The official local body representing new vehicle manufacturers, Naamsa (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa) has released its latest vehicle sales figures. These numbers reveal which were the best selling cars in South Africa during July 2013.

According to Naamsa, the SA automotive sector experienced a fruitful July thanks to a new vehicle sales tally amounting to 58 140 units, which represents a year-on-year increase of 7.5%.

Of this total, the clear majority (47 665 units or 82%) represented dealer sales, 11.4% were sales to the vehicle rental sector, whilst 4.6 % were sales to industry corporate fleets, and 2% to government.

Top Performing: New Passenger vehicles July 2013

Model                                                                                                             Volume

1. VW Polo Vivo                                                                                             2 671

2. VW Polo                                                                                                      2 258

3. Toyota Etios                                                                                                2 122

4. Toyota Corolla                                                                                           1 774

5. Ford Figo                                                                                                    1 313

6. BMW 3-Series                                                                                            1 137

7. Mercedes-Benz C-Class                                                                          1 017

8. Toyota Fortuner                                                                                          943

9. VW Golf 7                                                                                                     908

10. VW Polo Vivo Sedan                                                                               903

While the order of the top 3 has almost been set in stone for the last few months, the gap between second and third has diminished considerably. This has resulted in the Toyota Etios biting at the sales heels of second placed VW Polo, as the gap between the sales of these two hatchbacks closes from 649 last month to 136 currently. 

“The market results reflected the ongoing positive demand for new vehicles. They were further boosted by a relatively higher number of selling days in July as well as the rental car demand which accounted for 15.4% of the passenger car market,” said Mike Glendinning, director: Sales and Marketing at Volkswagen Group South Africa.

“Other positive contributing factors include the historically low interest rates, replacement demand, new model introductions and retail incentives. However, given subdued economic growth and the likelihood of above inflation price increases, the rate of market growth in the second half of 2013 will slow down and lag the first six months of 2013,” added Glendinning.

Sales of industry new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses amounted to 15 047 units during July. This represented an year-on-year increase of 1266 units or 9.2% compared to the 13 781 light commercial vehicles sold during July 2012.

Top performing: New light commercial vehicles July 2013

Model                                                                                                               Volume

1. Toyota Hilux                                                                                                 3 159

2. Ford Ranger                                                                                                 1 876

3. Nissan NP200                                                                                              1 663

4. Chevrolet Utility                                                                                           1 587

5. Isuzu KB                                                                                                        1 379

6. Toyota Quantum                                                                                          1 351

7. Nissan NP300 Hardbody                                                                           916

8. VW Amarok                                                                                                   412

9. VW Caddy                                                                                                     214  

10. Mazda BT-50                                                                                              183

Toyota’s Hilux remains the vehicle of choice within the light commercial car class, thanks to a nearly unassailable sales lead respective to the other top 3 contenders in this category. Due to Ford having a very good July, the Blue Oval’s Ranger has managed to piggyback both Nissan’s NP200 as well as the Chev Utility to lay claim to a podium place in the light commercial vehicle class category.  

“Vehicle sales continue to perform well, but remains in line with expectations for a slower rate of growth for 2013,” said Calvyn Hamman, senior VP for Sales and Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors.

“The underlying economic drivers can swing customer demand in either way,” Hamman continued. “On the one hand the market is buoyed by a strong vehicle replacement cycle, persistently low interest rates, pre-emptive buying by customers who are expecting vehicle prices to increase and very strong marketing activity amongst all manufacturers.”

In other motoring related news, Chrysler South Africa recently unveiled its 2014 Grand Cherokee SUV range, which will be locally available during August and will come in three flavours namely Limited, Overland, and SRT8.