We’ve combed through South Africa’s new-vehicle sales figures for February 2024 and pulled out 10 interesting facts. Here are your bite-sized new-vehicle nuggets…
February 2024 was another fascinating month for South Africa’s new-vehicle market. Overall, it was the industry’s 7th consecutive month of year-on-year decline, with total registrations falling 0.9% to 44 749 units. But dig a little deeper into the sales statistics and there are plenty of interesting facts to be found.
Yes, while we’ve already covered the big news – such as the fact Suzuki Auto SA cut the gap to the 2nd-placed Volkswagen Group to a mere 112 sales, while the Toyota Hilux continued its domination of the bakkie space – it’s now time to unearth a few fascinating nuggets. Let’s dive right in…
1. GWM sold 8 units of its Ora electric car
With a starting price of R686 950, the GWM Ora – which launched locally in November 2023 – is currently positioned as South Africa’s least-expensive full-sized electric vehicle (EV). In February 2024, the Chinese firm’s local division sold 8 units (7 through the dealer channel and a single example registered to the company itself). As a reminder, EVs accounted for 931 sales in Mzansi last year.
2. New Elevate added 57 sales for Honda
Honda Motor Southern Africa surely has high hopes for the new Elevate, which has the potential to become its main driver of volume. In February 2024, the Japanese firm’s local arm registered 57 units of the new Ballade-based crossover (13 for its own use), despite the fact the market launch took place with less than a week of the month to go. Another interesting titbit: as many as 60 examples were registered in the opening month of the year, well ahead of the launch.
3. Hyundai i30 N edged Mégane RS 300 Trophy
Hyundai Automotive SA sold 7 units of the i30 N – which is set to be pulled from European markets in the near future – last month, which made the Korean automaker’s hot hatch slightly more popular than fellow C-segment screamer, the Renault Mégane RS 300 Trophy (5 units). Still, with just 55 examples of the latter set aside for South Africa, the French firm must surely be running out of stock. Bonus interesting facts? The Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI and R together managed 97 sales in February 2024, with 7 sold to government and 8 registered by VW for its own use.
4. Nissan NP200’s sales spike before demise
Yes, production of the Nissan NP200 is scheduled to end at Rosslyn this month (March 2024). Since there’s no half-tonne bakkie alternative on the local market, sales of the NP200 spiked in February, with the 16-year-old contender climbing back into 4 figures for the first time since November 2023, to end on 1 276 units. Fascinatingly, 4 of those were sold to government, with 260 purchased by the rental industry. Meanwhile, Nissan South Africa registered 10 units of the NP200 for its own use.
5. Ferrari SF90 outsold Honda Civic (and others)
Considering the Italian firm’s low-volume production strategy, Scuderia South Africa had a bumper month in February 2024, registering as many as 12 units. The most popular Prancing Horse in Mzansi last month was the SF90, with 5 registrations. That means the SF90 outsold the likes of the Honda Civic (3 units), Subaru WRX (3 units), Alfa Romeo Stelvio (2 units) and Audi A6 sedan (2 units) in the year’s 2nd month.
6. Government boosted Isuzu D-Max sales
The Isuzu D-Max put in a strong showing in February 2024, with its tally of 1 740 registrations proving enough for the Struandale-manufactured bakkie to jump 2 positions overall to 5th place (while retaining 3rd place on the list of South Africa’s best-selling bakkies). Intriguingly, the Japanese bakkie topped the table of vehicles sold to government last month, receiving a useful boost of 416 sales via that channel.
7. Toyota’s full-fat GR models hit 10 units
From what we understand, it’s no easy task getting your hands on a brand-new version of any of Toyota’s full-fat GR products, with only a limited number of each coming into the country every month. In February 2024, the Japanese company’s local division registered 6 units of the GR86, along with a pair of GR Supra examples and a single unit of each of the GR Yaris and GR Corolla all-paw hot hatches.
8. Grand i10’s best effort in over a year
February 2024 saw the Hyundai Grand i10 put in its best performance for more than a year, ending the month on a healthy 1 313 units (including 50 sales in the light-commercial vehicle segment) and thus grabbing 8th position overall. As many as 517 of those registrations came via sales to the rental industry, where the Grand i10 topped the charts last month. As a reminder, the range was refreshed in the 3rd quarter of 2023, gaining sedan derivatives at the same time.
9. No Alfa Romeo Giulia sales in February
Yes, Alfa Romeo failed to register a single unit of the Giulia sedan in February 2024 … having sold just one in January. Though the Veloce derivative is still up on the Italian company’s local configurator, it’s interesting to note that the vehicle-information specialists over at duoporta.com currently list only the high-performance Quadrifoglio version, suggesting the Veloce may well be on its way out. For the record, Alfa registered 6 units of the Tonale and 2 examples of the Stelvio last month.
10. VW Polo (again) led the export charts
Though the Volkswagen Polo hatchback fell from the top 10 in February 2024 (ending up in 11th with 988 registrations), the Kariega-built model was again at the very top of the export charts. Indeed, a whopping 12 715 units of the Polo hatch were shipped overseas last month, putting the B-segment hatch miles ahead in the export race. Interestingly, February also saw the 1.5-millionth vehicle (in this case, a GTI destined for a customer in the United Kingdom) built for export at Kariega rolling off the line.
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