We’ve combed through South Africa’s new-car sales figures for the whole of 2023 and pulled out 5 fascinating bite-sized facts. Here’s what you need to know…
With South Africa’s new-car sales figures for 2023 tallied up, our focus has naturally fallen on the vehicles that led the sales charge. Indeed, we’ve already covered South Africa’s most popular passenger cars as well as examined Mzansi’s best- and worst-selling bakkies. Now, it’s time to turn our attention to a few fascinating morsels of information we’ve extracted from the 2023 figures.
Yes, we’ve combed through SA’s new-car sales statistics (as provided to Naamsa) – with a specific focus on the passenger-vehicle market – and selected 5 interesting titbits that jumped out at us. Let’s take a closer look…
1. Audi RS4 Avant as exclusive as Ferrari 296 GTB
Over the course of 2023, Audi registered 23 examples of its RS4 Avant. Technically, that makes the Ingolstadt-based firm’s 331 kW performance wagon just as exclusive as the Ferrari 296 GTB, which ended the year on the same tally. Interestingly, Ferrari’s R6.8-million V6-powered coupé peaked with 7 registrations in October 2023, while the RS4 Avant’s top effort was 3 units (a number reported in January, February and July). For the record, the Renault Mégane RS 300 Trophy likewise closed 2023 on 23 sales.
2. New Toyota Urban Cruiser took a tumble
In 2022, the previous-generation Toyota Urban Cruiser placed on the passenger-vehicle podium, taking 3rd position overall with a whopping 16 992 units sold. With stock of the old model running dry, the Japanese firm’s local division switched to the new, larger (and consequently somewhat more expensive) Urban Cruiser in the 2nd quarter of 2023. However, the fresh version couldn’t match its predecessor’s almost overnight success, with the nameplate’s total sales thus declining 64.7% year on year to 5 992 units, resulting in a 16th-place finish.
3. Ford Everest almost cracked the top 30
Despite a delay in the arrival of new Ford Everest stock early in the year (and the local line-up expanding only in April), the Blue Oval brand’s adventure SUV finished 2023 on a total of 3 112 units. That was enough to see it take 31st position as the highest-placed Ford passenger vehicle, with the since-discontinued EcoSport ending on 1 365 units, the new-to-SA Puma (which was marketed only in the final 4 months of the year) on 368 units and the outgoing Mustang on 244 units.
4. A single Haval H2 unit was somehow registered new
Remember the Haval H2? Well, this model was discontinued in South Africa way back in the opening quarter of 2021, when the Jolion arrived as its replacement. But somehow the long-since-departed H2 made a brief return to the sales charts in 2023, when a single unit was registered as new somewhere in Mzansi. For the record, the Jolion has proved eminently more successful than its predecessor, finishing 10th on the list of SA’s best-selling passenger vehicles last year with a total of 8 604 registrations.
5. Volkswagen Golf 8 twins almost cracked 1 000 units
Sales of the Volkswagen Golf 8 range – which locally comprises the Golf GTI and Golf R – picked up markedly in the 2nd half of the year, with the hot-hatch twins moving from 303 registrations in H1 to a final tally of 949 units (or an average of 79 sales a month). For the record, March 2023 was the low point (just 16 units were registered), while October represented the peak (149 units). Of course, it’s worth keeping in mind that the all-paw Golf R officially went on sale only at the end of April 2023.
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