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 cars of March 2018, 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. Thankfully, Hyundai, Kia and BMW have started reporting their individual model sales figures again, which certainly helps to paint a more accurate monthly picture. But, of course, some other automakers (such as Mercedes-Benz) still 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 (such as the Volkswagen Beetle). And we’ve also heeded the call to include model ranges that failed to sell a single unit.
So, what happened during the month of March? Well, not a single Hyundai i30 or Veloster was sold (perhaps the Korean brand’s local distributor is finally preparing to bring in the new-generation versions of these models?), while the Mahindra Xylo, Renault Kadjar, Tata Manza and Toyota Prius also all failed to register a sale. Meanwhile, the Abarth 595 range and the Tata Indica managed just one apiece.
Tata sold two units of its Vista, while Renault registered just three examples of its Mégane (we’re told the poor sales performances of the Kadjar and Mégane are due to local stock issues, while Tata also reports that it is now out of stock of the Indica, Vista and Manza). Alfa Romeo could muster just four Giulietta sales and Suzuki only five Grand Vitara registrations.
For reference, see February’s list here.
SA’s 12 worst-selling passenger cars (under R500k) of March 2018:
Hyundai i30 – 0
Hyundai Veloster – 0
Mahindra Xylo – 0
Renault Kadjar – 0
Tata Manza – 0
Toyota Prius – 0
Abarth 595 – 1
Tata Indica – 1
Tata Vista – 2
Renault Mégane – 3
Alfa Romeo Giulietta – 4
Suzuki Grand Vitara – 5
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