Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) continues to lead domestic vehicle sales, racking up 13 406 sales of the overall 50 157 units sold locally during the month of March. This translates to a market share of 26.7%, topping the charts in Passenger, Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV), Medium Commercial Vehicle (MCV) and Heavy Commercial Vehicle (HCV) segments.
Once again, the Hilux is the top performer in the LCV segment, while the highly sought-after Corolla Cross makes a strong showing in the Passenger segment. The latter registered a total of 1 839 units to help Toyota claim the lead in the Passenger category with a total of 6 855 sales. Other impressive performers in the category include the new Fortuner (1 409) in its first month of sales, as well as the ever-popular Starlet (1 276).
Hilux continues to be South Africa’s most popular bakkie, leading the way with 3 920 units sold. Hiace retailed 1 541 models, while Land Cruiser Pick-Up registered 406 sales. In total, Toyota retailed 6 119 LCV units.
The company’s luxury arm, Lexus, recorded a 52% increase in sales with a total of 90 units, including 21 ES and 29 NX models. On the truck front, Hino registered an increase in sales for a total of 348 units in March. The 200-Series posted 53 units while the 300-Series and the 500-Series recorded 174 and 121 units respectively.
“Despite another month of reduced trading days, we were delighted by the resilience shown in the market. Traditionally, March tends to be a good barometer of vehicle-sales momentum heading into the second quarter, and in this respect, we are very optimistic for the rest of the year,” says Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at TSAM, Leon Theron.
For the month of March, parts supply increased by 25% domestically to just over 1.5 million pieces, with a further 335 000 pieces shipped to foreign markets, itself a 5% increase.
According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (naamsa): “Coupled with the effects of interest hikes and the Human Rights Day holiday, new vehicle sales and exports were also impacted by the National Shutdown on 20 March 2023, as many dealers opted to close shop and vehicle manufacturers halted production.”
Aggregate domestic new vehicle sales, recorded at 50 157 units, reflected a decline of 308 units, or 0,6%, from the 50 465 new vehicles sold in March 2022.
“Once again, this sales performance shows that despite many economic challenges in South Africa, we are committed to providing quality, reliable and durable transport in all segments. We are grateful to the entire TSAM team and dealer network across the country for their continued efforts towards making Toyota a market leader,” concludes Theron.
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