Triton cracks top 10! SA's best-selling bakkies in November 2024

The Mitsubishi Triton inched onto the list of South Africa’s 10 best-selling bakkies in November 2024. Let’s take a closer look at the sales figures…

In November 2024, South Africa’s new-vehicle market grew 8.1% year on year to 48 585 units. While the passenger-vehicle segment was the catalyst for this welcome growth, sales in the light-commercial vehicle (LCV) space dipped 16.3% year on year to 10 827 units.

So, what happened on the list of Mzansi’s best- and worst-selling bakkies in November 2024? Well, the Toyota Hilux again led the charge, with 2 702 units of the Prospecton-built stalwart registered around Mzansi last month. For the record, that’s a 3.3% drop compared with October 2024’s effort and meant the Hilux wasn’t SA’s top-selling vehicle overall in November, with that honour instead going to the Volkswagen Polo Vivo.

*No stopping the Toyota Hilux in November.*

Meanwhile, local sales of the Ford Ranger increased 1.4% month on month to 2 248 units, which saw the Silverton-manufactured bakkie retain the runner-up position in November. Meanwhile, the Struandale-made Isuzu D-Max – which recently gained a new 2.2-litre turbodiesel engine in Thailand – again completed the podium, with its 1 764-unit total (including 352 sales to government) representing a 2.4% month on month fall.

The KwaZulu-Natal-assembled Mahindra Pik Up (699 units) – which could potentially welcome the Indian firm’s upcoming global bakkie to its new, larger assembly line in 2025 – held steady in a very comfortable 4th position, while the Rosslyn-produced Nissan Navara (344 units) rounded out the top 5 once more. The local Navara range is expected to welcome a new Warrior flagship next year, with pre-production having already kicked off.

Just a handful of sales behind the Navara, the Ford-built Volkswagen Amarok (337 units) moved up a ranking to 6th, while the imported Toyota Land Cruiser 79 (290 units, more than doubling its October effort) likewise climbed a spot to finish 7th in November.

As such, the made-in-China GWM P-Series – which is set to adopt the P300 badge in early 2025, along with a new 2.4-litre turbodiesel motor, as part of its facelift – slipped 2 places to 8th, with 280 units registered. Meanwhile, the GWM Steed (108 units) kept hold of 9th spot.

*Mitsubishi Motors SA recently launched its new-gen Triton.*

Finally, with the new generation having launched in Mzansi in the latter part of November 2024, the Mitsubishi Triton returned to the list of SA’s 10 best-selling bakkies, with 82 units registered last month (18 of which were “single registrations”; that is, units Mitsubishi SA kept and licensed for its own use). Interestingly, this represents the nameplate’s 2nd-highest tally of 2024, beaten only by the 88-unit total of February, and helped push Mitsubishi to its biggest total of the year (269 units overall).

Best of the rest in November 2024: bakkies outside top 10

*Stellantis SA recently expanded its Peugeot Landtrek range.*

What about the bakkies that didn’t make the top 10 in November 2024? Well, the JAC T-Series – the Chinese firm unfortunately reported only a combined figure for its T6, T8 and T9 line-ups, so we technically can’t rank these individual nameplates in the top 10 – managed 112 units.

With the local range recently expanded to include a single cab as well as a pair of more affordable double-cab derivatives, the Chinese-made Peugeot Landtrek finished November 2024 on 64 units (remember, Stellantis SA plans to commence local assembly of the bakkie from completely knocked-down kits at a new facility in Gqeberha towards the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026).

The long-in-the-tooth Mahindra Bolero closed the month on 37 units, while sales of the since-discontinued Nissan NP200 (production ceased at Rosslyn back in March 2024) came in at just 17 units. The final spot on the list thus again went to the Jeep Gladiator (11 units), a facelifted version of which is expected in Mzansi in 2025.