SA's 10 best-selling passenger cars of February 2018

The new Volkswagen Polo bounced back to grab the top spot in February 2018.

February 2018’s aggregate new vehicle sales in South Africa came in at 46 347 units or a decline of 3,8% year-on-year, according to Naamsa.

As always, it’s also interesting to take a look at what’s happening in terms of individual model sales. We’ve already examined the figures and picked out the 10 best-selling bakkies for the month (and the 14 worst-selling passenger vehicles), and now it’s time to do the same with the passenger vehicle market.

Interestingly, BMW has opted to resume the release of its individual model sales figures, while certain other automakers – most notably German rival Mercedes-Benz – still disclose only aggregate sales statistics. Kia and Hyundai also thankfully started releasing their individual model sales figures a few months ago, which makes the picture a little clearer.

So, what happened in the second month of 2018? Well, the new Volkswagen Polo bounced back from sixth place in January (due to the switch to the latest generation) to grab the top spot. The Polo Vivo, meanwhile, fell one to second, after itself undergoing a change-over to the new generation in February.

Toyota’s combination of the Corolla, Auris and Corolla Quest (the brand reports an overall figure rather than individual model sales) dropped one to third, while the rejigged Hyundai Grand i10 range climbed a spot to fourth. The Toyota Fortuner fell one place to fifth and the Etios dropped three to sixth.

The Ford EcoSport re-entered the table to snaffle seventh, with its Figo stablemate likewise returning to take eighth. The Kia Picanto held steady in ninth, while the Datsun GO crept back onto the table to grab the final spot.

Other odds and ends

So, how did BMW do, now that the Munich-based brand is reporting full sales figures again? Well, its best seller was (predictably) the 3 Series with 506 units, while the X3 was next in line with a total of 134. The 1 Series (107) was the only other BMW-badged model to break three figures, with the i3 electric car securing 17 registrations. Mini’s best performer, meanwhile, was the Countryman (58).

Alfa Romeo’s local woes continued, with just a single example of the Giulia sold, along with a mere eight units of the Stelvio. In contrast, Ford enjoyed strong performances from the Fiesta (572), Focus (553) and Everest (393). The Kuga, meanwhile, improved to 94 units and the Mustang added a further 59.

The Jazz (160) proved to be Honda’s top seller in February, while Hyundai benefited from strong contributions from the i20 (493), Tucson (450) and Creta (443). Jaguar registered 52 examples of its F-Pace, while the top performers for Land Rover were the Discovery Sport (91) and Range Rover Velar (88).

The Rio (438) was Kia’s second-most popular product behind the Picanto, while the Sportage reached 202 units. Mazda’s top dog was the CX-5 (363), while Nissan reported good showings from the Almera (344), Micra (315), X-Trail (284) and recently refreshed Qashqai (278).

Opel registered 231 vehicles in February, with the Corsa (88) leading the way, while Peugeot managed 135 units, 74 of which came courtesy of the 208 hatchback. Porsche sold as many as 34 examples of its 911, along with 30 units of the Cayenne.

The Kwid (582) only just missed out on a top ten spot, while the Clio (482), Sandero (243), Captur (233) and Duster (214) all contributed gamely to Renault’s cause. Ferrari, meanwhile, registered as many as seven examples of its 812 Superfast.

Subaru just about cracked the 100-unit mark, with the XV (37) doing the heaviest lifting, while Suzuki sold 493 units of the outgoing Swift and 213 examples of its Ignis to set a new monthly sales record for the brand. Toyota’s switch from the Euro-spec Yaris to the Asian model appeared to pay immediate dividends, with 557 units registered in the month. Interestingly, however, the RAV4 plummeted from 871 units in January to just 189 units in February.

The Tiguan (498) and Golf (451) again performed admirably for Volkswagen, while the Q5 improved to 117 units for Audi. Unusually, the XC90 (44) proved to be Volvo’s top seller for the month.

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

South Africa’s 10 best-selling passengers cars of February 2018: