Johannesburg – Despite the widespread economic doom and gloom caused by load shedding and repeated interest rate increases, South Africa’s bakkie market showed some strong growth in May 2023.
While the passenger car market grew by just 0.1% compared to the same month last year, the light commercial sector enjoyed a significant year-on-year gain of 38.5%.
However, there is a bit of context to take into account here as this time last year Toyota Hilux sales practically halved after the devastating factory flood of April.
The other side of the coin is increased demand for the new Ford Ranger, which managed a solid sales performance of 2 104 units in May 2023. To crown another strong sales month, on June 1 it became the first bakkie to win the South African Car of the Year competition.
Although the gap to the top appears to be narrowing, the Toyota Hilux was still the country’s top-selling bakkie last month, with 2 798 sales, while the Isuzu D-Max consolidated its usual third spot with a volume of 1 555, ahead of the Nissan NP200 (1 157).
Lower down in the rankings, the Volkswagen Amarok managed a solid volume of 330 units, narrowly beating the Nissan Navara, which managed 318 sales. At the lower end of the scale was the Peugeot Landtrek (23), Jeep Gladiator (13) and Mazda BT-50 (8).
Bakkie Sales Ranking: May 2023
- 1. Toyota Hilux – 2 798
- 2. Ford Ranger – 2 104
- 3. Isuzu D-Max – 1 555
- 4. Nissan NP200 – 1 157
- 5. Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up – 639
- 6. GWM P-Series – 494
- 7. Toyota Land Cruiser PU – 371
- 8. Volkswagen Amarok – 330
- 9. Nissan Navara – 318
- 10. Hyundai H100 Bakkie – 227
- 11. Kia K2700 – 120
- 12. Suzuki Super Carry – 97
- 13. JAC X-Series – 55
- 14. Mitsubishi Triton – 53
- 15. Mahindra Bolero – 37
- 16. Kia K2500 – 36
- 17. JAC T-Series – 35
- 18. Volkswagen Transporter PU – 24
- 19. Peugeot Landtrek – 23
- 20. Jeep Gladiator – 13
- 21. Mazda BT-50 – 8
Despite the economic doom and gloom there are some exciting times ahead for the South African bakkie market.
For starters, Toyota is looking set to build on its leading momentum with a more affordable alternative to the Hilux. Likely to launch around 2025/26, the newcomer appears to be a body-on-frame model that’s bigger than a half-tonner. You can read more about it here.
The Japanese carmaker is also likely to launch a new Hilux around the middle of this decade and it’s widely speculated that the next-gen model will be closely related to the Toyota Tacoma that was recently revealed for the US market.