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| Fast making a name for itself as a bang for buck bakkie, the JMC Loader |
MARCH 2014 saw South Africans buy 14 673 light commercial vehicles
(lcv), which computes to one bakkie, van or taxi being sold each minute of each
working day last month.
Most of these sales-a-minute went to Toyota, which remains the
manufacturer of Africa’s best-selling bakkie, taxi and bundu basher, followed by
the Ford Ranger and the Isuzu KB, according the the monthly sales figures
collated by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa
(Naamsa).
Senior vice president for Sales and Marketing at Toyota South
Africa Motors, Calvyn Hamman, said demand for the new Toyota Corolla and a
strong sales performance by favourites such as the Toyota Hilux, Fortuner,
Ses’fikile taxi and Etios drove Toyota South Africa Motors’ market share up
amidst stagnant sales in March.
Hamman said Toyota still expected a slight decline in new vehicle
sales for the year as new vehicle price increases are coming through, but this
will benefit used car sales when the price gap between used and new vehicles
widen.
Hamman also hinted at what Witness Wheels predict will be new
half-ton bakkie by Toyota, which Dr Johan van Zyl, President and CEO of Toyota
SA, had first mentioned last year: “We do however expect a further boost to our
sales as we prepare for the introduction of another locally produced volume
seller, [read half ton bakkie] which we will announce in this quarter,” said
Hamman.
In the Ford corner, general manager Rob Crouse said this was
another record month for the locally assembled Ranger. “Good consumer demand
through the dealer network and good supply increased Ranger sales 11,4% over our
previous all-time record,” said Crouse.
News of a half-ton Toyota bakkies will cause a stir in the GM
corner, where vice president of Vehicle Sales, Service and Marketing, Brian
Olson, said the locally built Chevrolet and Isuzu light commercial vehicle sales
were strong. The Spark Pronto is up 10% versus March last year and the Isuzu
bakkies sold 22% better than a year ago. The Chevrolet Utility sales has however
remained flat compared to first quarter last year, being outsold last month by
Nissan’s NP200.
Among the mini-vans Volkswagen had the best-selling unit with its
Caddy, while Chevrolet’s value offering in the Spark Pronto is catching the eye
of more couriers.
Among the panel panelvans and staff movers on sale in SA, Hyundai’s
H1 is selling well, judging by aggregate numbers provided by Amalgamated Motor
Holdings (AMH) and the number of units seen on SA’s roads.
The AMH sold 1 026 lcv units, most of which would be comprised by
sales of the Kia or Hyundai bakkies and the popular Hyundai H1 van, but AMH does
not provide these details.
Ford’s Transit second is meanwhile now far outselling the very good
van on offer from VW and Mercedes-Benz. Toyota’s Quantum is also selling over a
1000 a month, the majority of them as taxis.
Nissan exported 979 of their previous generation Hardbody bakkies
to Africa and even sold 53 locally.
From what the dealers are prepared to divulge, this is how the light commercial vehicle sales stacked up in March.
One-tonners*:
.JPG) |
| Tata Xenon |
Hilux 3 415
Ford Ranger 2 162
Isuzu KB 1 432
Nissan Hardbody NP300 435
VW Amarok 318
Mazda BT-50 264
Nissan Navara 175
Mitsubishi Triton 101
Mahindra Scorpio Pick-up 93
Mahindra Bolero 92
Tata Xenon 52
 |
| VW Amarok |
VW Transporter Pick-up 35
Tata Telcoline Worker 18
JMC Boarding 9
Half-tonners:
Nissan NP200 1 654
Chev Utility 1 437
*Foton and Ssangyong not included
Cab-over-engines*
JMC Carrying 26
Tata Super Ace 72
* Hyundai, Kia and Maxus sales not included
.jpg) |
| 'Brutus', aka the Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-up |
Bundu-bashers:
Toyota Land Cruiser Pick-up 433
Nissan Patrol Pick-up 01
Vans*
Ford Transit 189
VW Transporter 55
Nissan NV350 48
Mercedes-Benz Vito 41
Renault Trafic 21
Opel Vivaro 18
Citroën Relay 16
Fiat Doblo 9
Peugeot Partner 7
* Hyundai H1 and Maxus not included
 |
| The Toyota quantum rules the taxi market. |
Mini-vans*:
VW Caddy 171
Chev Spark Pronto 88
Nissan NV200 63
Fiat Fiorino 60
Toyota Avanza 27
Mahindra Genio 15
Renault Kangoo 11
Citroën Berlingo 2
* DFSK and FAW Sirius not included
Taxis*
Toyota Quantum 1180
Nissan NV350 taxi 329
Citroën Relay 00
* BAW, Sasuka and Maxus taxi not included.
(Source: Naamsa)
