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SA’s top 10 automakers: The winners & losers
South Africa’s leading automotive platform Cars.co.za has crunched the numbers and calculated market share percentages to see which of South Africa’s Top 10 automotive vehicle brands (automakers) grew – and which ones shrunk – during 2022.
Last year was an intriguing – but encouraging – one for South Africa’s new-vehicle market, considering the myriad headwinds the industry faced; total sales grew 13.9% year on year to 528 963 units. However, which of the country’s mainstream automakers grew along with – or indeed faster than – the local market? And which ones shrunk?
Well, the team at Cars.co.za spent some time consolidating the sales figures for South Africa’s 10 best-selling automakers of 2022, which, in turn, gave them the opportunity to compare the latest numbers with statistics from 2021. As a result, Cars.co.za could identify the winners and losers out of the top 10 companies last year.
Of course, we have to point out a couple of caveats. Toyota’s figures, for example, include the Lexus and Hino brands, while the Volkswagen Group’s tally incorporates Audi sales. In addition, Chery started reporting local sales figures to Naamsa only in July 2022, so unfortunately, the Chinese brand couldn’t be considered for this list. BMW and Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, don’t consistently report complete figures to Naamsa (although both German brands may well have finished just outside the top 10 anyway).
Still, this certainly proved a worthwhile exercise for Cars.co.za, because it provided a useful overview of the respective performances of the main players in South Africa’s new-vehicle market (scroll to the bottom of the story to see the full top-10 list).
Just 2 automakers in the top 10 shed sales in 2022
In pure volume terms, only two brands among the top 10 automakers saw a reduction in sales compared with 2021’s totals. Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa – which has gradually shifted its focus away from passenger cars towards light-commercial vehicles – was the hardest hit, with its registrations falling 15.39% year on year to 26 335 units.
The Blue Oval brand was heavily reliant on its outgoing Ranger bakkie line-up (17 342 units), which accounted for a hefty 65.85% of the automaker’s local sales total. When all was said and done, Ford fell from 4th place in 2021 to 7th position in 2022, with its market share declining from 6.70% to 4.98% over the corresponding period.
The Volkswagen Group also lost ground, but its slowdown wasn’t quite as extreme as that of its Dearborn-based global alliance partner; the Wolfsburg-based firm’s 2022 total fell 2.48% year on year to 69 801 units. The Polo Vivo was its top seller again, with SA’s most popular passenger car making up nearly 30% of the German brand’s local sales.
Meanwhile, registrations of the (also Kariega-built) Polo hatchback fell nearly 14% (to 15 697 units). As a result, the supermini was overtaken on the 2022 passenger-vehicle charts by the likes of the Suzuki Swift, Toyota Urban Cruiser and Toyota Corolla Cross. Still, even though the VW Group’s share of the new-vehicle market slipped from 15.41% to 13.20%, the automaker quite comfortably held onto 2nd place in the overall list.
“Now that the motor industry has moved past the worst of the global semiconductor shortage, 2023 should prove an interesting year for many of South Africa’s vehicle manufacturers and importers,” says Cars.co.za Content Manager, Ashley Oldfield.
“As supply constraints ease, Volkswagen will look to make up some of the ground it lost during the past two years, although it does not have many new-model introductions lined up beyond an all-new Amarok and the belated arrival of the Golf 8 R. An update to the best-selling Vivo GT and a few other surprises may help VW solidify its ranking.“
“As for Toyota, the Japanese manufacturer may not have it as easy as it did in 2022 – in terms of overall sales, anyway. The all-new Ford Ranger and Volkswagen Amarok may snaffle some sales from the Hilux, while the hot-selling Urban Cruiser appears set to be superseded by another model that may be priced beyond the lucrative R250-R350k small crossover segment. Toyota had a bumper 2022 despite a tragic flood at its factory, but it has few new products on the horizon this year, aside from a few updates to current models and the possibility of a GR Corolla hitting our shores,” Oldfield adds.
The biggest volume growers in the top 10 in 2022
So, which automakers in the top 10 experienced the strongest year-on-year growth? Well, as you might have guessed, Suzuki Auto South Africa was the standout brand here – its sales swelled by a whopping 71.04% (compared with 2021) to 47 178 units. As a result, the Japanese firm’s local division rocketed up the rankings from 6th to 3rd, which boosted its 2021 market share (5.94%) to a very respectable 8.92% in 2022.
Renault also registered impressive year-on-year progress and finished on a tally of 27 251 units (+29.61%). Though its market share increased only marginally (from 4.53% to 5.15%), the French firm’s performance was enough to see it climb a spot to 6th overall.
Of course, much of the Suzuki and Renault’s sales growth in 2022 can be traced back to the budget models they import from India. Every model in Suzuki Auto SA’s range (bar the outgoing Vitara), for instance, is now sourced from the subcontinental country, including the aforementioned Swift hatchback that claimed 2nd spot on the list of SA’s best-selling passenger vehicles in 2022 (with 17 282 sales). Renault, meanwhile, relied heavily on the likes of the Kwid, Kiger and Triber to boost its sales volumes last year.
“Most new vehicles that are imported into South Africa from India fall into the more affordable price brackets and it remains to be seen how long-established brands, many of which have production plants based in Europe, Korea or the Americas, will be able to compete in the lower segments,” continues Oldfield. “Will they be forced to reduce margins or try to play in more premium segments at more expensive prices?”
However, there was another brand that continued its sharp upward trajectory in 2022. Haval posted total sales of 22 644 units last year, which marked an improvement of 18.79% compared with 2021. The Chinese automaker climbed a place to 9th overall (just behind Kia), while also edging its market share forward from 4.10% to 4.28%.
“The Chinese brands are likely to continue their massive growth spurt,” predicts Oldfield, “because Haval and Chery (to name the most notable examples) offer models that represent better value for money than rival products sold by the long-established (legacy) brands in South Africa. Proton entered the market in the latter half of last year, while interest in BAIC’s new Beijing X55 seems solid. GWM/Haval looks to be launching a product offensive and will introduce the Tank and all-electric Ora sub-brands in South Africa soon; they could shake up the off-roader and EV segments quite significantly.”
Other titbits about SA’s top 10 automakers
Unsurprisingly, Toyota was again SA’s best-selling automaker in 2022; the Japanese firm has led the South African new-vehicle market for 43 consecutive years. The Hilux was again the country’s top seller (32 203 units) and accounted for almost a quarter of the company’s 132 035 sales. Despite immense production challenges at Prospecton caused by the KwaZulu-Natal floods in mid-April, Toyota still managed to grow its sales 12.22% year on year (though its market share fell slightly, from 25.33% to 24.96%).
Though Hyundai expanded its sales by 7.67% to 36 047 units, it ended up dropping off the podium to 4th – largely due to Suzuki Auto’s resounding success. Nissan (30 487 units, up 1.04%) held steady in 5th, with Kia (22 766 units, up by 12.92%) in 8th, while Isuzu fell a place to 10th despite growing sales 7.05% year on year to 21 274 units.
South Africa’s 10 best-selling automakers of 2022
- Toyota – 132 035 units (+12.2%)
- Volkswagen Group – 69 801 units (-2.5%)
- Suzuki – 47 178 units (+71.0%)
- Hyundai – 36 047 units (+7.7%)
- Nissan – 30 487 units (+1.0%)
- Renault – 27 251 units (+29.6%)
- Ford – 26 335 units (-15.4%)
- Kia – 22 766 units (+12.9%)
- Haval – 22 644 units (+18.8%)
- Isuzu – 21 274 units (+7.0%)
