New high for Suzuki as vehicle sales hit all-time record in October

South Africa’s new vehicles sales officially posted its highest monthly report in October by shifting close on 62 000 units for the first time.

Suzuki and Toyota domination

Once again led by the Toyota Hilux on 3 820 sales, 15 models again recorded sales of more than 1 000 units, with four staying steady within the top 10.

Raking in 2 695 sales, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo kept its second place standing ahead of the Ford Ranger, which jumped a spot from fourth in September to third in October on 2 381.

Improving two places from sixth to fourth, the Suzuki Swift finished on 2 344, while the combination of the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and Tiggo Cross under the Tiggo 4 banner remained fifth on 1 924 as the country’s best-selling Chinese vehicle once again.

Taking sixth, the Toyota Corolla Cross improved a notch from September on 1 723, with the month’s biggest faller being the Isuzu D-Max from third last month to seventh on 1 644.

Upping its ranking by two places, the Toyota Starlet Cross placed eighth on 1 611, followed by the Hyundai Grand i10, which stayed steady in ninth place on 1 556.

Completing an even split between locally made and imported products in the top 10, the Great Wall Motors (GWM) Jolion returned to the first 10 by jumping from 11th place in September with a total of 1 343 units moved.

Outside the top 10, the Chery Q provided the biggest surprise by displacing the BYD Dolphin Surf as the Republic’s best-selling fully electric vehicle on 438.

Also gaining momentum, the facelift Ford Territory shifted 507 units, while the Suzuki Fronx again lost out to its Starlet Cross sibling by moving 1 118 units, a drop from the 1 184 moved in September.

Best-selling brands

Out of the best-selling brands, Toyota remained the nation’s best-seller, but saw it sales drop from 15 366 in September to 14 495 in October.

By comparison, Suzuki’s 7 292 saw it break through the 7 000 unit barrier for the first time, its highest since netting 6 890 signatures in the same month last year.

Inclusive of Audi, Volkswagen kept its third place standing on 6 515, up from August’s 5 968, while Ford remained fourth on 3 353.

Staying fifth, Hyundai recorded an offset of 3 207, while GWM got the better of arch rival Chery to move 2 919 units versus Wuhu’s 2 754.

Taking eighth, Kia jumped two places from September to settle on 2 233, while Isuzu followed Toyota as the only marque within the top 15 to record a downturn on all front, in this case two places dropped from September and sales of 2 123 versus 3 022.

Down in tenth, Jetour dropped once place from ninth in September, but still registered a sales upturn from 2 036 to 2 102.

Top 15

• Toyota – 14 495
• Suzuki – 7 292
• Volkswagen – 6 515
• Ford – 3 353
• Hyundai – 3 207
• Great Wall Motors (GWM) – 2 919
• Chery – 2 754
• Kia – 2 233
• Isuzu – 2 123
• Jetour – 2 102
• Renault – 1 706
• Mahindra – 1 484
• BMW – 1 312
• Omoda & Jaecoo – 1 201
• Tata – 1 057

Month in detail

Having breached 61 000 unit sales in September, the October figures by National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) show a figure closer to 62 000.

A new all-time record since statistics began, a total of 61 890 vehicles left dealership floors last month, an increase of 10.4% over the 56 051 moved in October last year.

The rest of the segments were as follows:

Passenger Vehicle

s

Light Commercial Vehicle

s

Medium-Duty Commercial Vehicle

s

Heavy-Duty Commercial Vehicles

Exports

2025

39 70413 3987772 17235 853

2026

45 08413 6897702 34738 117

Diff.

+13.6%

+2.2%

-0.9%

+8.1%

+6.3%

October Top 50 best-sellers

1. Toyota Hilux – 3 820

2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 695*

3. Ford Ranger – 2 381

4. Suzuki Swift – 2 344

5. Chery Tiggo 4 – 1 924#

6. Toyota Corolla Cross – 1 723

7. Isuzu D-Max – 1 644

8. Toyota Starlet Cross – 1 611

9. Hyundai Grand i10 – 1 556*

10. GWM Haval Jolion – 1 343

11. Kia Sonet – 1 321*

12. Suzuki Ertiga – 1 234

13. Suzuki Fronx – 1 118

14. Toyota Vitz – 1 091

15. Toyota Starlet – 1 081

16. Volkswagen Polo – 991

17. Toyota Urban Cruiser – 939

18. Toyota Fortuner – 894

19. Toyota Rumion – 777

20. Jetour T2 – 753

21. Volkswagen T-Cross – 739

22. Omoda C5 – 726

23. GWM P-Series – 666#

24. Mahindra Pik Up – 664

25. Toyota HiAce – 657

26. Jetour Dashing – 646

27. Tata Tiago – 645

28. Mahindra XUV 3X0 – 615

29. Volkswagen Polo Sedan – 563

30. Renault Triber – 559*

31. Suzuki Baleno – 556

32. Suzuki DZire – 543

33. Hyundai i20 – 531

34. Renault Kiger – 525

35. Ford Territory – 507

36. Citroën C3 – 478*

37. Volkswagen Amarok – 459

38. Chery Q – 438

39. Renault Kwid – 420

40. Toyota Land Cruiser 70-Series – 409#

41. Kia Seltos – 373

42. Nissan Magnite – 369*

43. Jetour T1 – 364

44. Suzuki Across – 360

45. Jaecoo J5 – 350

46. Jetour X70 Plus – 339

47. GWM Ora 5 – 336

48. Ford Everest – 318

49. Hyundai Exter – 300*

50. Suzuki S-Presso – 295

    Note:

    *: Includes commercial variants
    #: Combination of two models