Toyota retains market leadership with July vehicle sales in South Africa

Market segment	Jul 2013	Jul 2014	% change
Passenger vehicles	39,945	40,368	-1%
Light commercial vehicles	15,393	15,081	-2%
Medium commercial vehicles	984	856	-13%
Heavy commercial vehicles	511	421	-17.6%
Extra Heavy commercial vehicles	1,228	1,265	3%
Bus	82	102	24.4%
Vehicle exports	27,137	22,773	-16.10%
Overall market (local)	58,561	57,670	-1.5%

Toyota South Africa retained its market share leadership position with 11,347 new Toyota vehicles finding a home during July – this attributes to 19.68% of the 57,670 total units sold in South Africa. On the export front, Toyota  contributed 4,387 units which translates to 19.2% share of the total export market of 22,773 units.

From a range performance perspective, Toyota’s evergreen Hilux continues to lead the way amongst Light Commercial vehicles with 3,117 units sold; while the Corolla/Auris/Quest combo tallied up 2,134 sales in the Passenger vehicle segment. With the introduction of the all-new cross-over to the Toyota stable, the Etios Cross, Etios sales hiked up to 1,618 units.

The Extra Heavy Commercial vehicle market is still in a positive growth phase driven by Fleet replacement cycles transportation needs and the lack of alternative transportation means.

“For a second month in a row, the domestic all vehicle market showed resilience with only a modest decline of 1.5% in overall sales compared to July 2013. Major new model launches contributed also to strong sales” says Calvyn Hamman, Senior Vice President for Sales and Marketing at Toyota South Africa.

“Based on the last 2 month’s figures and resilience shown by the market, I believe the industry forecast of 630,000 units for the year remains feasible despite continued economic pressures, fluctuating exchange rates and interest rate hikes.”

“Consumers will continue to be wary of incurring new debt.  Negative sentiment due to strikes,economic confidence, international instability, interest rate movements and price increases are all factors influencing buying decisions.  Continued growth in the smaller passenger car segment as well as used car market shows that affordability remains key for South African customers,” he concludes.

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Toyota retains market leadership with July vehicle sales in South Africa