South Africa July 2015: Toyota Hilux reclaims throne

The Toyota Hilux is back to the South African top spot in 2015.

* See the Top 32 best-selling manufacturers and Top 230 All-models by clicking on the title *

The South African new car market continues to suffer from a degrading economic situation in the country at -6% in July to 54.112 registrations, with the year-to-date total now down 2.5% to 356.755 units. In contrast, and despite the recent striking movements in the industry, vehicle exports from South Africa surge 24% year-on-year in July to 28.291 units, with the industry on track to gain 20% overall in 2015 to reach a record 330.000 exports. Toyota remains the most popular manufacturer in the country at 20.8% share while Volkswagen Group is back above Ford despite sales down 14% to 15.7% share. Hyundai-Kia, General Motors-Isuzu and Nissan follow, with Renault the only passenger car manufacturer to post substantial year-on-year gains this month at +29%.

The Honda HR-V can now add South Africa to its expanding list of hit countries.

The battle between the two star “Bakkies” (South African for Pickup truck) continues this month, and the Toyota Hilux manages to edge past the Ford Ranger in the year-to-date ranking thanks to a very strong showing in July at 3.546 sales and 6.6% share vs. 2.618 and 4.8% for the Ranger. This puts the Hilux at 20.498 so far in 2015 vs. 20.321 for the Ford, and the battle will get more interesting as months come by with both nameplates entering runout mode before the launch of the respective new models. Further down, the Datsun GO is back up 15 spots to #17 – now totalling 8 months inside the South African Top 25, the Renault Captur is stable at #31, the Opel Mokka stays in the Top 50 at #46 and the Honda HR-V breaks into it at #50 for its 2nd appearance in the South African sales charts.

Previous month: South Africa June 2015: Ford Ranger resists in pole position

One year ago: South Africa July 2014: VW Polo confirms pole position

Full July 2015 Top 32 manufacturers and Top 230 All-models ranking below.