South Africa's 15 best-selling passenger vehicles in H1 2023

The first half of 2023 has come and gone! Let’s take a look at year-to-date sales figures and identify the big winners on South Africa’s new passenger-vehicle market…

In the first half of 2023, South Africa’s new passenger-vehicle market saw year-on-year growth of 4.8%, despite facing a number of headwinds. Out of an industry total of 265 824 units, as many as 173 493 new passenger vehicles were registered locally in H1 2023 (this, though, represents a 1.3% decline compared to the same period in 2022). So, which models were the top performers?

Well, we’ve painstakingly sorted through the year-to-date sales figures and identified South Africa’s 15 best-selling passenger vehicles in H1 2023. For the record, Toyota boasts 4 models in the top 15 (and 3 in the top 5), while Volkswagen took 3 spots, with Suzuki and Renault grabbing 2 apiece. As many as 5 models on the list were locally produced, while 7 were manufactured in India. Let’s take a closer look at the statistics…

Toyota Corolla Cross keeps VW Polo Vivo in 2nd place

At the halfway point of 2023, the Prospecton-produced Toyota Corolla Cross – which placed 4th in 2022, a year in which production was halted for around 3 months thanks to the KwaZulu-Natal floods – was leading the pack, with a whopping 10 604 registrations (or a monthly average of 1 767 units). Its best month came in June 2022, when 2 115 units were sold.

That saw the Kariega-built Volkswagen Polo Vivo pushed into 2nd place, though at 9 936 registrations it was just 668 units behind the Corolla-badged crossover. As a reminder, the prolonged-lifecycle Polo Vivo was SA’s strongest-selling passenger car in 2022, when 20 866 units were registered.

Fascinatingly, the Toyota Starlet (8 355 units) – which is manufactured by Maruti Suzuki – grabbed the final position on the passenger-vehicle podium, while also securing the H1 2023 title of best-selling imported car.

The likewise Indian-built Suzuki Swift wasn’t far behind on 8 193 units and thus placed 4th, while the Toyota Fortuner (5 995 units) secured a strong 5th. Recently updated, the Prospecton-manufactured Fortuner was the highest-placed full-sized SUV, bouncing back from a somewhat disappointing (by its lofty sales standards, anyway) 2022.

Volkswagen Polo hatch slips while Chinese vehicles climb

Yes, the Volkswagen Polo hatchback tumbled from the top 5, finishing the opening half of 2023 in 6th position, with 5 650 examples sold in South Africa (a monthly average of 942 units). As a reminder, in 2022, the German hatch placed 5th with 15 697 units registered, a figure it looks exceedingly unlikely to match this year.

While it’s not clear exactly what has caused the Polo’s sustained drop-off in popularity – we have considered various possible factors before, of course – we understand the VW Group’s Kariega facility continues to struggle with production stoppages. The numbers furthermore suggest the German firm has opted to prioritise the export market over the local market. Naturally, we’ll monitor sales for the remainder of the year and see whether we can glean any further insights.

The Hyundai Grand i10 hatchback (4 963 units, not including the Cargo-based light-commercial version) – which will soon be replaced by a facelifted version, complete with the option of a sedan body style – finished H1 2023 in 7th (up from 10th in Q1 2023), while the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (4 954 units) was the highest-ranked Chinese car, finishing in 8th and narrowly beating the 9th-placed Haval Jolion (4 785 units).

The Spanish-built Volkswagen T-Cross completed the top 10, with 4 149 units registered in South Africa in the reporting period. After a strong start in the opening quarter (in which 2 613 examples were sold), T-Cross sales tapered off somewhat, with 1 536 units reported in the 2nd quarter.

Indian-made budget cars (and SA-built Quest) complete top 15

The Renault Kiger was the French firm’s highest-placed model (though it is, of course, manufactured in India), finishing H1 2023 in 11th with 4 053 units sold. The closely related Nissan Magnite (3 890 units) wasn’t far off the pace in 12th.

Another Indian-produced budget car in the form of the Suzuki Baleno – which is, of course, the vehicle on which the 3rd-placed Starlet is based – took 13th spot, with 3 449 units (or around 41% of its cousin’s effort) sold. The prolonged-lifecycle Toyota Corolla Quest ended the reporting period on 3 152 units, which was enough to see the KZN-built model secure 14th and rank as the highest-placed sedan.

The final place on the list went to the Renault Triber (3 034 units), yet another model sourced from India. Interestingly, the Triber was the only MPV to crack the top 15 as well as the 2nd 7-seater vehicle, behind the Fortuner.

A pair of Kia models and the Urban Cruiser bubbling under

So, what about the passenger vehicles that fell just short of making the top 15? Well, the Renault Kwid (3 004 units) found itself in 16th place on the list of SA’s best-selling passenger vehicles for the opening half of the year.

Fascinatingly, the Toyota Urban Cruiser (2 905 units) – which ranked 3rd with a whopping 16 992 units in 2022 – had to settle for comparatively lowly 17th in H1 2023. Of course, the switchover to a new, larger generation took place in April 2023, a month in which local sales dipped to just 317 units. However, that wasn’t the Urban Cruiser’s most modest monthly tally, which instead came in June 2023 with 281 units.

The Kia Sonet (2 902 units) ended the reporting period in 18th, ahead of the Haval H6 (2 633 units) in 19th and Kia Picanto (2 604 units) in 20th. The Hyundai i20 (2 515 units), Suzuki S-Presso (2 488 units), Hyundai Venue (2 312 units), Suzuki Ertiga (2 143 units) and Toyota Rumion (2 042 units) – each imported from India, easily the top country of origin for SA – occupied the next 5 spots.