August 2017’s aggregate new vehicle sales in South Africa came in at 49 222 units, an encouraging increase of 6,7% year-on-year, according to Naamsa.
As always, it’s also interesting to take a look at what’s happening in terms of individual model sales. So, we’ve examined the figures, and picked out the ten best-selling passenger vehicles for the month.
Of course, one must bear in mind that certain automakers – such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW – still disclose only aggregate sales statistics. Kia and Hyundai, however, have thankfully started releasing their individual model sales figures, which makes the picture a little clearer.
So, what happened in the eighth month of 2017? Well, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo predictably stayed clear at the top, with the regular Polo retaining second place. Toyota’s combination of the Corolla, Auris and Corolla Quest (the brand reports an overall figure rather than individual model sales) likewise held onto third spot.
The Toyota Etios, meanwhile, climbed two places to fourth, with the Ford EcoSport and Ford Fiesta tying for fifth place (an improvement of two places month-on-month for the latter). That saw the Toyota Fortuner drop three spots to seventh, while the new Kia Picanto climbed one to eighth.
The Renault Kwid fell one place to ninth, while the Toyota RAV4 returned to close out the table at the expense of the Datsun GO (451)
Other odds and ends
So, anything else interesting from August? Well, Fiat managed to register 56 units of its re-introduced Panda, while Alfa could move just five examples of its Giulia. Ford, meanwhile, had a number of vehicles just outside the top ten, including the Everest (536), Figo (530) and Focus (468). The Mustang, too, managed to break into three figures, with 101 units registered in the month.
Opel’s top performer was the Corsa (121), while the Mokka X weighed in with 71 units and the Astra 51 units. The BR-V (127) was again the top Honda, although the new CR-V managed a creditable 102 units.
Hyundai’s top sellers included the Grand i10 (591), i20 hatchback (491), Creta (438) and Tucson (425), with the soon-to-be-discontinued i10 (246) as well as the Elantra (243) adding useful totals. The H1 (99) was the only passenger vehicle in the Hyundai stable to dip below three figures.
Jaguar sold just a single XE, as opposed to 16 F-Type units and 45 examples of the F-Pace. The new Discovery (131) was easily Land Rover’s top performer, outselling both the Range Rover Sport (74) and Discovery Sport (71). Interestingly, Jaguar Land Rover SA has just cut its prices, so we’re keen to see if that will have an impact on September’s sales.
While the new Picanto continued to impress for Kia, again taking a place in the top ten, the only other model from the Korean automaker to add a strong contribution in August was the new Rio (504). For the record, the Sportage managed 70 units and the Cerato 21, while the Sorento (7), Grand Sedona (6) and Soul (4) each had to settle for single figures.
Mahindra’s passenger vehicle total came in at 196 units, with the KUV100 (63) proving its best seller. Mazda’s local charge was again led by the CX-5 (359), with the smaller CX-3 (332) close behind. The Mazda3 (211) and Mazda2 (203) also came to the party.
Nissan’s standout performance came from the Almera (376), while the X-Trail (328) and Qashqai (304) crossover siblings also made a strong contribution. The Juke, however, could manage just 34 units. In total, Peugeot registered 80 units in August, with the impressive new 3008 (42) making up more than half of the French brand’s sales. Subaru managed the same total, with the new XV (38) proving its top seller.
While the Kwid continued to rack up sales for Renault, the Sandero (345), Duster (271) and Clio (268) once again put in solid performances, backed up by the Kadjar (186) and Captur (146) crossovers. Suzuki fell just short of 1 000 passenger vehicle units in total in August (but hit the 1 004-mark when its handful of commercial units are included), with the Swift (350) soldiering on at the top of the pile. The Ignis weighed in with 144 units and the new Baleno 85.
The best-selling Lexus of the month was the NX with 19 units, while the Toyota Avanza (531) only just missed out on a top-ten spot. The Yaris (134), C-HR (133) and Aygo (109) also made it into three figures.
The Golf (462) was the next-best performer from VW after the Polo twins, although the Tiguan (273) and Up! (211) also stepped up to the plate in August. Audi’s new Q5 managed 162 units, while the outgoing XC60 (80) again proved Volvo’s top performer.
See the top ten table below (and have a look back at July’s figures here):
South Africa’s 10 best-selling passengers cars of August 2017:
1. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 340
2. Volkswagen Polo – 2 096
3. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest – 1 343
4. Toyota Etios – 1 161
5=. Ford EcoSport – 1071
5=. Ford Fiesta – 1 071
7. Toyota Fortuner – 1 070
8. Kia Picanto – 846
9. Renault Kwid – 784
10. Toyota RAV4 – 651
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