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It’s not been an easy start to the year for South Africa’s new-vehicle market. In fact, after the opening quarter of 2024, aggregate new-vehicle sales stood at 131 201 units, representing a 5.3% year-on-year fall. The passenger-vehicle segment suffered even more, with Q1 2024 registrations in this space declining 8.0% year on year to 84 837 units.
Still, we thought it pertinent to examine which cars and crossovers are leading the sales charge in Mzansi after the first 3 months of the year. So, we whipped out our calculators and tallied up local registrations for Q1 2024. Interestingly, 5 of the top 10 vehicles hail from India, while 4 are made-in-SA products, with a single model imported from China. Let’s take a closer look at the numbers…
In 2023, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo edged out the Toyota Corolla Cross for the title of SA’s best-selling passenger vehicle. This close-fought battle continued in the opening quarter of 2024, with the Kariega-built prolonged lifecycle hatchback keeping its nose ahead with 5 828 sales.
Toyota’s Prospecton-produced crossover, however, was in hot pursuit, finishing Q1 2024 on 5 660 units. As the maths addicts among you have no doubt already worked out, that’s a mere 168 registrations off the pace. For the record, the Vivo’s best month was January when it managed 2 034 units, while the Corolla Cross put up 2 041 sales in March.
As was the case last year, the Suzuki Swift (4 626 units) completed the podium in Q1 2024, while also ranking as South Africa’s most popular imported vehicle. That put the Indian-built Swift – which has already moved into a new generation in some overseas markets – 1 034 units behind the Corolla Cross. The Suzuki-built Toyota Starlet retained 4th position, with its tally of 4 218 units seeing it rank 408 sales behind the Swift.
Interestingly, the Hyundai Grand i10 – which is these days available in both hatchback and sedan body styles – climbed from the 8th position it achieved in 2023 to a strong 5th place in the opening quarter of this year. Likewise manufactured in India, the Grand i10 managed a total of 3 338 sales, a figure that would rise to 3 455 units if we were to include light-commercial vehicle (LCV) registrations recorded by the Cargo-badged van derivative.
The Volkswagen Polo hatchback didn’t have the best 2023, with sales falling more than 25%, year on year. The first quarter of 2024 wasn’t much better, with the Kariega-built hatch – having ended the reporting period on 3 026 units – even falling a spot to 6th. The likewise SA-made Toyota Fortuner (2 622 units), meanwhile, dropped 2 rankings to 8th.
The Chery Tiggo 4 Pro was again South Africa’s top-selling Chinese vehicle, ending the quarter on 2 853 units, which put it within touching distance of the Polo hatch. That saw the Tiggo 4 Pro retain the 7th position it achieved in 2023.
The Nissan Magnite climbed a place to 9th, ending Q1 2024 on 2 339 units. With production of the NP200 – a half-tonne bakkie that accounted for nearly 45% of the Japanese firm’s local sales in 2023 – having ended, Nissan will be relying heavily on the Magnite (along with the Rosslyn-made Navara) for the remainder of this year.
Finally, the Toyota Vitz (1 767 units) completed the top 10, pushing the Haval Jolion (1 630 units) – a Chinese crossover that placed 9th last year – off the table. For the record, the Vitz also far outsold the vehicle on which it’s based, with the Suzuki Celerio ending Q1 on 703 units (down in 31st position).
