best” was the Philippines where it currently ranks #2.
The new Symbol should enable Renault to stay on top in 2013.
* See the Top 30 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Alexandra *
Car sales data for Tunisia is very rare to come across but thanks to Alexandra I am able to share with you an all-brands ranking for Passenger Cars only for the Full Year 2012. Note this ranking does not include Light Commercial Vehicle sales which was the case for my last Tunisian update. New car sales in Tunisia are up a very healthy 15% year-on-year in 2012 to 37,132 registrations. Renault remains the most popular carmaker thanks to 6,207 units and 16.7%, however down from 18.9% in 2011. Volkswagen ranks #2 again in spite of sales down 11% to 5,140 and 13,8%. The German manufacturer is now threatened by Peugeot, up one spot and an impressive 28% year-on-year to #3 with 5,095 sales and 13.7%.
The arrival of the 301 could mean Peugeot will rank #2 in Tunisia in 2013…
Further down, Fiat drops one rank and 11% to #4, Kia remains #5 but is up only 1% to 9.3% share vs. 10.6% in 2011, Citroen is up 33% to #6, Ford up 57% to #7, Chevrolet up 81% to #8, Seat up 19% to #9 and BMW up 59% to #10. Notice also Toyota up 29% to #11, Mitsubishi up 298% to #13, Mercedes up 80% to #14, Hyundai up 1389% (!) to #15, Mazda up 394% to #17, Opel up 122% to #19, Land Rover up 256% to #22 and Lancia up 625% to #24.
* See the Top 7 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to nami *
After growing by 15% over the first 6 months of the year thanks to bank credit starting to trickle in, new car imports in Nigeria are back down by 5% over the full year to 48,490 registrations. One brand stands out from the crowd: Toyota, up a massive 30% year-on-year to 19,755 sales or a mammoth 40.7% market share which is over 10 percentage points higher than in 2011 when it held 29.7% of the market. Far below we find Kia at 5,034 units and 10.4% and Hyundai at 4,259 sales and 8.8%, adding up to just over 19% vs. 28% in 2011. Ford is up 4% to 2,613 units thanks to the Ranger and Honda is up a huge 58% to 2,473 sales.
Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. Picture by Kohsah, all rights reserved.
Today we welcome a new country on BestSellingCarsBlog, one that actually acquired its independence after this site was created. The Republic of South Sudan became officially independent from Sudan in July 2011. There is no available information about the best-selling models and carmakers in this country online so if you come across any data at all please do comment on this article so we can all improve our knowledge of this African market.
First observations through YouTube videos of the capital city Juba show a surprisingly high amount of new cars (compared to neighbouring countries in the region) probably purchased by the non-government organisations present in the country. The Toyota Land Cruiser Series 70, 200, Hilux and Land Cruiser Prado (in this order) should top the sales charts as they are omnipresent in the streets, with literally no other new model apart from the Mitsubishi Pajero and Toyota Hiace showing off their new bonnet.
* See the Top 3 best-selling models and Top 5 carmakers by clicking on the title! *
Thanks to the hard work of Rutger I am able to share with you some very rare data about the Kenyan new vehicle market, up a shy 1% year-on-year in 2012 to 12,798 units. This is the “the slowest growth since 2009 when reduced economic activity due to the post-election and global economic meltdown cut orders by 20%”, says local website Business Daily Africa. General Motors East Africa, mainly distributing Isuzu light and heavy commercial vehicles, maintains its lead over the Kenyan market with sales up a robust 9% to 3,421 units for a 26.7% market share. “We had a lot of orders for our Isuzu buses last year. We could not supply all the units in 2012 and the strong order book is keeping us busy in this first quarter,” says Rita Kavashe, GMEA’s managing director.
The saloon car market has come under serious attack from imported second hand vehicles over the past 5 years, increasing the pressure on Toyota, up just 3% at #2 with 3,099 sales and 24.2%, and CMC Motors, which deals in Land Rover, Volkswagen and Ford models, down to #5. Model-wise, in December the Toyota Land Cruiser takes the lead with 108 sales and almost 10% share, followed by the Mitsubishi Diesel 9-tonne truck and the Toyota Hilux Double Cab.
