The South African vehicle market is gaining momentum again, with April's figures showing a 10.5 percent rise year-on-year.
According to Naamsa, total new vehicle sales rose to 42 617 units (from 38 583 in April 2011). This is down from March 2012's 56 152 units, although April's always a difficult month to figure out, due to all the public holidays.
Export figures might have fallen by 11 percent, mainly due to economic woes abroad, yet the local picture is still undeniably rosy.
Naamsa believes that the ongoing improvement in the financial position of consumers, relatively low interest rates and improvements in vehicle affordability (in real terms) will continue to support modest growth in the local vehicle market.
On the sales charts, the usual Polo and Hilux suspects dominated the sales charts and there's an interesting tussle developing between the new Chevrolet Utility and Nissan NP 200, with the former enjoying an edge of just 39 units.
Take a closer look at the figures in our top 50 list below. Bear in mind, though, that the list excludes Mercedes-Benz products as the company has temporarily halted the reporting of individual figures, although their bulk figure is included in the overall sales numbers. And as much as we'd like to tell you how many cars Kia and Hyundai sells, we can't because (presumably) they don't want to scare their rivals by reporting their figures.
SA'S TOP 50 SELLERS - APRIL 2012:
1. Toyota Hilux - 2741
2. VW Polo Vivo - 2256
3. VW Polo - 1766
4. Chevrolet Utility - 1379
5. Nissan NP 200 - 1340
6. Ford Ranger - 1322
7. Toyota Corolla/Auris - 989
8. Ford Figo - 977
9. Isuzu KB - 912
10. Toyota Fortuner - 855
11. BMW 3 Series - 797
12. Toyota Quantum - 627
13. Nissan NP300 - 584
14. Toyota Yaris - 570
15. VW Golf - 519
16. Renault Sandero - 496
17. Chevrolet Aveo - 471
18. Chevrolet Spark - 460
19. Ford Fiesta - 442
20. BMW 1 Series - 440
21. Audi A4 - 384
22. VW Amarok - 358
23. VW Jetta - 353
24. Toyota Avanza - 333
25. Chevrolet Sonic - 310
26. Chevrolet Cruze - 298
27. Nissan Qashqai - 252
28. Nissan Juke - 245
29. Ford Focus - 234
30. Audi A3 - 223
31. Range Rover Evoque - 214
32. Opel Corsa - 213
33. Nissan Micra - 212
34. Mini range - 210
35. Toyota Land Cruiser PU - 209
36. VW Tiguan - 189
37. Nissan Navara - 178
38. Chevrolet Captiva - 173
39. Mazda3 - 165
40. Jeep Grand Cherokee - 163
41. Nissan Livina - 161
42. Dodge Caliber - 159
43. Toyota Aygo - 158
44. Honda Jazz - 157
45. BMW 5 Series - 149
46. BMW X3 - 144
47. Land Rover Discovery - 133
48. Tata Indica/Indigo - 132
49. Fiat 500 - 126
50. Audi Q5 - 125