South Africa’s Best Selling Cars Of 2017

Car sales in South Africa increased by 1.8% year on year with the Toyota Hilux still taking first place. This was followed closely by the Ford Ranger in second place.

The best selling passenger vehicle has yet again been the Volkswagen Polo Vivo with the Toyota Fortuner closely behind.

Although car sales were spread throughout the country, Gauteng had the most car sales during 2017. This information is courtesy of Lightstone Auto’s annual sales report.

We take a look at a further breakdown of the best selling cars in South Africa for 2017.

Do you need the most affordable car insurance quote on your new car? Compare here and start saving today

Top Passenger Vehicle

VW has yet again picked up another win among South African vehicle owners. The VW Polo Vivo sold a total of 28 402 units in 2017 with the Polo selling 22 916 units. This equates to an average of 2 367 units sold per month.

The Vivo was named as the third best-selling vehicle overall on South African turf, as well as being named the best passenger vehicle.

The Vivo was most popular in Gauteng, Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Western Cape respectively.

The Toyota Fortuner was named the second best-selling passenger vehicle in the country, however it sold 5 000 units less than the Vivo.

Although the Fortuner came in second best, it sold across more provinces than the Vivo. According to Lightstone Auto, the Fortuner was most popular in the following cities:

• North West;
• Limpopo;
• Northern Cape;
• Free State;
• Mpumalanga.

Hilux Vs Ranger

The race for the top spot of bakkies still continues, with the Toyota Hilux consistently taking first place. Although the Hilux continues to remain the number one bakkie in its  class, the Ford Ranger is hot on its trail.

In 2017, the Hilux sold a whopping 36 422 units, while the Ranger sold 32 811 units countrywide.

Although this might sound like a vast difference in sales, the Ranger did better on the export front. There were 57 311 Ford Ranger units which were exported abroad. This is better than the Hilux export rates. There were 40 990 Toyota Hilux units exported last year.

Both the Hilux and the Ranger are assembled in South Africa vehicle manufacturing plants.

2016 Vs 2017 Car Sale Stats

Nowadays, purchasing a brand new vehicle is not an everyday occurrence as vehicle prices continue to rise. Although vehicles have become so expensive and the cheap ones have proven to be unsafe, vehicles are selling.

In fact, for the first time in four years, new vehicle sales have improved by 1.8%. Even though this is quite a little, it is still an improvement that the industry has been waiting for.

The table below shows the annual growth in the industry from 2016 to 2017 respectively. There was a total of 557 568 new vehicles sold in 2017. This is up from 547 547 vehicles sold in 2016.

Numbers By Province

The infographic below illustrates the number of cars sold in each province within South Africa. Take a look at the results:

We breakdown further the top selling cars per province for 2017. This information has been provided by Lightstone Auto. Take a look:

Gauteng

Eastern Cape 

Northern Cape

Western Cape

Kwa-Zulu Natal

North West

Mpumalanga 

Limpopo

Free State

Has your car made the list as one of the top-selling vehicles in South Africa?