* See the Top 5 best-selling brands by clicking on the title! Many thanks to José *
Thanks to José I can now share with you actual data for 2011 in Angola for the very first time on BSCB as part of The Africa Project. In 2011 the Angolan new car market was up by a huge 32% year-on-year to 23,390 registrations, nearly back to the pre-crisis levels of 2008 and 2009. The passenger car segment accounts for 72% of the total market and grew by 38% in 2011. At this stage there is only a Top 5 brands ranking but this is way better than my YouTube estimations to-date! As we learnt a few months ago, Hyundai is the most popular carmaker in the country but the new news is that it totally dominates the landscape with 5,901 sales and 25.2% share.
Suzuki Celerio
This is nearly double the #2, Suzuki at 3,275 units and 14%, and more than double the sales of Toyota, Hyundai’s big opponent on the African continent, at 2,871 units and 12.3%. Chevrolet and Kia round up the Top 5 brands in Angola. Model-wise, the data is more sparse, but given Hyundai’s domination and based on the traffic in Luanda, I will venture the guess that the Hyundai ix35 is the best-selling model in the country.
Suzuki Jimny
At least we now know that the Suzuki Celerio is #2 with 1,465 sales and 6.3%, the Suzuki Jimny is #5 at 1,080 units and 4.6%, the Chevrolet New Spark at #8 and Chevrolet Spark Lite at #9. An interesting trend in Angola is the emergence of a new middle class that buys practical cars like the ones above along with the Chevrolet Sail, and the proportion of sales going to businesses declining. Most private buyers purchase with cash upfront with only 7% of sales going through bank financing.
The BMW Cheetah was a rebadged Glas 1700 assembled in Rhodesia in the sixties.
But there is still a lot of work to do and many countries to explore, so I encourage you to keep contributing to The Africa Project by sending/shairing any piece of information you have, even if it’s just observations you have made when you visited various African countries. Once/if BSCB gets bigger, I may have the possibility to travel to these regions to report about them myself, but for now my own experience of Africa is very limited.
If you live in Africa or have data on any African country please be sure to get in touch by filling the ‘Contact us’ form I will contact you right away.
There is a revitalised interest towards Africa in France right now.
In terms of new car sales Africa is the last frontier, with only a few countries having set up regular reports. However no less than 1.4 million cars were sold on the African continent in 2011, and even though it is still plagued with war and poverty in some parts, it is now developing fast. The African Bank of Development predicts 4.5% economic growth for the region in 2012 and 4.8% in 2013, with peaks at 6.9% in Western Africa and 5.6% in the East.
Indeed, one of the things I noticed during my last stay in France is the revitalised interest, focus and introspection towards the African continent, with which France has long running cultural and economical links. French rap band Sexion d’Assaut recently released the song ‘African’ (the video clip shot in Senegal is above), a harsh, realistic and at times humorous view on how Africans are perceived in France and abroad. In the car world, this renewed interest translates into statements like Peugeot’s, refocusing its energy on sub-Saharan Africa in 2012.
On top of this, Japanese carmakers Toyota, Nissan and Honda have had decades of strong sales in the region, and lately Chinese manufacturers have landed en masse, making Africa a fascinating continent to follow, and this is why I want to make it a special focus on Best Selling Cars Blog.
The Dacia Lodgy is assembled in Tangier, Morocco.
Problem is, new car sales reporting is still quite disorganised and I only have data for a few countries. South Africa, by far the biggest African car market at 570,000 sales in 2011, Algeria (#2 at 300,000) and Egypt (#3 at 176,000) are the only 3 I am able to cover monthly. There are still a lot of unknowns…
So this is where you come in dear readers.
If you work in the car industry anywhere in Africa, within organisations that would have the potential to bring together some car sales data, or if you just happen to have sales info, please do get in touch by filling in the ‘Contact us’ form.
I would like to build Best Selling Cars Blog towards the site that gives reliable sales data for as many African countries as possible so everyone can have a better understanding of this fascinating and fast evolving market, so I’m counting on you BSCB readers to improve the coverage on Africa! Many thanks in advance for all your help.
