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Monday, May 12, 2025
Motoring Industry News

Suzuki Swift leads SA car market again in April as buyers shift to more affordable models

Jason Woosey|Updated

The Suzuki Swift was South Africa's top-selling passenger car in April

Image: Supplied

Despite a whirlwind of uncertainty collectively spun by US President Donald Trump’s trade war, and South Africa’s 2025 Budget impasse, the local new vehicle market showed remarkable resilience in April.

According to Naamsa, new vehicle sales totalled 42,401 units, an increase of 11.9%, versus the 37,899 units sold in April 2024. This was in spite of fewer selling days, owing to the configuration of public holidays this year. This followed a strong performance in March, which was the industry's best sales month in two years.

As has become the norm, passenger vehicle sales led the growth curve, increasing by 16.9% to 30,101 units last month, while light commercial vehicles grew by 3.2% to a total of 9,654. 

Medium commercial vehicles, at 629 units, grew by 10.2%, while the heavies decreased by 11.1% to 1,710 units.

The Suzuki Swift enjoyed a stellar sales month, surging past the 2,000 mark once again to dominate the passenger car market, ahead of the Toyota Corolla Cross (1,584) and Hyundai Grand i10 (1,425).

With Volkswagen SA having temporarily shut its Kariega plant to tool up for its new compact SUV, which you can check out over here, the Polo Vivo, a regular front runner, fell to fourth place, at 1,366 units.

2024 Ford Ranger Platinum Ford's Ranger leads the double cab market.

Image: Supplied

On the bakkie front, the Toyota Hilux (2,780 units) led the Ford Ranger (1,728) and Isuzu D-Max (1,108). 

As an interesting aside, Ford SA announced recently that it led the double cab market in the first three months of 2025, with its quarter-one volume of 5,193 units outpacing the Hilux by 534 units. In that time, Ford grew its double cab volume by 1.5%.

South Africa’s 50 Best-Selling Vehicles: April 2025

  1. Toyota Hilux - 2,780
  2. Suzuki Swift - 2,053
  3. Ford Ranger - 1,728
  4. Toyota Corolla Cross - 1,584
  5. Hyundai Grand i10 - 1,425
  6. Volkswagen Polo Vivo - 1,366
  7. Suzuki Fronx - 1,186
  8. Chery Tiggo 4 Pro - 1,133
  9. Isuzu D-Max - 1,108
  10. Haval Jolion - 973
  11. Toyota Starlet - 905
  12. Toyota Starlet Cross - 834
  13. Kia Sonet - 812
  14. Suzuki Ertiga - 778
  15. Volkswagen Polo - 768
  16. Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up - 654
  17. Toyota Fortuner - 606
  18. Omoda C5 - 588
  19. Toyota Hi-Ace - 571
  20. Toyota Urban Cruiser - 539
  21. Mahindra XUV 3XO - 515
  22. GWM P-Series - 497
  23. Renault Kiger - 470
  24. Nissan Magnite - 449
  25. Toyota Rumion - 448
  26. Toyota Vitz - 433
  27. Chery Tiggo 7 Pro - 427
  28. Suzuki Baleno - 420
  29. Toyota Land Cruiser PU - 417
  30. Hyundai Exter - 381
  31. Volkswagen T-Cross - 362
  32. Renault Triber - 357
  33. Jetour Dashing - 334
  34. Suzuki Jimny - 319
  35. Suzuki S-Presso - 316
  36. Ford Everest - 311
  37. Renault Kwid - 300
  38. Hyundai i20 - 295
  39. Nissan Navara - 293
  40. Hyundai Venue - 285
  41. Ford Territory - 257
  42. Toyota Land Cruiser Prado - 257
  43. Volkswagen Amarok - 254
  44. Haval H6 - 246
  45. Jetour X70 Plus - 239
  46. Suzuki Eeco - 233
  47. Foton Tunland G7 - 212
  48. Volkswagen Polo Sedan - 208
  49. Volkswagen Tiguan - 207
  50. Suzuki Celerio - 202

In the manufacturer's ranking, Suzuki surged to second place with an impressive 5,977 units, from Volkswagen’s 3,873 units, while Toyota led the way overall with sales of 10,363 vehicles.

  1. Toyota - 10,363
  2. Suzuki Auto - 5,977
  3. Volkswagen - 3,973
  4. Hyundai - 3,007
  5. Ford - 2,398
  6. GWM SA - 1,943
  7. Chery Auto - 1,852
  8. Isuzu - 1,383
  9. Renault - 1,281
  10. Mahindra - 1,278

“Despite global economic headwinds and a relatively short trading month, the local auto sector, once again, delivered solid numbers, a pleasant surprise to even the most avid industry observers,” said Brandon Cohen, Chairperson of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (NADA).

“The growth in the LCV segment is especially encouraging, pointing to an economy that is in better shape than one would surmise,” Cohen added.

The market also appears to be leaning more to the affordable end of the scale, with WesBank noting that the average deal size has shrunk by 8.6% year on year.

“The competitive price point of new Chinese entrants will also be influencing this shift as consumers seek alternative value in the market,” said WesBank marketing head Lebo Gaoaketse.

While the domestic market showed positive growth, South African exports decreased by 6.6% to 31,822 units amid the uncertainty, Naamsa reported.

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