The Isuzu D-Max enjoyed a stronger-than-usual sales month, surging to second place overall.
Image: Supplied
March 2025 was the South African new vehicle industry's best sales month in two years, with the market showing incredible resilience in the face of economic uncertainty.
A total of 49,493 new vehicles were sold last month, an increase of 12.5% versus the same month last year, and marking six consecutive months of growth.
Passenger vehicle sales, at 33,447 units, saw an impressive year-on-year gain of 25.3%. However bakkies and light commercial vehicles, at 13,328, declined by 8.4%. Keep in mind that this figure reflects the 2024 discontinuation of the Nissan NP200 half-tonner.
Medium and heavy commercial vehicle sales declined by 1.8% and 0.5% respectively, while industry-wide vehicle exports grew by 7.1%.
The one-tonne bakkies put on a stellar performance, however, with the Isuzu D-Max taking second spot in the bakkie race with an impressive 2,250 sales, and the Ford Ranger also breaching the 2,000 unit mark with 2,179 sales.
The Mahindra Scorpio (1,215) and Nissan Navara (835) also performed better than usual last month.
On the passenger car front, the new-generation Suzuki Swift (1,608) lost some ground to the Volkswagen Polo Vivo (1,703) after its particularly strong start to 2025, while the Toyota Corolla Cross was third with a solid 1,570 sales.
In the manufacturer race, Toyota led the way as usual, with 11,660 sales, followed by Suzuki Auto (5,284), Volkswagen (4,913), Hyundai (3,103) and Ford (2,907).
But could the looming Value Added Tax (VAT) increase be partly responsible for last month's vehicle sales surge?
“While the pending increase in VAT only amounts to R500 per R100,000 we expect that some purchase decisions will have been accelerated by its imminent implementation,” said WesBank's marketing head Lebo Gaoaketse
“While interest rates remained unchanged during the month, their levels have alleviated some affordability, stimulating demand in the market for new vehicles. WesBank has also experienced a reduction in balloon amounts financed year-on-year, reinforcing the positive improvements in affordability in the market,” Gaoaketse added.
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