See the direct links to the 47 African posts below.
The Renault 4 was the most successful model in Rhodesia over the period
* See the Top 25 most produced models by clicking on the title! Many thanks to Frank *
Today the Africa Project is getting its first historical contribution, thanks to Frank Stevens. Frank was born and grew up in what was used to be Rhodesia up until 1980 when it became Zimbabwe, one of the most tumultuous times the country has known. During that period, up to 17 car manufacturers assembled models in a country plagued with United Nations trade sanctions, and thanks to Frank who also worked at the National Vehicle Registration Department there in the seventies, I am able to share with you the best-selling models in Rhodesia from the late fifties to the early eighties. Fascinating info if you ask me!
1958 Pontiac Strato Chief
In the fifties Rhodesia, being part of the Commonwealth, truly benefitted from the American and European export drives. The most popular models in the country at that time included the Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Polara, Pontiac Strato Chief, Ford Galaxie 500, Plymouth Fury and Mercedes 220 fintail, sharing the roads with the Austin 1100, Wolseley 6/110, Skoda Octavia, Borgward Isabella, Taunus 17M, Ford Zodiac and Anglia, Jaguar S type, Opel Rekord, Vauxhall Victor, Volvo Amazon, Holdens and even the odd Datsun…
1963 Isuzu Bellett
In 1958 BMC opened an assembly plant in Umtali (now Mutare), and Ford did the same in 1960 at Willowvale in Salisbury (now Harare) with the two brands likely dominating sales in Rhodesia in the early sixties. However the Unilateral Declaration of Independence from Britain in 1965 triggered UN trade sanctions against Rhodesia from 1966 until the creation of Zimbabwe in 1980. As a result BMC and Ford stopped supplying CKD kits and by 1967 there were very few new cars available, except save for the occasional Isuzu Bellett and Daihatsu Compagno.
Peugeot 404
From 1968 onwards, the composition of the Rhodesian new car market changed drastically as sanctions busters found new sources of CKD kits and new brands made their appearance on the streets. Thanks to Frank’s meticulous observation and note-taking when working at the Vehicle Registration Department at the time, I am able to share with you the most produced (and therefore best-selling) models in Rhodesia from 1966 to 1980.
Datsun 120Y
Interestingly, the Frenchies dominate the ranking with 4 models in the Top 5… The Renault 4 is likely to be the best-seller over the period ahead of the Peugeot 404 in all its formats (sedan, station-wagon, pick-up) with the Datsun 1200/120Y/140Y rounding up the podium. The Renault 12 and 10 follow while the Datsun 1500 pick-up ranks #6.
The BMW Cheetah/2000 SA was a rebadged Glas 1700 assembled in Rhodesia
The Alfa Romeo Giulia ranks #7, the Mazda B1600 pick-up is #8, the BMW Cheetah #9 and the Peugeot 304 #10. Other interesting entries include the Citroen DS at #11, the Alfasud at #14, the Toyota Corolla Mk2 at #18, the Peugeot 504 at #22 and the VW 1300/1600 bush buggy at #24.
The Hyundai Elantra was elected 2012 Car of the Year in South Africa
* See more info by clicking on the title! *
Just as Hyundai kick starts its brand new Brazilian manufacturing plant in Piracicaba, Sao Paulo with an annual production capacity of 150,000 vehicles and targeting 10% of the local market with the made-in-Brazil-for-Brazilians Hyundai HB20, extremely rare sales figures for Africa were released by The Korea Herald. Hyundai has been competing closely with Toyota to become #1 in Africa, posting monthly sales growth rates of about 50% on average in the region.
Hyundai is currently #2 in Africa with about 12% share of the continent’s market with Toyota leader at 14.7%. However, The Korea Herald says Hyundai has surpassed Toyota in five major countries: Algeria, Angola, Morocco, Egypt and South Africa. For Algeria, Morocco and Egypt, if you are a regular BSCB reader this will come as no surprise to you as sales figures are regularly available and show clearly Hyundai doing much better than Toyota there. This is mainly thanks to models whose previous generations are still on sale at low prices: the Verna, a 2000 Accent, is #1 in Egypt and was #3 in Algeria in 2011, while the 2004 Hyundai Atos was #2 there.
