By Otsile Kadiege

According to figures released by naamsa – the Automotive Business Council – new vehicle sales started on a weak footing, albeit with bigger volumes than December. January sales registered 41,636 new vehicles, 3.2% ahead of December sales; but 3.8% down year-on-year.

South Africa’s new vehicle market managed to breach the 530 000 volume for 2023, the 0.5% growth flatter than anticipated and a real sign of the economic pressures being experienced in the country. But with five months of consecutive slow down in volumes towards the end of last year, along with a relatively softer January performance, the outlook for 2024 volumes looks lucky to show any growth at all.

The biggest losers in January sales were passenger cars, the largest share of new vehicle sales. Passenger cars lost 6.7% year-on-year, or 2 073 units to sell 28 790 units – more than the 1 658 total volume decline across the total market. The other sectors simply couldn’t recover the market losses, despite all but buses performing in positive territory. Light Commercial Vehicle sales increased 2.3% to 10 871 units.

That said, the top five best-selling vehicles for January 2024 is the popular Toyota Hilux which registered 2 645 units during the said month. It’s followed by the locally assembled Polo Vivo which found 2 034 new homes. In third place is Ford’s new Ranger which sold 1 914 units. In fourth and fifth place is the Toyota Corolla Cross (1 660 units) and the Suzuki Swift (1 566 units).