South Africa Full Year 2025: Toyota Hilux scores 13th straight win in highest market in 10 years

The Toyota Hilux has now topped the South African charts for 13 straight years.

Discover over 50 years of South African Historical Data here.

It’s an excellent year for new vehicle sales in South Africa, up a splendid 15.7% to 596,818 units. The last 10 months of the year all enjoyed double-digit YoY gains. This is the biggest annual volume in 10 years: since the 617,927 registrations of 2015. Passenger cars are up 20.1% to 422,292 and light commercials up 7.8% to 143,647. medium-duty commercials are up 5.6% from 8,151, however and heavy-duty trucks and buses are down -3% to 22,738. Exports are also in good shape at +4.4% to 404,224. 

Toyota (+15.1%) matches market to an ultra dominant 24.8% share, selling more than double any other manufacturer in market. Suzuki (+20.1%) overtakes a struggling VW Group (-4.2%) to grab the 2nd place overall, while Hyundai (+18.4%) passes Ford (+5%) to climb to #4. GWM (+43.7%) lodges the biggest uptick in the Top 10, with Mahindra (+40.7%), Kia (+25.3%) and Chery (+24.2%) also very impressive. Omoda & Jaecoo (+273.9%) end their first full year of sales at #14 while Jetour lands directly at #15 and ranked #10 with 2.8% share in December.

Over in the models charts, the Toyota Hilux (+11.8%) marks 13 consecutive years in the top spot with 6.1% share, decreasing slightly from the 6.3% it held in 2024. The VW Polo Vivo (+0.6%) and Ford Ranger (-0.3%), both stable, complete a podium unchanged on last year. The Suzuki Swift (+51.8%) shoots up two spots to #4 and ranked #1 in January. The Toyota Corolla Cross (+1.5%) is down one rank to #5, peaking at #2 in August and December. Outstanding scores below for the Suzuki Fronx (+85.8%) breaking into the Top 10 at #10, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (+33.3%) and Hyundai Grand i10 (+20.8%). The Toyota Starlet Cross (+119.4%) is up 14 spots to #13 and the Toyota Urban Cruiser (+56.9%) up 7 to #14. The Jetour Dashing (#34) is the best-selling 2025 launch. Note that in December, Jetour placed no less than four models in the Top 50: the T2, Dashing, X70 Plus and T1.

Previous year: South Africa 2024: Toyota Hilux and VW Polo Vivo most popular

Two years ago: South Africa 2023: Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger lead stable market

Full December 2025 Top 44 All manufacturers and Top 50 models, Full Year 2025 Top 44 All manufacturers and Top 40 models vs. Full Year 2024 figures below.