According to Naamsa, December 2018's new vehicle industry sales came in at 39 984 units, representing a fall of 1,9 percent , year on year. Here’s what happened in the final month of the year in the passenger vehicle segment…

As always, it’s interesting to take a look at what’s going on in terms of individual model sales. We’ve already examined the figures and picked out the 10 best-selling bakkies for the month, and now it’s time to do the same with the passenger vehicle market (also, check out the worst-selling vehicles).

Unfortunately, BMW has “for the time being” again opted to report only aggregate sales data, mirroring the approach taken by German rival Mercedes-Benz not to provide individual model sales figures (Porsche, too, recently followed suit). Kia and Hyundai, though, thankfully now release their individual model sales, which makes the picture a little clearer.

So, what happened in December 2018? Well, the Volkswagen Polo remained at the very summit, again beating its Polo Vivo sibling into second place. The Renault Kwid, meanwhile, rocketed four places up the table to grab third, while the Toyota Fortuner climbed two to fourth spot.

The Hyundai Grand i10 moved up five places to snaffle fifth, while Toyota’s combination of the Corolla, Auris and Corolla Quest (the brand reports an overall figure rather than individual model sales), was forced down three spots to sixth.

The Renault Clio made a return to the table in seventh, with the Hyundai i20 likewise making a comeback in eighth. The Datsun Go and Kia Picanto, meanwhile, were tied in ninth place.

Other odds and ends

So, what else interesting happened in December? Well, we noted Ford didn’t have a vehicle in the top ten, with the Figo (424) and Everest (385) proving its top performers for the month. The Fiesta fell to 217 units, while the EcoSport added 332 units.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, meanwhile, managed to hit 100 units (a figure matched by Mitsubishi), thanks chiefly to the Fiat 500 (34), outgoing Jeep Wrangler (17) and Jeep Grand Cherokee (15). The Ballade (118) was the only Honda to pass the 100-unit mark in December, while Hyundai enjoyed solid contributions from the Tucson (294), Creta (254) and H-1 bus (166). It’s interesting to note, too, that the Santa Fe (119) outsold the Kona (118).

The Range Rover Sport (83) performed the role of heavy-lifter for the Jaguar Land Rover group, while the Rio (304) and Sportage (208) added useful numbers for Kia. The KUV100 (174) again led the way for Mahindra, as did the CX-5 (389) for Mazda. The latter, of course, also reported strong figures from the CX-3 (293), Mazda3 (223) and Mazda2 (197).

The best-selling Nissan of the month was the Qashqai (263), ahead of the X-Trail (216). The new Micra (101) was again outsold by the prolonged lifecycle Micra Active (110), while the Almera (109) also crossed into three figures.

Opel registered a total of 185 units for the month (with the Corsa leading the way on 80), while Peugeot could muster just 40 (15 of which came in the form of the 3008) and Subaru only 80 (with the Forester on 34).

The Sandero added a handy 449 units for Renault and the Duster a further 242, while the Swift (419) accounted for nearly half of Suzuki’s passenger vehicle total (the Ignis on 118 and new Jimny on 113 were next in line). Toyota’s Etios (507) and Yaris (272) dropped out of the top ten, while the RAV4 added a useful 410 units for the Japanese firm. The Avanza (416), Rush (292) and C-HR (222) also contributed gamely.

For Volkswagen, the Kombi (408) enjoyed a particularly strong month, while the Tiguan (485) wasn’t too far from bagging a top-ten spot. As has become tradition, the A3 range (248) was Audi’s most popular. And the XC60 (109) was again Volvo’s best-seller, ahead of the XC40 (54) and V40 (42).

See the top ten table below (and have a look back at November 2018’s figures here):

South Africa’s 10 best-selling passenger cars of December 2018:

1. Volkswagen Polo – 2 051
2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 1 711
3. Renault Kwid – 1 354
4. Toyota Fortuner – 1 027
5. Hyundai Grand i10 – 906
6. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest – 858
7. Renault Clio – 775
8. Hyundai i20 – 619
9=. Datsun Go – 508
9=. Kia Picanto – 508

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Original article from Car