These were the car sales winners and losers of 2024

Toyota stayed No 1 while Chinese brand Chery moved up three places

13 January 2025 - 13:29
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Chery was one of the biggest gainers, rising from SA's 11th to 8th most popular brand in 2024.
Chery was one of the biggest gainers, rising from SA's 11th to 8th most popular brand in 2024.
Image: Supplied

New vehicle sales in South Africa totalled 515,712 units in 2024, dipping 3% compared to the year before for the lowest annual figure since the Covid-19 pandemic.

Passenger car sales showed a modest 1.1% increase but all commercial and truck segments declined, including a 12% decrease in the light commercial sector which was affected by a steep drop in Toyota Hiace minibus sales due to financing challenges in the minibus taxi industry.

It contributed to Toyota’s sales dropping 9.78% in 2024 but it remained South Africa’s favourite car brand by a wide margin with a dominant 24.9% share of the market. Driven by strong sales of the Corolla Cross SUV and the evergreen Hilux bakkie — which retained its throne as the country’s best selling vehicle — Toyota moved nearly double the volumes of its closest competitor Volkswagen, which dipped 1.44% in sales from 2023.

Toyota’s passenger car sales were boosted by the introduction of the new Starlet Cross and Land Cruiser Prado. Volkswagen launched no new models but gave its popular Polo Vivo range a facelift.

Suzuki remained Mzansi’s third most popular brand in 2024 but edged much closer to VW with a 20.5% growth. The Swift remained the competitively-priced brand’s most popular model range and the new generation was introduced in November, but there were strong performances across the line-up including from the Fronx, Ertiga and Baleno.

Toyota remained Mzansi's favourite brand by a significant margin, helped by strong sales of the evergreen Hilux.
Toyota remained Mzansi's favourite brand by a significant margin, helped by strong sales of the evergreen Hilux.
Image: Denis Droppa

With a 6.69% sales rise in 2024 helped by the launch of the Territory midsized SUV in May, Ford overtook Hyundai (-3.73%) for fourth place. Hyundai is betting on the new Exter to bring it back into contention this year, and since its September launch the small crossover has risen to become the Korean brand’s second most popular seller after the Grand i10 hatchback.

With its sales virtually unchanged from 2023, Isuzu took fifth spot from Nissan which was down 23.56% after discontinuing its popular NP200 half-tonne bakkie.

Another big loser in 2024 was Renault, which recorded 27.29% fewer sales than the year before partly due to the continued rise of Chinese marques, with consumers drawn to their keen pricing and improved quality in a price-sensitive market. Chery overtook Haval/GWM as the most popular Chinese brand in 2024, moving up to eighth overall from 11th the year before and also vaulting past long-established brands Renault and Kia.

Chery Group subsidiary brands Omoda and Jaecoo — introduced to Mzansi in 2023 — came to the fore with good monthly sales after reporting their figures for the first time in July. 

Suzuki stayed in third place but edged much closer to VW.
Suzuki stayed in third place but edged much closer to VW.
Image: Supplied

Kia dropped 22.57% in 2024 but the Korean brand’s sales were buoyed towards the end of the year by the facelifted Sonet.

Mahindra continued its growth with a 12% rise in 2024, with the newly launched 3X0 crossover an early hit with consumers.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz both lost significant sales volumes in a price-sensitive market.

Stellantis gained 26% last year off a low base, largely due to replacing its European-built Citroën C3 and C3 Aircross models with more affordable India-built versions which boosted sales.

Graph showing how 2024 sales (purple) of top 15 car brands compared with 2023 (yellow).
Graph showing how 2024 sales (purple) of top 15 car brands compared with 2023 (yellow).
Image: Supplied

TOP 15 BRANDS IN 2024 (2023 sales in brackets)

  1. Toyota — 128,663 (142,612) -9.78%
  2. Volkswagen group — 66,486 (67,456) -1.44%
  3. Suzuki — 59,574 (49,436) +20.50%
  4. Ford — 32,766 (30,710) +6.69%
  5. Hyundai — 30,759 (31,953) -3.74%
  6. Isuzu — 23,290 (23,273) +0.07%
  7. Nissan — 22,286 (29,160) -23.57%
  8. Chery - 19,971 (16,106) +24%

  9. GWM/Haval — 18,927 (19,856) -4.68%
  10. Renault — 15,822 (21,703) -27.09%
  11. Kia — 14,778 (19,086) -22.57%
  12. Mahindra — 12,868 (11,490) +12%
  13. BMW group — 12,477 (13,946) -10.53%
  14. Mercedes-Benz — 6,401 (8,324) -23.10%
  15. Stellantis — 6,021 (4,733) +27.2%

 


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