South Africa March 2016: Toyota Hilux reclaims top spot

Toyota Hilux

* See the Top 33 manufacturers and Top 265 All-models by clicking on the title *

The South African new vehicle market steps on the brakes in March with sales down a harsh 14% to just 47.631 units, pulling the year-to-date total down 10% to 144.352 units. Exports also suffer at -19% in March and -13% in Q1. Passenger cars are down 13% to 30.702 while light commercial vehicles are down 14% to 14.507. Toyota keeps the lead manufacturer-wise despite falling faster than the market at -21%, it distances the Volkswagen Group (-12%), Ford (-1%), Hyundai-Kia (-11%) and Nissan (-14%). GM/Isuzu suffers at -35%, BMW Group is stable while Renault (+34%), Mazda (+32%) and Jaguar Land Rover (+45%) go against the grain and post significant improvements.

Toyota Quantum

Model-wise, thanks to the new generation now finding its way across the country, the Toyota Hilux reclaims the pole position it held over the FY2015 with 3.273 sales and 6.9% and despite sales down 10%. It distances its archenemy the Ford Ranger at 3.004 units (-3%). The VW Polo Vivo still holds the year-to-date lead though at 8.379 deliveries vs. 8.306 for the Hilux and 8.122 for the Ranger. The Toyota Quantum more than doubles its sales year-on-year to shoot up to 5th place overall (1.369) with the Ford Figo at #8 (+27%) and the Renault Sandero at #17 (+60%) also displaying very strong gains.

This ranking includes rare data for Hyundai, Kia, Great Wall and Mercedes previously unpublished online.

Previous post: South Africa January-February 2016 with All-models rankings

One year ago: South Africa March 2015: Nissan NP200 and Ford Ecosport strong

Full March 2016 Top 33 manufacturers and Top 265 All-models below.