In 2016, the South African government purchased a total of 4 273 passenger vehicles, according to figures from Lightstone Auto.
Despite what you might think, flashy SUVs and long-wheelbase German sedans don’t dominate the list. No, instead, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo Sedan proved the most popular, with 1 839 units (as opposed to just 121 locally built Polo Vivo hatchbacks) bought during the year. Next came the Toyota Corolla, while the Toyota Etios claimed third spot.
Ten electric cars found their way into government fleets during the year – five Nissan Leaf models and five BMW i3 units.
Bear in mind that the list below (and the total mentioned above) excludes commercial vehicles. Here’s a separate post listing all of the bakkies bought by the government in 2016…
Passenger vehicles bought by SA government in 2016:
Volkswagen Polo Vivo Sedan – 1 839
Toyota Corolla – 441
Toyota Etios – 268
Ford Focus – 235
Toyota Corolla Quest – 192
Volkswagen Golf – 145
BMW 3 Series – 137
Volkswagen Polo Vivo Hatch – 121
Hyundai H1 – 92
Volkswagen Polo Sedan – 74
Toyota Avanza – 87
Chevrolet Aveo – 57
Hyundai Accent – 48
Toyota Yaris – 46
BMW X5 – 33
Volkswagen Jetta – 27
Opel Corsa – 27
Nissan Almera – 27
Toyota Land Cruiser SW – 23
Audi Q7 – 22
Ford Figo – 22
Ford Fiesta – 21
Kia Cerato – 21
Datsun GO – 18
BMW 7 Series – 16
BMW 1 Series – 15
Hyundai i20 – 14
Nissan X-Trail – 14
Chevrolet Captiva – 12
BMW 5 Series – 11
Chevrolet Cruze – 10
Chevrolet Trailblazer – 10
Audi A6 – 9
Hyundai i30 – 9
Jeep Grand Cherokee – 9
Toyota Fortuner – 9
Toyota Prado – 9
Audi A4 – 8
Kia Sportage – 8
Hyundai i10 – 7
Nissan NV200 – 7
Volkswagen Caddy – 6
BMW i3 – 5
Nissan Leaf – 5
BMW X6 – 4
Kia Rio – 4
Volkswagen Polo hatch – 4
Chevrolet Sonic – 3
Datsun GO+ – 3
Ford Kuga – 3
Lexus NX – 3
Toyota Land Cruiser 200 – 3
Volkswagen Caravelle – 3
Audi Q5 – 2
BMW X1 – 2
Ford EcoSport – 2
Ford Tourneo Connect – 2
Hyundai Grand i10 – 2
Mercedes-Benz M-Class (now GLE) – 2
Volkswagen Touareg – 2
Audi A3 Sportback – 1
Audi A8 – 1
BMW X4 – 1
Infiniti QX70 – 1
Jeep Cherokee – 1
Lexus ES – 1
Lexus RX – 1
Nissan Sentra – 1
Renault Duster – 1
Toyota Aygo – 1
Toyota RAV4 – 1
Volkswagen Beetle – 1
Volkswagen Kombi – 1
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