We’ve sorted through South Africa’s new-car sales figures for the first half of 2023 and pulled out 5 fascinating bite-sized facts. Here’s what you need to know…
Want to know which models led the sales charge in the opening half of 2023? Well, we’ve already covered South Africa’s most popular passenger vehicles as well as taken a look at the country’s best- and worst-selling bakkies. Now, we’ll turn our attention to a few fascinating morsels of information we’ve extracted from the H1 2023 new-car sales figures.
Yes, we’ve sorted through the new-car sales statistics at the halfway point of the year (with a focus on the passenger-vehicle market) and selected 5 interesting titbits that jumped out at us. Let’s dive right in…
1. SA’s cheapest new car places 22nd
The Suzuki S-Presso – which is currently South Africa’s cheapest new passenger car, starting from R169 900 – wasn’t quite able to bust into the top 20. Instead, the budget beater settled for 22nd place, with 2 488 units registered over the opening half of 2023. Interestingly, as many as 11 likewise Indian-built vehicles finished ahead of the S-Presso in the rankings.
2. Land Cruiser 300 outsells RAV4
Once a local favourite (and the world’s best-selling vehicle in 2021), the Toyota RAV4 failed to crack even the top 50 in SA in H1 2023. In fact, with 586 units sold, the 55th-placed RAV4 was beaten by the Toyota Land Cruiser 300 (despite the latter’s starting price of R1 458 900), which finished in 41st position with 1 039 examples registered. Toyota SA Motors, though, tells us it has been “experiencing some supply constraints” with the RAV4.
3. VW Golf 8 GTI and R total 303 units
Though Volkswagen SA’s struggle to secure stock of the Golf 8 GTI and Golf 8 R seemingly continues, it’s intriguing to note the German hot hatches together managed a 6-month total of 303 units, translating to an average of around 50 examples a month (and a placing of 79th). Of course, since the all-paw Golf R officially went on sale only at the end of April 2023 – after a particularly protracted wait – the GTI accounted for the bulk of the total.
4. New Ford Everest cracks top 30
Despite stock of the new Ford Everest seemingly arriving only in February and the local line-up expanding only in April, the Blue Oval brand’s adventure SUV finished H1 2023 on a commendable 1 440 units, which was enough to secure it 29th position. It was the highest-placed of the few Ford passenger vehicles available in SA, with EcoSport sales slowing to 1 298 units (production of the latter has, after all, long since ended) and the Mustang ending on 108 registrations.
5. Hyundai i30 more popular than Toyota GR86
Though by no means direct competitors, it’s nevertheless intriguing to note the Hyundai i30 N hot hatch managed to outsell the Toyota GR86 in the opening half of the year. It was a close-run affair, though, with the i30’s tally coming in at 36 units and the GR86’s total sitting at 31 registrations. For the record, the South Korean hot hatch is priced from R811 900, while the 2-strong GR86 coupé range starts at R755 500.
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