The monthly Naamsa stats generally make for rather interesting reading. But, naturally, we tend to focus on the best-performing vehicles in terms of sales. Indeed, we’ve already reported the 10 best-selling passenger vehicles of March 2019, as well as listed the 10 best-selling bakkies in our market for the same period. But now we’ve decided to take a look at the worst-selling passenger car models on our shores.
Of course, we must point out that some automakers (such as Mercedes-Benz) disclose only aggregate sales statistics. Also, take note that – in order to make this list more relevant – we’ve excluded vehicle ranges that start at more than R500 000. Otherwise, this table would be dominated by luxury manufacturers such as Bentley, Ferrari and Maserati, whose high-priced vehicles traditionally sell in tiny numbers.
In addition, we don’t count sales from run-out stock of vehicles that have been officially discontinued locally (if the vehicle in question is no longer listed on the manufacturer’s local site, we won’t include it in the list below). And we’ve also heeded the call to include model ranges that failed to sell a single unit.
So, what happened in the third month of 2019? Well, there were again no buyers for the Nissan NV200, while just one Ford Focus (still listed on Ford SA’s website, despite the impending arrival of the new model) was registered. The facelifted Toyota Prius managed three units, while the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Mini Convertible and Suzuki Grand Vitara mustered four apiece.
Subaru sold five examples of its Impreza and Jeep six of its Renegade, while the Landwind X5 and Suzuki Jimny (the latter seemingly here because of a supply issue) each managed seven units. The Abarth 595 ended the month on eight units and was matched by the Opel Adam, while the Fiat 500X and Opel Grandland X finished on nine each. The Fiat Panda rounded out the table with 10 units.
For reference, see February 2019’s list here.
SA’s 15 worst-selling passenger cars (under R500k) of March 2019
Nissan NV200 – 0
Ford Focus – 1
Toyota Prius – 3
Alfa Romeo Giulietta – 4
Mini Convertible – 4
Suzuki Grand Vitara – 4
Subaru Impreza – 5
Jeep Renegade – 6
Landwind X5 – 7
Suzuki Jimny* – 7
Abarth 595 – 8
Opel Adam – 8
Fiat 500X – 9
Opel Grandland X – 9
Fiat Panda – 10
* Suzuki Auto South Africa has confirmed it’s currently selling “100 percent” of its Jimny stock, with the waiting list for a new unit now stretching up to a year. So, clearly a supply issue, then.
