According to Naamsa, January 2019's new vehicle industry sales came in at 42 374 units, representing a fall of 7,4 percent, year on year. Here’s what happened in the first 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 (be sure to check out the worst-selling cars, too).

Interestingly, BMW has started reporting individual model sales figures again, while German rival Mercedes-Benz continues to provide only aggregate data (Porsche, too, recently followed suit). Kia and Hyundai, though, thankfully now release their individual model sales, which makes the picture a little clearer. Lamborghini, too, reported an aggregate figure (of five units) in January.

So, what happened in the first month of 2019? Well, the Volkswagen Polo stayed at the very top, again beating its Polo Vivo sibling into second place (although this time by a mere 51 units). Toyota’s combination of the Corolla, Auris and Corolla Quest (the brand reports an overall figure rather than individual model sales) climbed three to third.

The Toyota Fortuner remained steady in fourth, with the Hyundai Grand i10 likewise retaining its fifth place. Sixth spot went to the Hyundai i20, up two places month on month, with the Etios returning to the table to take seventh.

Toyota’s Yaris, too, made a reappearance, grabbing eighth place just ahead of the EcoSport and Figo (which gave Ford a return to the top ten after the Blue Oval brand missed out in December 2018).

Vehicles that placed in the top ten the final month of 2018 but fell from the table in January were the Renault Clio (200), Datsun Go (560) and Kia Picanto (612).

Other odds and ends

So, what else interesting happened in January? Well, BMW’s top-seller was the outgoing 3 Series (138), just a handful of units ahead of the locally built X3 (131) and the entry-level X1 (107). For Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, only the Fiat 500 (50) and Jeep Grand Cherokee (45) managed to push fairly deep into two figures.

Ford’s Fiesta (298) was up slightly on the previous month, while the Everest added a very useful 371 units and the Kuga a further 119. Just a single unit separated Honda’s Jazz (116) and Amaze sedan (115), while the Kona (102) broke through the three-figure barrier for Hyundai, which also enjoyed fair contributions from the Creta (238) and Tucson (225).

The Isuzu MU-X (38) nosed ahead of the Mitsubishi Pajero Sport (37), while the Range Rover Sport (91) was Jaguar Land Rover’s most popular offering. The Rio added 316 units for Kia, while the KUV100 (168) again led the charge for Mahindra. The CX-5 (408) played that role for Mazda, with the CX-3 (363) not far behind and the Mazda2 (249) and outgoing Mazda3 (216) also contributing gamely.

In the Nissan group, the Almera (405) was second only to the aforementioned Datsun Go, while the Corsa (71) edged out the Crossland X (70) as Opel’s top performer. Peugeot endured a particularly tough month, registering a total of just 24 units.

The new Duster managed 220 units for Renault, while the Sandero added 293. The Mégane hit 46 units for the French brand, while the soon-to-launch Koleos also made an appearance, with 35 units registered in January. Subaru’s new Forester enjoyed 93 registrations, while the Swift hatchback (479) was easily Suzuki’s strongest offering. That said, the short-in-supply Jimny (116), diminutive Ignis (115) and soon-to-be-refreshed Baleno (102) all crossed into three figures.

For Toyota, the Avanza added a useful 567 units, ably backed up by the RAV4 (476) and Rush (425). Volkswagen’s Tiguan (448) enjoyed a solid month, almost doubling the Golf’s figure of 259 units. Sales of the Volvo XC40, interestingly, fell to 11 units.

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

South Africa’s 10 best-selling passenger cars of January 2019:

1. Volkswagen Polo – 2 512
2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 461
3. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest – 2 202
4. Toyota Fortuner – 1 000
5. Hyundai Grand i10 – 867
6. Hyundai i20 – 715
7. Toyota Etios – 698
8. Toyota Yaris – 693
9. Ford EcoSport – 679
10. Ford Figo – 669

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Original article from Car