According to Naamsa, September 2018’s new vehicle industry sales came in at 49 670 units, representing a fall of 1,9%, year on year. Here’s what happened in the ninth month of the year in the passenger vehicle segment…
As always, it’s interesting to take a look at what’s happening in terms of individual model sales. We’ve already examined the figures and picked out the 10 best-selling bakkies for the month (as well as the 12 worst-selling), and now it’s time to do the same with the passenger vehicle market.
Unfortunately, BMW has “for the time being” again opted to report only aggregate sales data, mirroring the approach taken by German rival Mercedes-Benz not to provide individual model sales figures (Porsche recently followed suit). Kia and Hyundai, though, thankfully started releasing their individual model sales figures months ago, which makes the picture a little clearer.
So, what happened in September 2018? Well, the Volkswagen Polo retained the passenger vehicle sales crown, outselling the second-placed Polo Vivo by almost 1 900 units. Toyota’s combination of the Corolla, Auris and Corolla Quest (the brand reports an overall figure rather than individual model sales) remained in third place.
The Toyota Fortuner moved up three places to fourth, while the Yaris enjoyed a particularly strong month, hitting four figures and climbing three spots to fifth. The Hyundai Grand i10 thus fell one place to sixth, while the Ford Fiesta returned to the table (at the expense of the Figo) to grab seventh.
The Renault Kwid climbed one place to eighth, while the Kia Picanto fell five spots to ninth. The Toyota Etios dropped four places to tenth.
Other bits and bobs
So, what else caught our eye in September 2018? Well, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles managed just 79 units in total for the month, with Alfa Romeo accounting for just eight. Fiat’s best-seller was the Tipo (13), while the Wrangler managed eleven units for Jeep.
Peugeot didn’t fare much better, reporting a total of 81 registrations for the month. The 208 and 3008 each totalled 34 units, with the facelifted 308 and 2008 managing just 13 units between them. Subaru hit a total of 86 units, much of which came courtesy of the Forester (35) and XV (25).
The Figo added 520 units for Ford, with the EcoSport not far behind on 461. The Everest (426) easily outsold the Isuzu MU-X (55) and Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (51), while the Kuga was just three units short of three figures. Honda’s top-seller was the Brio (237), with the BR-V (150) and Jazz (106) also contributing.
After the Grand i10, the i20 (592) was Hyundai’s best performer, with the refreshed Creta (370) and Tucson (281) also faring fairly well considering the sales dip that usually accompanies model switchovers. Jaguar Land Rover’s strongest performers were the Range Rover Sport (68), Jaguar E-Pace (67) and Land Rover Discovery (61).
The Rio added 271 units for Kia and the Sportage 208, while Mahindra’s top-seller was the XUV (61). As is so often the case, the CX-5 (352) did the heavy lifting for Mazda, although the CX-3 (318), Mazda3 (225) and Mazda2 (204) also came to the party for the Japanese brand.
The Nissan group’s best-seller was again the Datsun Go (485), with an additional 217 units added by the Go+. The Almera (384), X-Trail (364) and Qashqai (244) also featured, while the new Micra fell to 150 units. The Corsa led the way for Opel, accounting for 137 of the brand’s 243 passenger vehicle sales in September.
Renault enjoyed strong showings from the Clio (677), Captur (431), Duster (373) and Sandero (283). The new Swift (413) performed admirably for Suzuki, as did the Celerio (208) and Ignis (154). The Avanza (491), Rush (248) and C-HR (224) added useful figures to Toyota’s cause, while the RAV4 had to be content with 291 registrations (up from August’s 268 but down from July’s 949).
The Tiguan added 565 units to Volkswagen’s total, with the Golf contributing 305. The A3 (306) again led the way for Audi, while the new XC60 hit 115 units for Volvo (outselling the XC40, which managed 78 units).
See the top ten table below (and have a look back at August 2018’s figures here):
South Africa’s 10 best-selling passenger cars of September 2018:
Volkswagen Polo – 3 866
Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 1 976
Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest – 1 680
Toyota Fortuner – 1 345
Toyota Yaris – 1 111
Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 049
Ford Fiesta – 837
Renault Kwid – 808
Kia Picanto – 750
Toyota Etios – 738
Also read:
- 5 vehicles we think would sell well in South Africa
- 8 most expensive four-cylinder vehicles in SA…
- 7 most powerful sedans on SA’s new vehicle market
- 7 most powerful SUVs on SA’s new vehicle market
- 5 biggest engines on South Africa’s new car market
- 7 most expensive SUVs on SA’s new vehicle market
- 5 cheapest rear-wheel-drive cars in South Africa
- 6 most powerful naturally aspirated new cars in SA
- 5 cheapest new cars in SA with 200 kW or more
- 5 bakkies we think South Africa would go crazy for
- 5 of the most blatant copycat cars out of China
- 5 big bakkies South Africa might want but can’t have
