These are the hybrid models local motorists are most likely to buy

South Africans are increasingly likely to buy a hybrid; the 2022 AutoTrader Hybrid Car Buyers Survey reveals a 63% increase year-on-year in hybrid enquiries by consumers. But which brands are they most likely to buy?

Chances are pretty good that the answer to that question will be Toyota, BMW or Lexus. In 2022, the top three most enquired on brands with hybrid offerings were Toyota (34% of all enquiries), BMW (23% of all enquiries) and Lexus (17% of all enquiries). Interestingly, these three brands accounted for more than 73% of all enquiries for hybrid cars in South Africa.

According to George Mienie, AutoTrader CEO, enquiry data per model follows a similar pattern.

“The most enquired on model last year was the BMW i8, which generated 19.28% of all hybrid enquiries. The Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid generated the second most enquiries with 19.09%. The one anomaly was the Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which generated a 6.07% share, putting it in third place. However, this is not totally unexpected. According to the 2022 AutoTrader Hybrid Car Buyers Survey, Mercedes-Benz was the fourth-most enquired for hybrid brand in 2022,” Mienie reveals.

But why do Toyota and BMW dominate – with over half of all brand enquiries? This is because when it comes to new energy vehicles, these two brands were particularly early to market – both globally and in South Africa. The Prius – the first hybrid to be mass-produced when it was launched in Japan in 1997 – arrived in South Africa back in 2005, making it the first hybrid to be launched in the country. The Prius generated 4.2% of hybrid enquiries last year, placing it in 10th place.

Similarly, BMW was an early adopter when it came to hybrids and EVs. In 2012, it launched the BMW ActiveHybrid 5 in South Africa. As an aside, just three years later, it launched the BMW i3, the world’s first premium car conceived from the outset to incorporate an all-electric drive system, in South Africa.

Both companies believe that the automotive horizon will be decidedly “green”. They’ve even teamed up to develop more new energy vehicles. So, don’t be surprised if the new EV or hybrid consumers are most likely to buy in future hails from one of these two manufacturers.

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