Despite slow economic growth and tough market conditions, new car sales in South Africa has showed resilience for the past three months according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA). It’s also been reported that the automotive sector will remain under pressure for the duration of 2014 with a market volume decline of between 4% and 5% expected when compared to 2013.
Here is a basic new car sales summary for the month of August 2014.
New Car Sales Summary – August 2014
- 55 751 aggregate new car sales down by 1.3% (738) compared to August 2013
- 25 027 export sales up by 18.5% (3 911) compared to August 2013
- 37 982 passenger cars down by 2.6% (1 018) compared to August 2013
- 14 942 light commercial vehicles up by 2.1% (2.1%) compared to August 2013
Top Selling Car Brands in South Africa for August 2014
| Brand | Total Sales | Market Share % |
| 1. Toyota | 10 949 | 19.7% |
| 2. Volkswagen | 8 616 | 15.5% |
| 3. Ford Motor Company | 6 778 | 12.2% |
| 4. GMSA | 5 723 | 10.3% |
| 5. Nissan | 4 142 | 7.5% |
Top Selling Car Models in South Africa for August 2014
| Model | Total Sales |
| 1. Toyota Hilux (LCV) | 3 238 |
| 2. VW Polo Vivo | 2 756 |
| 3. Ford Ranger (LCV) | 2 312 |
| 4. VW Polo | 2 267 |
| 5. Toyota Corolla | 1 928 |
Ipsos Quality Awards reveals best automotive performers for 2014
Ipsos South Africa, a market research company, recently announced the 2014 product quality and customer experience awards, revealing the best performers in the South African automotive sector. The best-performing vehicle manufacturers were awarded with either gold, silver or bronze awards based on product quality and customer experience levels. Here are the results.
Product Quality Awards
Product quality is measured using problems per 100 vehicles (PP100), with an industry average PP100 score of 4o recorded since 2011.
Mercedes-Benz came out on top with a PP100 score of 20 with the E-Class (10), C-Class coupe (14) and C-Class Petrol (14) performing particualry well. Mercedes-Benz also received a gold award as best luxury brand overall and best factory making passenger cars in South Africa. BMW came second with a PP100 score of 23 and Audi third with 27.
Mazda was crowned as the best volume passenger car brand overall receiving a gold award. Mazda recorded a PP100 score of 24, with Toyota scoring 28 and Opel with 29 sharing runner-up position and collecting silver awards. Bronze awards went to Chevrolet with a score of 35, Ford with 37 and Volkswagen also with 37.
Toyota raked in the gold awards in the light commercial vehicle category with best LCV brand overall with a PP100 score of 39, best one-ton single cab brand overall at 39, best one-ton double cab brand overall with 39 and best local plant manufacturing light commercials with a score of 38.
Purchasing and Servicing Quality Awards
The 2014 average score for purchasing experience for passenger cars is just below 94%, which is excellent according to Ipsos. The LCV sales experience dipped slightly from 93% to just above 92%.
Audi took gold awards in both sales and service in the passenger car segment, with Volkswagen cars taking gold for sales and silver for service. Volkswagen collected gold for both sales and service last year. Lexus grabbed gold in the passenger car service category.
In the LCV segment, Isuzu, Nissan and Volkswagen were awarded gold awards for sales while Chevrolet, Isuzu, Nissan, Toyota and Volkswagen were awarded gold for servicing.
