How well is the Land Rover Defender selling in SA?

The Land Rover Defender has just achieved its in best sales month of 2022 thus far. Here’s how well the British off-roader is selling in South Africa…

When combing through South Africa’s new-vehicle sales figures for September 2022, we noticed the Land Rover Defender put in a particularly strong showing last month. So, we decided to take a look back at the SUV’s local sales performance for 2022 thus far.

Turns out September was indeed the Defender’s best sales month of the year to date, with as many as 203 units registered across South Africa. That’s a mighty impressive figure for a vehicle range that starts at a lofty R1 307 594…

After a few jabs at a calculator, we found Land Rover SA had sold 1 003 examples of the L663-generation model over the first nine months of 2022, which translates to an average of 111 units a month. July (162 units) was the Defender’s next best sales performance, followed by June (156 units) and May (155 units).

Interestingly, the Slovakia-built SUV’s lowest monthly total of 2022 thus far came in August, when just 39 examples were sold. The relative inconsistency of the monthly totals suggests the Whitley-based automaker’s local division has – like most brands – been struggling with supply issues.

Land Rover Defender 90, 110 and 130
The local Land Rover Defender range now comprises three body styles: 90, 110 and 130.

Still, it’s fascinating to note the Defender remains Jaguar Land Rover SA’s best-selling product, and by quite some margin, too. Using September as an example, we see the Defender was the only model to crack three figures, with the British group’s next best-selling vehicles being the full-size Range Rover (33 units), Evoque (18 units), F-Pace (17 units), Velar (13 units) and Range Rover Sport (10 units).

As a reminder, the local Defender range comprises as many as 33 derivatives, including three body styles (90, 110 and 130) and various petrol and diesel powertrains. The line-up is topped by the Defender 110 V8 Carpathian Edition, which offers 386 kW from its supercharged 5.0-litre V8 engine and starts at R2 745 360 (though is also available in 90 guise, from R2 624 360).

The modern-day (unibody) Defender was revealed in Frankfurt in September 2019, before initial examples of the 110 arrived in South Africa in mid-2020.