South Africa August 2019: Nissan NP200 (+40.8%), Renault Kwid (+43.2%) defy 4th straight market drop (-5.1%)

The Nissan NP200 scores its first ever podium finish in South Africa.

New vehicle sales in South Africa continue to decline at -5.1% year-on-year in August to 45.537 units, leading to a year-to-date tally down -3.9% to 349.203. The Top 2 manufacturers all fall faster than the market: Toyota is down -6.6% to 22.3% share and the Volkswagen Group down -8.3% to 16%. In contrast, Suzuki (+46.3%), Renault (+8.7%) and Nissan (+2.2%) post solid gains in the remainder of the Top 10 where Isuzu (-24.1%), the BMW Group (-23.5%), Mazda (-22%), Hyundai-Kia (-14.1%) and Ford (-14%) all record steep falls. Newcomer Haval is stuck at an excellent 12th place with 1.8% share, while Peugeot-Citroen (+110.9%), Porsche (+51.4%), Mahindra (+39.5%) and Mitsubishi (+11.2%) make themselves noticed further down.

Model-wise, the Toyota Hilux (+5.9%) swims upstream to easily remain in pole position with 7.8% share vs. 5.9% for the VW Polo (-22%) at #2. The Nissan NP200 (+40.8%) aka Dacia Logan Pickup surges 4 spots on July to land in third place which is no less than the nameplate’s very first podium finish in South Africa, 11 years after its launch. The Ford Ranger (-9.5%) and VW Polo Vivo (+18.2%) round up the Top 5 ahead of two new launches: the Toyota Hiace and Isuzu D-Max, in fact new generations of existing models (the Toyota Quantum and Isuzu KB). The Renault Kwid (+43.2%) is up 5 spots to return to the Top 10 at #8 and the Ford Figo (+3.6%) is up 13 to #10.

Previous month: South Africa July 2019: Isuzu (+28.5%), Suzuki (+27.5%), Renault (+12%) headline another market slide (-3.8%)

One year ago: South Africa August 2018: New gen lifts VW Polo to first win in 4 years

Full August 2019 Top 37 All-manufacturers and Top 260 All-models below.