South Africa January 2025: Suzuki Swift topples Toyota Hilux

February 12, 2025
Matt Gasnier
1 Comment

The Suzuki Swift is the best-selling vehicle in South Africa in January.

New vehicle sales in South Africa start the year on the right foot with a sturdy 10.4% year-on-year improvement in January to 46,398 units. Toyota (+11.9%) holds onto the manufacturers top spot with 26.2% share vs. 24.9% over the Full Year 2024. The surprise of the month is the 2nd place of Suzuki (+22.2%) overtaking the VW Group (+2.8%) with 13.8% share vs. 12.2%. Hyundai (+26.3%) is at a distant 4th place but shines nonetheless. Mahindra (+66.6%), Chery (+34.2%) and GWM (+20%) also impress below. We welcome Jetour at #15 and 1% share.

We have another surprise atop the models ranking: the Suzuki Swift surges 68.9% to topple the Toyota Hilux (-4.1%) for the title of best-selling car in the country. This is the Swift’s first win in South Africa since June 2022. The VW Polo Vivo (+25.3%) continues to impress at #3, followed by the Toyota Starlet (+47.4%) up four spots on last month to #4. Excellent scores also by the GWM Haval Jolion (+93.8%), Hyundai Grand i10 (+54.8%) and Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (+22.8%). Notice also the Toyota Land Cruiser 70 up to #22 and the Jetour Dashing landing directly at #44.

Previous post: South Africa Full Year 2024: Toyota Hilux and VW Polo Vivo most popular

One year ago: South Africa January 2024: Chery hits record ranking, BAIC appears

Full January 2025 Top 40 All manufacturers and Top 50 models below.

South Africa January 2025 – brands:

Pos	Manufacturer	Jan-25	%	/24	Dec	FY24
1	Toyota	12,152	26.2%	+ 11.9%	1	1
2	Suzuki	6,399	13.8%	+ 22.2%	3	3
3	Volkswagen Group	5,676	12.2%	+ 2.8%	2	2
4	Hyundai	2,760	5.9%	+ 26.3%	4	5
5	Ford	2,239	4.8%	– 7.5%	5	4
6	Chery	1,913	4.1%	+ 34.2%	6	8
7	GWM (incl. Haval)	1,756	3.8%	+ 20.0%	7	9
8	Isuzu	1,733	3.7%	+ 7.6%	9	6
9	Mahindra	1,463	3.2%	+ 66.6%	11	12
10	Kia	1,428	3.1%	+ 6.3%	8	11
11	Renault	1,409	3.0%	– 0.1%	10	10
12	BMW Group	1,184	2.6%	+ 44.2%	12	13
13	Nissan	1,162	2.5%	– 49.8%	13	7
14	Omoda and Jaecoo	743	1.6%	new	14	18
15	Jetour	451	1.0%	new	–	–
16	Mercedes	414	0.9%	– 18.0%	16	14
17	Stellantis	384	0.8%	– 9.2%	15	15
18	FAW Trucks	334	0.7%	– 9.7%	19	16
19	Mazda	269	0.6%	– 10.9%	21	19
20	BAIC	251	0.5%	– 14.9%	24	26
21	Jaguar Land Rover	241	0.5%	– 5.1%	18	22
22	Daimler Trucks	238	0.5%	– 8.1%	17	17
23	Honda	207	0.4%	– 29.4%	20	21
24	JAC	201	0.4%	+ 42.6%	29	29
25	Mitsubishi	176	0.4%	– 25.7%	22	24
26	Scania	131	0.3%	– 25.6%	23	20
27	Man	126	0.3%	– 10.6%	30	28
28	UD Trucks	122	0.3%	+ 1.7%	26	23
29	Volvo Group	87	0.2%	– 5.4%	25	25
30	Volvo Cars	81	0.2%	– 33.1%	31	27
31	Porsche	75	0.2%	– 2.6%	28	30
32	Powerstar	75	0.2%	+ 78.6%	32	31
33	Sinotruk	64	0.1%	+ 73.0%	27	35
34	Tata	60	0.1%	+ 20.0%	34	34
35	Subaru	52	0.1%	+ 4.0%	36	36
36	Proton	43	0.1%	– 36.8%	35	32
37	Iveco	30	0.1%	– 54.5%	33	33
38	Babcock	17	0.0%	+ 6.3%	38	37
39	VECV South Africa	15	0.0%	+ 25.0%	37	38
40	Ferrari (Scuderia)	9	0.0%	+ 80.0%	39	39

