The latest car sales numbers in from Naamsa imply that vehicle sales growth is slowing.
A grand total of 53 220 vehicles were sold during February, up just 1.59 percent over February last year. It was a brighter picture on the export front, where sales rose by 22.4 percent year-on-year.
Of the local sales front, 85.6 percent of the deals took place through dealers while 6.6 percent of the cake went to the rental industry, 4.0 percent to corporate fleets and 3.8 percent to government.
Naamsa believes that the near term outlook for the industry is reasonably positive, with replacement demand and the low interest rate playing a supportive role, but it cautions that inflationary pressures on the back of a weaker rand would keep the growth rate moderate.
The usual Hilux and Polo Vivo suspects took the top spots on the February sales chart, although Toyota's Etios ousted the VW Polo for third place.
Toyota also led the overall vehicle sales race, with 11 027 units, followed by VW at 9100, Nissan (4703), Ford (4556), GM (4545) and BMW (2423).
Mercedes-Benz sold a total of 1574 vehicles during the month, but it is still not reporting individual figures. As before, Kia and Hyundai have yet to come out of the sales closet.
TOP SELLERS
1. Toyota Hilux - 3500
2. VW Polo Vivo - 2742
3. Toyota Etios - 2204
4. VW Polo - 2192
5. Ford Ranger - 1784
6. Chevrolet Utility - 1404
7. Toyota Corolla/Auris - 1298
8. Nissan NP200 - 1245
9. Toyota Quantum - 1209
10. Isuzu KB - 1108
11. BMW 3 Series - 1075
12. Ford Figo - 982
13. Toyota Fortuner - 927
14. Nissan Micra - 806
15. VW Golf 7 - 767
16. Nissan NP300 - 699
17. Ford Focus - 596
18. Ford Fiesta - 573
19. Nissan Juke - 506
20. Audi A4 - 459
21. Nissan Qashqai - 450
22. Toyota Avanza - 435
23. BMW 1 Series - 432
24. VW Jetta - 366
25. Renault Sandero - 345
25. Toyota Yaris - 345
27. Honda Brio - 334
28. VW Tiguan - 317
29. Chevrolet Aveo - 312
30. Honda Jazz - 308
31. Nissan Navara - 306
32. Chevrolet Cruze - 303
33. VW Amarok - 292
34. Mazda BT-50 - 290
35. Chevrolet Trailblazer - 281
36. Chevrolet Sonic - 259
37. Jeep Compass - 255
38. Tata Indica/Indigo - 251
39. Audi Q5 - 248
39. Land Rover Discovery - 248
41. Range Rover Evoque - 240
42. Nissan Tiida - 234
43. Toyota Land Cruiser PU - 225
44. Honda Civic - 224
45. Honda CR-V - 222
46. Audi A1 - 217
47. Jeep Grand Cherokee - 200
48. Chevrolet Spark - 196
49. Fiat 500 - 194
50. BMW X3 - 179