Chery blossoms as new vehicle sales continue to rise in July

With sales testing the 60 000 unit mark again, the local industry has now gone almost two years without an overall monthly decrease. South Africa’s new vehicle sales have started the second half of 2026 off on a continuing positive note with a record 21st month of ongoing increases in July. Sweet Chery record A month which saw no less than 12 vehicles post sales of more than 1 000 units, the new Toyota Hilux ended its first month full on top with an offset of 4 189 units. While again followed by the Volkswagen Polo Vivo on 2 503, the combination of the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and Cross provided the biggest surprise by placing third at the expense of the Ford Ranger. Recording a total of 2 110 units, the Tiggo 4/Tiggo Cross also retains its standing as the best-selling Chinese and imported vehicle for a second month in a row. Dropping a notch to fourth, the Ranger’s 2 063 units sold also makes it the only other vehicle to record more than 2 000 units. Retaining its fifth place, the Isuzu D-Max raked in 1 954 sales, while the Suzuki Swift jumped two places from eighth in June to sixth in July with a total of 1 916. A similar scenario applies to the Toyota Corolla Cross, which improves two places from ninth to seventh on 1 626, while at the other end, the Hyundai Grand i10 drops from sixth to eighth with 1 551 vehicles moved. Completing the top 10, the Toyota Starlet returns with a four-place hike after finishing June in 13th place. With an offset of 1 453 units, the twin of the Suzuki Baleno finishes ahead of its platform stablemate, the Suzuki Fronx, whose 1 185 also sees it return to the top 10 after placing 12th in June. A newfound Ora Outside the top 10, the biggest surprise came in the shape of the realigned GWM Ora 5 range, which now comprises combustion, hybrid and electric powertrains. The repositioned GWM Ora 5 has been the biggest surprise of the July new vehicle sales. Picture: GWM Placing within the top 10, the Ora 5 recorded 276 signatures in June, placing it ahead of, among others, the Volkswagen Tiguan (268), Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (255) and Toyota RAV4 (246). After finishing outside the top 50 in its first full month in June, the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ bounced back with an offset in 344 units in July, while further up, the Volkswagen T-Cross tested the 700 mark with 693 units sold. Best-selling brands Out of the best-selling brands, Toyota broke its own monthly record uptake for yet another month, by moving 14 142 vehicles compared to June’s 12 417. Keeping station in second and third were Suzuki on 5 994 and Volkswagen, whose sales include those of Audi, on 5 799. Completing the top five, Hyundai and Ford also stayed steady with respective sales of 3 058 and 2 927. Bolstered by the sales of the Tiggo 4 Pro/Cross, though, Chery jumped a position to sixth to leapfrog rival GWM as the best-selling Chinese vehicle brand for the first time. With an offset of 2 709 unit, the Wuhu-based brand outranked the 2 504 units moved by its sparring partner from Baoding to hold the accolade of best-selling Chinese brand and product for the first time. Behind, both Isuzu and Jetour retained their eighth and ninth places from June with sales of 2 435 and 2 034 respectively, while Kia returns to the top 10 with sales of 1 920. Behind the first 10, BYD continued its steady climb with sales of 860, while in another first, GAC and JMC importer, Salvador Caetano, submitted 233 sales in its first month of reporting, thus placing it ahead of fellow countrymen Changan (165) and LDV (132), and legacy brands Honda (207) and Mazda (187). Top 15 Toyota – 14 142 Suzuki – 5 994 Volkswagen – 5 799 Hyundai – 3 058 Ford – 2 927 Chery – 2 709 Great Wall Motors (GWM) – 2 504 Isuzu – 2 435 Jetour – 2 034 Kia – 1 920 Omoda & Jaecoo – 1 502 Mahindra – 1 458 Renault – 1 360 BMW – 1 256 BYD – 860 Month in detail Helped by lower fuel prices, the July figures by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) remained above 50 000 units, while continuing to test the 60 000 mark. In total, the 57 708 units moved represents an 11.9% increase over the 51 588 units sold in July last year. The rest of the various segments were as follows: Passenger VehiclesLight Commercial VehiclesMedium-Duty Commercial VehiclesHeavy-Duty Commercial VehiclesExports202536 35412 4017062 09737 114202640 91213 7108432 24332 801Variation+12.5%+10.6%+19.4%+7.0%-11.6% May Top 50 best-sellers Toyota Hilux – 4 189 Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 513* Chery Tiggo 4 – 2 110# Ford Ranger – 2 063 Isuzu D-Max – 1 954 Suzuki Swift – 1 916 Toyota Corolla Cross – 1 626 Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 551* Toyota Starlet – 1 453 Suzuki Fronx – 1 185 GWM Haval Jolion – 1 132 Suzuki Eritga – 1 085 Toyota Urban Cruiser – 968 Jetour T2 – 925 Omoda C5 – 889 Toyota Vitz – 855 Kia Sonet – 830* Toyota Starlet Cross – 803 Volkswagen Polo – 756 Toyota Fortuner – 722 Toyota HiAce – 710* Volkswagen T-Cross – 693 Mahindra Pik Up – 681 Mahindra XUV 3X0 – 657* Toyota Rumion – 591 Tata Tiago – 587 Renault Triber – 562* Hyundai i20 – 548 GWM P Series – 536 Toyota Land Cruiser 70-series – 496# Jetour Dashing – 482 Suzuki Baleno – 473 Ford Territory – 469 Jetour T1 – 451 Kia Seltos – 435 Renault Kwid – 399 Hyundai Exter – 378 Nissan Magnite – 374* Jaecoo J5 – 367 Chery Tiggo 7 – 360 GWM Haval H6 – 360 Volkswagen Amarok – 352 Citroën C3 – 349 Toyota Land Cruiser FJ – 344 Renault Kiger – 333 Volkswagen Polo Sedan – 317 Ford Everest – 287 GWM Ora 5 – 276 Volkswagen Tiguan – 268 Suzuki S-Presso – 265Note:*: Includes commercial variants#: Combination of two models