Johannesburg - While March 2023 saw the overall vehicle market decline by 0.6% versus the same month last year, light commercial vehicles saw some robust growth.
A total of 50 465 new vehicles were sold last month, according to Naamsa, with passenger car sales declining by 6.1% year-on-year, and LCVs gaining 11.1% to total 15 529 units.
Looking at the sales charts, it was clearly a bumper month for many of South Africa’s one-tonne bakkie contenders, and no surprises here, the Toyota Hilux led the way with 3 920 sales.
But it was also a better-than-usual month for the Isuzu D-Max and new Ford Ranger, with respective sales totals of 2 289 and 2 247 units, while the new Volkswagen Amarok also enjoyed a surprisingly strong month with 401 units registered.
Toyota sold the most light commercial vehicles overall, with a volume of 6 119 units if you include the Hi-Ace, Quantum and Hino 200 models, while Ford followed with a volume of 2 334 units, including Transit models, and Isuzu completed the podium with 2 289 sales, followed by Nissan (1 879), Mahindra (987), Volkswagen (534) and Haval (490).
While the local vehicle market was hampered by yet another interest rate hike and a sluggish economy battered by load-shedding, export sales provided a silver lining, with the new Ford Ranger providing the industry with a welcome boost.
The Ranger was South Africa’s top export in March, with 5 708 units shipped abroad. It was followed by the Toyota Hilux (3 588), Isuzu D-Max (743) and Nissan Navara (450).
