Tiggo 4 Pro hits new high! SA's 10 best-selling cars and crossovers

The Chery Tiggo 4 Pro put in its best sales performance yet in May 2024, cracking 4 figures. Here are South Africa’s 10 best-selling cars and crossovers for last month…

Since we’ve already brought you a list of Mzansi’s most popular bakkies for May 2024, we’re now turning our attention to the passenger-vehicle segment. So, which models were South Africa’s best-selling cars and crossovers last month?

Well, we’ve managed to lay our hands on the (unaudited) figures submitted to Naamsa, allowing us to compile a list of the top-selling passengers vehicles. As a reminder, South Africa’s new-vehicle market suffered a significant year-on-year decline in May 2024, with total sales falling 14.2% to 37 105 units. The new passenger-vehicle market, meanwhile, dropped 11.7% year on year to 24 367 units.

Drilling down into the data, we find that the Kariega-built Volkswagen Polo Vivo retained the 1st place it held in April 2024, with 1 817 units registered. The Prospecton-produced Toyota Corolla Cross (1 543 units) climbed back to 2nd, forcing the Suzuki Swift (1 239 units) – again the highest-ranked imported model – down to 3rd.

Meanwhile, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro finished May 2024 on 1 101 units, climbing a ranking to 4th. Though the small Chinese crossover has often flirted with 4 figures, we believe this is the 1st time this model range – which recently welcomed new dual-clutch derivatives – has crossed the 1 000-unit barrier in a single month, resulting in a record sales performance.

The Hyundai Grand i10 (excluding 45 light-commercial vehicle sales of the Cargo derivative) moved up 2 positions to 5th, with 1 072 units registered, while the Toyota Starlet (1 047 units) slipped 2 places to 6th. The Volkswagen Polo hatch – which is built alongside the Vivo at Kariega – gained a spot to 7th with 888 units, while the Nissan Magnite (774 units) dropped 2 places to 8th.

The Prospecton-built Toyota Fortuner (763 units) returned to the top 10 – at the expense of the Haval Jolion, which will soon benefit from an update – to finish 9th, which saw the Suzuki Baleno (578 units) fall a ranking to 10th and close out the table.