April 2018’s aggregate new vehicle sales in South Africa came in at 36 346 units or an increase of 3,6% year-on-year, according to Naamsa. Here's what happened in the fourth month of the year in terms of passenger cars...

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 10 worst-selling cars), and now it’s time to do the same with the passenger vehicle market.

Interestingly, BMW recently opted to resume the release of its individual model sales figures, while certain other automakers – most notably German rival Mercedes-Benz – still disclose only aggregate sales statistics. Kia and Hyundai also thankfully started releasing their individual model sales figures a few months ago, which makes the picture a little clearer. Note that Fiat Chrysler Automobiles South Africa has yet to release its figures for April.

So, what happened in the fourth month of 2018? Well, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo held on to top spot, with the Polo some 236 units behind in second. The Hyundai Grand i10 climbed two places to grab third, forcing the Toyota Fortuner down one to fourth.

The Kia Picanto jumped three places to fifth, pushing Toyota’s combination of the Corolla, Auris and Corolla Quest (the brand reports an overall figure rather than individual model sales) down two to sixth. And the Toyota Etios moved up two places to seventh, while the Renault Kwid fell two to eighth. The Hyundai Creta entered the table to snaffle ninth, while the BMW 3 Series reappeared on the list to grab the final place.

Other interesting titbits

So, what other interesting bits and bobs can we share? Well, BMW’s locally built X3 managed 244 registrations for the month, with the new X2 having to settle for 41. Ford endured a tough April (totalling just 1 098 passenger vehicle units for the month), with the Everest (312), EcoSport (213) and Focus (168) proving its top performers. With the new Fiesta firmly on the horizon, sales of the outgoing model fell to just 140 units.

Honda’s best-seller was the BR-V (93), while the Tucson fell to 227 units for Hyundai. Just a single Jaguar XE was registered, with the Range Rover Sport (62) doing the big lifting for Jaguar Land Rover. The new E-Pace, though, managed 57 units, outselling the X2 above and the Audi Q2 (30).

The Rio added 246 units for Kia, while the CX-3 and CX-5 (the latter having just enjoyed a range tweak) each managed 378 units for Mazda. Mitsubishi’s top performer was the Pajero Sport (44), while Nissan enjoyed notable contributions from the Datsun GO (447), Almera (409), Qashqai (246), X-Trail (222) and Micra (162). Interestingly, the Japanese automaker sold a single example of the GT-R and one of the 370Z, too.

The Corsa (149) led the way for Opel, with the Crossland X adding a further 81 units. Peugeot’s top-seller was the 2008 (41), while the 911 (27) was again Porsche’s most popular vehicle. Renault registered 313 examples of its Duster, while the Sandero (261) and Clio (220) also came to the sales party. The XV accounted for 25 of Subaru’s 73 sales, while only the Ignis (212) and Baleno (105) broke into three figures for Suzuki.

Toyota enjoyed a useful showing from the new-look Yaris (402), even though it fell from the top ten, with the Avanza (389), RAV4 (337) and C-HR (187) also contributing gamely. The top performer for Lexus was again the NX (21). Volkswagen registered 424 examples of its Tiguan along with 114 units of the new Tiguan Allspace, while the Golf added a handy 271 units to the Wolfsburg-based brand's total.

And the new Volvo XC40? Well, the baby crossover managed a pleasingly round 100 units, making it the Swedish brand’s most popular product by a country mile ... and seeing it outsell the E-Pace, X2 and Q2.

See the top ten table below (and have a look back at March 2018’s figures here):

South Africa's 10 best-selling passengers cars of April 2018:

1. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 143
2. Volkswagen Polo – 1 907
3. Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 013
4. Toyota Fortuner – 879
5. Kia Picanto – 798
6. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest – 771
7. Toyota Etios – 729
8. Renault Kwid – 693
9. Hyundai Creta – 611
10. BMW 3 Series – 502

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