[imagesource: Motorpress]

Data has shown that new vehicle sales in South Africa have climbed by 22,1% in 2021 compared with 2020.

Not that December was a great month for these numbers.

In fact, new vehicle sales dropped by 3,5% in December 2021 compared to December 2020.

That’s a drop from 37 250 to 35 948 vehicles.

I guess 1 302 fewer folks were getting cars under their Christmas trees this year.

Overall, the new car sales are still very much below what they were before COVID-19 decided to wreak havoc on our lives and our wallets, reported The Daily Maverick:

According to the Automotive Business Council, also known as Naamsa, new vehicle sales climbed 22,1% to 464 122 units in 2021. That is still well short of the 536 612 units sold in 2019, that golden year that came before the pandemic spread its misery across the globe.

As a consequence, the upward momentum in vehicle exports was shortchanged to some degree, concluded Naamsa.

Anyway, why not celebrate SA’s best-selling vehicles for December, via TimesLIVE?

Toyota all the way:

Toyota held on to its market leadership and sold nearly double the number of new vehicles (9 580) as its closest rival, Volkswagen (5 131) during the month.

Hyundai was third on 2 892 units, ahead of Nissan (2 417), Ford (2 181), Suzuki (2 102), Kia (1 862), Renault (1 758), Isuzu (1 481) and Haval (1 453).

Here’s a list of the top 10 selling new vehicles for the last month of 2021:

1. Toyota Hilux — 2 426
2. VW Polo Vivo — 2 028
3. Toyota Corolla Cross — 1 752
4. Isuzu D-Max — 1 247
5. Toyota Starlet — 1 180
6. Toyota Hi-Ace — 1 019
7. Ford Ranger — 929
8. Suzuki Swift — 798
9. VW T-Cross — 766
10. Ford EcoSport — 765

For a list of the top 30, head here.

[sources:timeslive&dailymaverick]