New high for Suzuki as vehicle sales hit all-time record in October

For the second month in a row, the local vehicle industry moved more than 60 000 units. South Africa’s new vehicles sales officially posted its highest monthly report in October by shifting close on 62 000 units for the first time. Suzuki and Toyota domination Once again led by the Toyota Hilux on 3 820 sales, 15 models again recorded sales of more than 1 000 units, with four staying steady within the top 10. Raking in 2 695 sales, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo kept its second place standing ahead of the Ford Ranger, which jumped a spot from fourth in September to third in October on 2 381. Improving two places from sixth to fourth, the Suzuki Swift finished on 2 344, while the combination of the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and Tiggo Cross under the Tiggo 4 banner remained fifth on 1 924 as the country’s best-selling Chinese vehicle once again. Taking sixth, the Toyota Corolla Cross improved a notch from September on 1 723, with the month’s biggest faller being the Isuzu D-Max from third last month to seventh on 1 644. Upping its ranking by two places, the Toyota Starlet Cross placed eighth on 1 611, followed by the Hyundai Grand i10, which stayed steady in ninth place on 1 556. Completing an even split between locally made and imported products in the top 10, the Great Wall Motors (GWM) Jolion returned to the first 10 by jumping from 11th place in September with a total of 1 343 units moved. Outside the top 10, the Chery Q provided the biggest surprise by displacing the BYD Dolphin Surf as the Republic’s best-selling fully electric vehicle on 438. Also gaining momentum, the facelift Ford Territory shifted 507 units, while the Suzuki Fronx again lost out to its Starlet Cross sibling by moving 1 118 units, a drop from the 1 184 moved in September. Best-selling brands Out of the best-selling brands, Toyota remained the nation’s best-seller, but saw it sales drop from 15 366 in September to 14 495 in October. By comparison, Suzuki’s 7 292 saw it break through the 7 000 unit barrier for the first time, its highest since netting 6 890 signatures in the same month last year. Inclusive of Audi, Volkswagen kept its third place standing on 6 515, up from August’s 5 968, while Ford remained fourth on 3 353. Staying fifth, Hyundai recorded an offset of 3 207, while GWM got the better of arch rival Chery to move 2 919 units versus Wuhu’s 2 754. Taking eighth, Kia jumped two places from September to settle on 2 233, while Isuzu followed Toyota as the only marque within the top 15 to record a downturn on all front, in this case two places dropped from September and sales of 2 123 versus 3 022. Down in tenth, Jetour dropped once place from ninth in September, but still registered a sales upturn from 2 036 to 2 102. Top 15 Toyota – 14 495 Suzuki – 7 292 Volkswagen – 6 515 Ford – 3 353 Hyundai – 3 207 Great Wall Motors (GWM) – 2 919 Chery – 2 754 Kia – 2 233 Isuzu – 2 123 Jetour – 2 102 Renault – 1 706 Mahindra – 1 484 BMW – 1 312 Omoda & Jaecoo – 1 201 Tata – 1 057 Month in detail Having breached 61 000 unit sales in September, the October figures by National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) show a figure closer to 62 000. A new all-time record since statistics began, a total of 61 890 vehicles left dealership floors last month, an increase of 10.4% over the 56 051 moved in October last year. The rest of the segments were as follows: Passenger VehiclesLight Commercial VehiclesMedium-Duty Commercial VehiclesHeavy-Duty Commercial VehiclesExports202539 70413 3987772 17235 853202645 08413 6897702 34738 117Diff.+13.6%+2.2%-0.9%+8.1%+6.3% October Top 50 best-sellers Toyota Hilux – 3 820 Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 695* Ford Ranger – 2 381 Suzuki Swift – 2 344 Chery Tiggo 4 – 1 924# Toyota Corolla Cross – 1 723 Isuzu D-Max – 1 644 Toyota Starlet Cross – 1 611 Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 556* GWM Haval Jolion – 1 343 Kia Sonet – 1 321* Suzuki Ertiga – 1 234 Suzuki Fronx – 1 118 Toyota Vitz – 1 091 Toyota Starlet – 1 081 Volkswagen Polo – 991 Toyota Urban Cruiser – 939 Toyota Fortuner – 894 Toyota Rumion – 777 Jetour T2 – 753 Volkswagen T-Cross – 739 Omoda C5 – 726 GWM P-Series – 666# Mahindra Pik Up – 664 Toyota HiAce – 657 Jetour Dashing – 646 Tata Tiago – 645 Mahindra XUV 3X0 – 615 Volkswagen Polo Sedan – 563 Renault Triber – 559* Suzuki Baleno – 556 Suzuki DZire – 543 Hyundai i20 – 531 Renault Kiger – 525 Ford Territory – 507 Citroën C3 – 478* Volkswagen Amarok – 459 Chery Q – 438 Renault Kwid – 420 Toyota Land Cruiser 70-Series – 409# Kia Seltos – 373 Nissan Magnite – 369* Jetour T1 – 364 Suzuki Across – 360 Jaecoo J5 – 350 Jetour X70 Plus – 339 GWM Ora 5 – 336 Ford Everest – 318 Hyundai Exter – 300* Suzuki S-Presso – 295Note:*: Includes commercial variants#: Combination of two models