Car Sales: On the Up? Here are the numbers.

Notwithstanding the Chinese onslaught, article elsewhere on this page, April has shwn to be a very good month as far as brand new car sales is concerned. I have said this many times on all platforms I have been on, print, magazine, social media and on radio: Car Sales is a good economic indicator. It shows a certain direction as far as the economy is concerned. Very good sales are a very good sign and vive-versa. So, April 2025, has been a solid month for new-car sales in SA, with 42,401 units making their way off showroom floors, according to naamsa, the business council in the motoring industry.

The numbers reflect a gain of 4,502 units (11.2%) from the 37,899 units sold during the same month last year. Toyota was, once again, the king of the hill with an impressive 10,363 units, though this is a noticeable drop from the 11,660 units it sold in March.

Suzuki, meanwhile and no surprises here, improved on its monthly performance with 5,977 sales in April compared to March’s 5,284, helping to solidify its claim as the nation’s second-best-selling brand. This is certainly not the first time that Suzuki has claimed second spot and knocking a well-known brand off the second spot.

After this came VW, which saw a significant drop from 4,913 to 3,973 units but is still comfortably holding onto its position in third.

Hyundai was up next with 3,007 units, putting it well ahead of Ford in fifth place with its 2,398 purchases.

Outside of the top five, GWM and Chery put on an excellent performance with both brands moving from ninth and 10th to sixth and seventh place, respectively. GWM sold a total of 1,943 units while Chery parted with 1,852.

Isuzu was consequently pushed down to eighth place with 1,383 units moved, and Nissan dropped out of the top 10 entirely. In its place is Renault, which took the ninth spot with 1,281 customers.

Finally, there’s Mahindra, which has managed to hold onto a spot in the top 10 with 1,278 showroom hand-shakes in April.

Of the 42,401 cars sold in South Africa last month, 87.9% were attributed to dealership sales while another 7% was taken by the rental industry. A further 2.7% went to corporate fleets, and the remaining 2.5% were sold to the government. Passenger cars accounted for 30,101 new registrations – a gain of 16.9% year-on-year from the 25,751 purchased in March 2024.

Light commercial vehicles like bakkies and vans also experienced growth, albeit on a much smaller scale, with a 3.2% increase from 9,654 to 9,961 units.

Unfortunately, exports are down yet again, with only 31,822 cars making their way overseas – a 6.6% drop from the same month last year. The poor export results are chiefly attributed to the global uncertainty surrounding the United States’ new tariffs on imported vehicles.

In contrast, the excellent performance of the local sector is believed to be the result of inflation dropping to 2.7% year-on-year – the lowest it’s been since June 2020. This is despite the previous uncertainty regarding the proposed VAT increase, and the fact that April had several public holidays.

Here is the best seller list for April 2025