Johannesburg - March was a tough month for the new car market in South Africa.
While overall vehicle sales declined by 0.6% versus the same month last year, to total 50 465 units, passenger car sales fell by 6.4% year-on-year to 33 788 units.
But it was a good month for some of SA’s passenger car contenders, with the Volkswagen Polo Vivo reclaiming its number one position from the Toyota Corolla Cross with 2 016 sales versus Toyota’s 1 839.
The Toyota Fortuner, which has lost popularity in recent times, surged up the ranks to third place. In the first full month of sales for the facelifted model, it managed a volume of 1 409 units.
The Toyota Starlet enjoyed another solid month with 1 276 sales, narrowly ousting the Suzuki Swift, which found 1 276 homes, while the Volkswagen Polo (1 008) and Hyundai Grand i10 (957) completed the hatchback top five.
Best of the rest on the SUV block were the Haval Jolion (940 units) which narrowly beat its Chinese rival the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (918), while Volkswagen’s T-Cross trailed at 850.
South African car and SUV sales ranking: March 2023
1. Volkswagen Polo Vivo - 2 016
2. Toyota Corolla Cross - 1 839
3. Toyota Fortuner - 1 409
4. Toyota Starlet - 1 276
5. Suzuki Swift - 1 248
6. Volkswagen Polo - 1 008
7. Hyundai Grand i10 - 957
8. Haval Jolion - 940
9. Chery Tiggo 4 Pro - 918
10. Volkswagen T-Cross - 850
11. Renault Kiger - 842
12. Toyota Corolla Quest - 753
13. Nissan Magnite - 682
14. Kia Sonet - 670
15. Hyundai i20 - 604
16. Suzuki Baleno - 581
17. Haval H6 - 572
18. Toyota Rumion - 534
19. Renault Triber - 503
20. Suzuki Ertiga - 491
21. BMW X3 - 432
22. Renault Kwid - 431
23. Chery Tiggo 7 Pro - 395
24. Suzuki S-Presso - 383
25. Kia Picanto - 374
26. Volkswagen Tiguan - 364
27. Volkswagen Polo Sedan - 359
28. Hyundai Venue - 340
29. Ford Everest - 317
30. Ford EcoSport - 280
Automotive Business Council Naamsa said the recent interest rate hike of 50-basis points, which raised the prime lending rate to 11.25%, was already having an impact on the disposable income that many consumers rely on when making a vehicle purchase decision.
However, despite the challenging conditions, the industry association is still expecting the overall new vehicle market to grow by 6.3% this year to a total of 563 000 units, while export sales are forecast to grow by 8.3%.
However, Wesbank warns that rising interest rates could begin impacting sales in the coming months.
“In addition to making existing linked finance agreements more expensive, the higher-than-expected interest rate hike will no doubt challenge affordability and future purchase decisions for the new vehicle market, which could begin impacting sales volumes over the coming months,” said WesBank marketing head Lebogang Gaoaketse.