South Africa January 2018: VW Polo Vivo leads, Renault and Suzuki shine

The VW Polo Vivo is the best-selling vehicle in South Africa in January. 

* See the Top 35 All-manufacturers and Top 250 All-models by clicking on the title *

South African new vehicle sales start 2018 on the wrong foot with a steep 8.8% year-on-year decline in January to 45.888 units. Toyota limits its fall to -3% to reach a strong 25.9% share, three percentage points above its FY2017 level of 22.9%. The Volkswagen Group (-16%) and Ford (-27%) both dive faster than the market, resulting is reduced shares, whereas Hyundai-Kia (-4%) and Nissan (+2%) post solid results and round up the Top 5 as they did in 2017. Renault impresses with a 19% gain in 6th place, with Suzuki (+81%), Mazda (+15%), the BMW Group (+6%), Jaguar Land Rover (+6%) and Mahindra (+1%) also landing positive scores in the Top 15.

Model-wise, the VW Polo Vivo (-3%) leaps up to the top spot this month, eclipsing the Toyota Hilux (+12%) and Ford Ranger (-15%) with the Toyota Corolla (-16%) and Nissan NP200 (+38%) rounding up the Top 5. The Isuzu KB (+55%) and Hyundai Grand i10 (+225%) post the largest gains in the Top 10 while the Nissan Micra (+819%), VW Golf (+85%), BMW 3 Series (+72%), Ford Figo (+64%) and VW Tiguan (+55%) also shine. The Hyundai Creta (#31) leads recent launches (<12 months) ahead of the Toyota C-HR (#46), Suzuki Ignis (#57) and Range Rover Velar (#81).

Previous post: South Africa Full Year 2017: Toyota Hilux snaps 8th win in past 9 years

One year ago: South Africa January 2017: Market up, VW Polo and Polo Vivo on top

Full January 2018 Top 35 All-manufacturers and Top 250 All-models below.