Biggest vehicle-exporters from SA in February 2019…

Ford SA exported 7 421 examples of its Ranger in February 2019.

According to Naamsa, the South African automotive industry’s February 2019 export sales number represented “another stellar performance”, with 33 731 vehicles shipped off during the month. This represents a substantial improvement of 6 202 units or a gain of 22,5 percent compared with the same month in 2018.

So, let’s take a look at which automakers were the biggest exporters from South Africa for the month.

The Volkswagen Group remained in first place, exporting 8 871 examples (up 3 122 units) of its Polo hatchback from Uitenhage. Ford, meanwhile, climbed two places to second, shipping off 7 502 units (comprising 7 421 units of the Ranger and 81 of the Everest) from its Silverton facility in the month. This represents an increase of 3 818 units over what was an admittedly weak January.

The BMW Group fell one to third, with its Rosslyn plant churning out 5 873 examples of the X3 for foreign markets, representing a marked improvement of 1 946 units compared with the preceding month.

Toyota dropped a spot to fourth, with an export figure of 5 718 units, including 5 486 examples of its Hilux, 151 units of the Fortuner, 70 Corolla sedan (all built at its Prospecton factory) and eleven vehicles from its Hino trucks division. This total is up 1 978 units on the Japanese firm’s effort in January.

Mercedes-Benz climbed one place to fifth, with 4 589 units exported from its East London plant in February. This represents an increase of 4 146 units after a poor showing in January due to the factory being closed for much of the month to “allow for plant refurbishment”.

Nissan fell one spot to sixth, increasing its exports by 226 units to 688 (made up of 682 Hardbody units and six units of the NP200), while Isuzu climbed by 265 units to total 362 (including nine examples of the KB bakkie, 351 wearing the D-Max badge and two MU-X models) to again settle for seventh.

For reference, see January 2019’s list here…