For Angola this is new news to me as this market is still very secretive when it comes to car sales figures. The big surprise is South Africa, simply because Hyundai oddly does not release any sales figures for that country… which is a shame because Toyota sold 7,325 Passenger Cars in South Africa in August (#2 behind Volkswagen) and 4,622 Light Commercial Vehicles (#1 ahead of Chevrolet) for a total of 11,947 vehicles overall, placing it #1 well ahead of Volkswagen at 9,898 units. This means if The Korea Herald are correct, Hyundai is simply #1 in South Africa, by the largest car market in Africa!
Another piece of interesting information released by The Korea Herald is the fact that sales in the above five nations account for more than 80% of all automobile sales on the African continent, which means Hyundai is putting itself in a very good position to grab the overall lead in Africa in the near future.
The new gen Isuzu Double Cab will launch in Kenya in 2013
* See more pictures, Top 5 best-selling models and Top 10 brands by clicking on the title! *
Thanks to Myk, today we have our second contribution to the Africa Project and for the first time ever on BSCB I can now share with you a models ranking for Kenya! I have contacted the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) to see whether this could become a monthly occurrence… But first let’s look at the Kenyan car market as a whole. The higher cost of credit has meant new car sales are down 5% year-on-year in May to 1,085 units after going up by 10% over the Full Year 2011…
South African Isuzu KB on their way to Kenya
Growth in the agriculture and construction sectors is driving demand for commercial vehicles, with pick-up trucks accounting for 35% of total sales and heavy commercial vehicles at 27%. Even though used car sales figures are still five times higher than new cars, users of commercial vehicles cannot risk buying used cars and still prefer new ones. As a result, commercial vehicles totally dominate the models ranking in Kenya – in contrast to my observation of the streets of Nairobi, which had led me to believe the Toyota Corolla was the best-seller in the country. Nothing like official figures to get the right picture!
Isuzu and Land Rover have a history of strong sales in Kenya. Pictures by Marcel Oosterwijk and Art Nahpro, all rights reserved.
Brand-wise, Isuzu is by far the king of the Kenyan new vehicle market with 381 sales and 35.1% share in May, followed by Toyota at 18.2%, Nissan at 9.6%, Mitsubishi at 9.5% and Tata at 5.7%. And the much anticipated models ranking is full of surprises: the Isuzu Double Cab leads the way at 90 units and 8.3% share, followed by its Single Cab version with 45 sales and 4.1% and its Station Wagon version at 36 units and 3.3%. In actual fact the Isuzu KB (aka D-Max), imported from South Africa, holds almost 16% of the market with all versions combined…
Lion (and Land Rover Defender). Picture by ThomasChamberlin, all rights reserved.
Delivering its best result anywhere in the world so far (in the absence of official data for most African countries) and the vehicle of choice for safari tour operators, the Land Rover Defender 110TD Station Wagon ranks 4th in Kenya in May with 31 sales and 2.9% share, ahead of the Isuzu FRR 33-Large Bus at 30 units and 2.8%.
The Foton SUP/Slip Double Cab Pick-up is now assembled in Kenya
Another very interesting development in the Kenyan car industry and one that is starting to characterise more and more African countries is the arrival of Chinese manufacturers, now setting up assembling plants locally. Commercial vehicle manufacturer Beiqi Foton launched its first domestically produced truck, the Foton Slip/SUP Double Cab pick-up, in June 2011 using an existing local factory, and has opened its own US$50m assembly plant in Nairobi last March - two months ahead of schedule – with a capacity of 10,000 annual units.
Chery will be the next Chinese carmaker to invest in Kenya. According to Justus Nguu, director of Chery’s local franchise holder Stantech Motors, Chery is now in negotiations with the Chinese government to secure financing of US$50m for a Kenyan plant, which the carmaker plans to open in 2013, aiming to produce 1,000 units that year.
Could the Mitsubishi L200 top the Senegalese models ranking?
Street scene in Dakar, Senegal. Picture by Alexandre Foulon, all rights reserved.
