South Africa Full Year 2021: Toyota Hilux #1 for 9th straight year, Starlet up to #7 in market up 22.1%

The Toyota Starlet vastly outsells the Suzuki Baleno on which it is based.

Discover close to 50 years of South African Historical Data here.

New vehicle sales in South Africa gain 22.1% year-on-year in 2021 to 464,122 units. Passenger cars are up 23.3% to 303,961, light commercials improve 20% to 133,079, heavy trucks and buses gain 22.1% to 19,564 and medium trucks step up 11.6% to 7,518.

The Toyota Hilux is the best-selling vehicle in South Africa for the 9th year in a row thanks to sales up a further 15.4% leading to a 7.8% share. The Hilux has a 14,000-unit advantage over the #2, the VW Polo Vivo (+10.8%) at 4.7% share. The Ford Ranger (+1.2%), VW Polo (+11.6%), Isuzu D-Max (+29.3%) and Toyota Hiace (+39.3%) ensure the Top 6 is unchanged on 2020. The Toyota Starlet, in fact a rebadged Suzuki Baleno, storms into the Top 10 at #7 whereas the Baleno doesn’t even make it into the Top 50. Another rebadge, the Toyota Urban Cruiser aka Suzuki Vitara Brezza lands directly at #10 vs. #30 for the Suzuki version. Other newcomers in this year’s Top 50 include the Renault Triber at #15, the Haval Jolion at #22, Toyota Agya at #23, Great Wall P-Series at #25, Toyota Corolla Cross at #31, VW T-Roc at #32 and Kia Sonet at #44.

Previous month: South Africa November 2021: Toyota Corolla Cross lands on podium in market up 6.6%

Previous year: South Africa 2020: Market down -29.1% to lowest in 20 years

Two years ago: South Africa 2019: Toyota Hilux and VW Polo Vivo most popular, Renault Kwid shines in weakest market in 9 years (-2.8%)

Full Year 2021 Top 50 models vs. Full Year 2020 figures below.