South Africa January 2025 – models:

Pos	Model	Jan-25	%	/23	Dec	FY24
1	Suzuki Swift	2,628	5.7%	+ 68.9%	5	6
2	Toyota Hilux	2,557	5.5%	– 4.1%	1	1
3	VW Polo Vivo	2,549	5.5%	+ 25.3%	2	2
4	Toyota Starlet	2,180	4.7%	+ 47.4%	8	8
5	Ford Ranger	1,858	4.0%	– 2.9%	3	3
6	Isuzu D-Max	1,413	3.0%	+ 5.8%	9	5
7	Toyota Corolla Cross	1,226	2.6%	– 26.1%	4	4
8	Hyundai Grand i10	1,212	2.6%	+ 54.8%	7	7
9	Chery Tiggo 4 Pro	1,122	2.4%	+ 22.8%	11	9
10	GWM Haval Jolion	1,099	2.4%	+ 93.8%	10	13
11	Toyota Starlet Cross	1,050	2.3%	new	14	27
12	Toyota Urban Cruiser	890	1.9%	+ 51.1%	17	21
13	Kia Sonet	831	1.8%	+ 62.9%	13	16
14	Toyota Vitz	825	1.8%	+ 32.6%	22	19
15	Mahindra Scorpio Pik Up	801	1.7%	+ 38.6%	27	14
16	Suzuki Fronx	774	1.7%	+ 98.0%	15	17
17	VW Polo	754	1.6%	– 30.1%	12	10
18	Nissan Magnite	744	1.6%	– 11.7%	20	12
19	Toyota Fortuner	652	1.4%	– 33.1%	6	11
20	Suzuki Ertiga	637	1.4%	– 3.0%	16	20
21	Toyota Hiace	601	1.3%	– 46.8%	23	15
22	Toyota Land Cruiser 70	560	1.2%	n/a	30	n/a
23	VW T-Cross	555	1.2%	+ 10.6%	31	26
24	Omoda C5	517	1.1%	new	25	n/a
25	Mahindra XUV3X0	496	1.1%	new	18	n/a
26	Renault Triber	484	1.0%	+ 23.2%	19	n/a
27	Renault Kwid	477	1.0%	+ 34.0%	47	25
28	Chery Tiggo 7 Pro	413	0.9%	+ 25.2%	24	28
29	Suzuki Baleno	406	0.9%	– 35.0%	21	18
30	Renault Kiger	396	0.9%	– 18.0%	26	24
31	VW Polo Sedan	375	0.8%	+ 8.4%	50	n/a
32	VW Tiguan	349	0.8%	+ 35.8%	41	n/a
33	Suzuki Jimny	344	0.7%	– 22.7%	39	n/a
34	Hyundai i20	336	0.7%	– 11.3%	34	29
35	Suzuki Celerio	330	0.7%	+ 10.0%	42	n/a
36	Hyundai Exter	329	0.7%	new	28	n/a
37	GWM Haval H6	321	0.7%	– 23.8%	33	n/a
38	Toyota Rumion	320	0.7%	– 14.0%	29	30
39	Toyota Prado	311	0.7%	n/a	45	n/a
40	Hyundai Venue	308	0.7%	+ 66.5%	32	n/a
41	Nissan Navara	298	0.6%	+ 0.7%	36	23
42	Suzuki S-Presso	291	0.6%	– 32.9%	n/a	n/a
43	Ford Territory	291	0.6%	new	n/a	n/a
44	Jetour Dashing	290	0.6%	new	–	–
45	VW Amarok	245	0.5%	+ 10.4%	35	n/a
46	Suzuki Ciaz	240	0.5%	n/a	n/a	n/a
47	Suzuki DZire	220	0.5%	n/a	n/a	n/a
48	Suzuki Grand Vitara	209	0.5%	– 21.1%	n/a	n/a
49	Hyundai H100 Bakkie	207	0.4%	+ 19.7%	n/a	n/a
50	Ford Everest	202	0.4%	– 38.6%	37	n/a