Ivory Coast March 2020: Suzuki Vitara snaps lead in market up 12.9%

The Suzuki Vitara is the best-selling vehicle in Ivory Coast in March.

With 179 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of March 31, Ivory Coast has seen a delay in the spread of the coronavirus compared to the rest of the world, as is the case for most of Africa. A national state of emergency was declared on March 23 alongside a night curfew but no lockdown has been imposed so far. Cases have shot up since, to 574 as of April 12, which could point to more restrictive measures in the near future. For now the new vehicle market in the country isn’t affected, with sales up a splendid 12.9% year-on-year in March to 1.091, leading to a Q1 volume up 8.6% to 3.490.

Suzuki (+100.8%) posts a spectacular gain and more than doubles its March 2019 volume, cementing its newfound leadership in the country at 23.7% share vs. 18.9% so far in 2020. In contrast Toyota (-30.5%), leader in 2019, is hit particularly hard and suffers the largest year-on-year drop in the Top 12, only holding 10.6% of the market in March vs. 15.3% over the FY2019. Great Wall (+371.4%), Sinotruk (+366.7%), Mazda (+109.1%), Isuzu (+61.9%) and Mitsubishi (+44.6%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 10. As a whole, Chinese carmakers are up 32.5% in March to 10.1% share and up 16.9% YTD to 12.5% share. Model-wise, the Suzuki Vitara overtakes the Mitsubishi L200 to snap the lead both in March and Q1, with the Mazda BT-50 following in March and the L200 in tow in Q1. Suzuki also places the Alto 800 at #4, the Dzire at #8 and the Swift at #10 while Toyota has the Hilux at #6 and the Rush at #9.

Previous post: Ivory Coast January-February 2020: Suzuki and Mitsubishi L200 take control in market up 6.6%

Previous year: Ivory Coast Full Year 2019: Suzuki threatens Toyota, Vitara teases Hilux in market up 17.7%

Full March 2020 Top 40 All-brands and Top 150 All-models below.