South Africa January 2014: VW Polo Vivo #1, Chevy Spark in Top10

The Chevrolet Spark breaks into the South African Top 10 for the first time this month.

* See the Top 130 best-selling models and Top 35 carmakers by clicking on the title! *

The South African new car market is down a harsh 7% year-on-year in January to 53,025 registrations. Toyota passes Volkswagen to become the #1 carmaker in the country with 20.1% share vs. 19.6%, while Hyundai-Kia is down 25% but stays #3 just above Ford up a splendid 41%. The VW Polo Vivo dominates the models ranking for the 2nd month running thanks to 2,965 sales and 5.6% share while its younger sister the VW Polo is back up 4 spots on December to land at an excellent 2nd place with 5.3% share vs. 4.3% over the Full Year 2013. As a result, the Toyota Hilux, leader in 2013, is kicked down to third position at 2,772 units and 5.2%.

Audi A3

The Toyota Etios continues to feature among the most popular vehicles in South Africa with astonishing regularity: January 2014 is its 20th consecutive month inside the Top 6! One of the heroes of the month is the Chevrolet Spark, up 16 ranks on December to break into the monthly South African Top 10 for the very first time at #10 with 1,177 sales and 2.2%. Other great performers in January include the Audi A3 up 29 spots to #19 (potentially helped by the sedan version produced locally), the Ford Ecosport up 4 to #20, the Toyota RAV4 up a further two ranks to #23, Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-up up 7 to #26, Jeep Grand Cherokee up 25 spots to #32 and the Mercedes CLA up 43 to #46.

Previous post: South Africa Full Year 2013: Toyota Hilux leads, Etios up to #4

One year ago: South Africa January 2013: VW Polo Vivo takes off to 7.4% share

Full January 2014 Top 130 models and Top 35 carmakers Ranking Tables below.