Most Popular Car Brands In South Africa for August 2013

Although there was a severe impact on production due to the strike, sales figures for the most popular car brands in South Africa for August 2013 show that the new vehicle sales were largely in line with industry expectations. The strike is said to have cost the motoring industry – which contributes 6% to country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), a maximum of R600-million a day.

Regardless of that upset, the South African motoring industry reported total industry sales of 56 112 vehicles, which represents a 0.3% decline from the 56 270 units sold in the same month last year. However year to date domestic sales showed an improvement of 5.9% compared to the corresponding eight months of 2012.

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa, “the excellent performance in sales of light, medium and heavy trucks, suggested higher levels of investment spending in the economy and was in part related to infrastructural development projects.”

Here is a breakdown of the popular car brands in South Africa for August 2013 in comparison with July 2013 sales figures, as well as each brand’s top 5 selling vehicles.

Leading car brands in South Africa

1.      Toyota – 10 398 units

Toyota continued to power ahead in August with a market share of 18.5%, however figures were lower than last August’s sales of 12 220 units, indicating that the strike had a major impact on the brand’s productivity. However, demand for South Africa’s most popular bakkie improved from last month by 180 vehicles, and even though Etios sales dropped by 270 units, it is still a contender as South Africa’s best seller.

2.      Volkswagen Group SA – 8910 units

Volkswagen retained its leadership position in the passenger market in August with total sales of 8250 units. Due to the strike action, the brand reported total sales of 8910 which is significant decline from July’s sales of 10 613. The recently expanded A4 model range continues to power VW  Group sales, while the Polo and Polo Vivo are both in South Africa’s top 5 selling vehicles.

3.    GMSA – 6029 units

General Motors South Africa improved demand for vehicles across its range with the Chevrolet Utility remaining the brand’s best selling car, and most popular seller in the sub-1ton segment with 1485 units. A new contender in the passenger car market is the Chevrolet Sonic which contributed 309 sales to the brands total of 6029 units, combining to make GM the third most popular brand in South Africa.

 4.      Ford Motor Company – 5893 units

Strong sales of the Ranger and the all-new EcoSport urban SUV pushed Ford’s sales up by 67% from a year earlier to 5433 units. This is the brand’s second highest retail sales month since it started reporting to NAAMSA. The EcoSport generated sales of 522 in its first month on sale in South Africa, while Ranger sales totaled 1695 units, up 36.8% from a year earlier.

 5.      Nissan – 4248 units

Nissan accounted for 4248 units of the total industry volume of 56112, which is a 414 decrease in volume from July. Passenger cars accounted for the brand’s growth and strong performances recorded by the introduction of the new Almera which increased sales from 367 to 439 units, while both the half-tonne NP200 and NP300 remain in line with annual targets, regardless of the challenges facing the motoring industry.