[imagesource: prostooleh / 123rf]

While some of us are waiting anxiously to pay upwards of R27 (some rumours say R40) a litre of fuel at the petrol pumps soon, others are buying new cars.

Considering the numerous challenges on our bank accounts – blackouts, rising petrol costs, supply chain issues, and intense weather events wrecking businesses – you may think Saffas would be holding their horses when it comes to buying expensive things, like a car.

Despite all these problems, though, some South Africans are still diligently supporting the country’s vehicle industry.

June’s numbers from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) are in.

A total of 41 091 new vehicles were sold last month, which is a nice 7,6% increase over June 2021, per IOL:

The passenger car market, still riding the rental car renewal wave, grew by an impressive 20.6% year-on-year, while the light commercial market plunged by 20.8%, largely due to the limited availability of Toyota Hilux bakkies following the April floods and subsequent plant closure.

Nonetheless, the Japanese carmaker still managed to find 969 units to sell to customers, while Ford took top honours in the bakkie sales game, with 1 601 Ranger sales.

The Ford Ranger 2.2TDCi Double Cab Hi-Rider XL was the only bakkie in AutoTrader’s top 10 most listed used cars.

Here are SA’s top 10 selling vehicles (with the number of units sold) for June 2022:

1. Suzuki Swift (above)- 1 925
2. Toyota Urban Cruiser – 1 785
3. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 1 619
4. Ford Ranger – 1 601
5. Toyota Starlet – 1 574
6. Volkswagen Polo – 1 461
7. Isuzu D-Max – 1 280
8. Nissan NP200 – 1 249
9. Renault Kiger – 1 016
10. Volkswagen T-Cross – 970

Wheels24 took Naamsa’s data and outlined a few interesting car industry trends.

Toyota continues to make a killing despite numerous set-backs:

Toyota’s local plant might still be shut down due to the horrific floods in KwaZulu-Natal earlier in April, but they’re back at the top of the rankings as SA’s best-selling automaker. They sold 5 631 passenger cars last month, with two models taking the bulk of the sales.

The new Starlet [above] was only launched earlier in June and already its brought in 1 574 sales, while the Urban Cruiser saw 1 785 find new homes.

Bakkies remain popular:

The Ford Ranger was the best-selling bakkie in June with 1 601 models sold, in second place was Isuzu with the D-Max with 1 280 units, and the Toyota Hilux only in third spot due to the KZN plant still being closed with 961 bakkies finding new homes.

Top-class luxury car brands are hustling hard, with Lamborghini having moved three new models and Porsche having sold 121 cars last month. Meanwhile, Ferrari also managed to sell eight new cars in June.

There’s also Bentley, which sold four cars in June, likely making something like R12 million or more since each model (up to six years old on the classifieds) go for over R3 million.

Nissan sold 12 Patrols, which is technically not a lot, but it is something when you consider that the starting price for this vehicle is in excess of R1,6 million:

Renault sold a solid 2 332 passenger cars in June, of which 1 016 models were the budget-friendly Kiger.

While it is good to see the local automotive industry keeping its head above water, Naamsa has warned that this won’t last too long.

With rising food and fuel prices, along with higher interest rates, we can expect lower demand for “non-essential” items in the coming months.

[sources:iol&wheels24]