Although the 19.5 percent year-on-year vehicle sales improvement registered in April was skewed by the fact that the Easter weekend was in April last year, the daily selling rate still reflected improved demand.
A total of 50 920 vehicles were sold in the month, of which 34 346 were passenger cars and 16 574 were commercial vehicles. 90.2 percent of the total went through the dealer channels while 3.9 percent went to corporate fleets, 3.8 percent to the rental companies and 2.1 percent to government.
Export sales also registered a solid gain of 29.7 percent over the corresponding month last year.
In future, the vehicle sales data will be compiled by RGT Smart and welcome news is that Mercedes-Benz is now reporting individual sales numbers again while various other importers are likely to jump on board soon. We do hope this includes Hyundai and Kia.
Looking at the month's sales figures, The Toyota Hilux and VW Polo Vivo dominated the game once again, followed by the 'new' Polo, Ford Ranger and Chevrolet Utility.
A number of newly launched vehicles also had strong starter months with 447 new Toyota RAV4s sold, 251 Ford Kugas and 199 fourth-generation Renault Clios.
TOP 50 - APRIL 2013:
1. Toyota Hilux - 3227
2. VW Polo Vivo - 2762
3. VW Polo - 2160
4. Ford Ranger - 1787
5. Chevrolet Utility - 1628
6. Toyota Etios - 1581
7. Toyota Quantum - 1354
8. Nissan NP200 - 1348
9. Ford Figo - 1163
10. BMW 3 Series - 1127
11. Isuzu KB - 1047
12. Toyota Corolla/Auris - 897
13. Mercedes C-Class - 857
14. Toyota Fortuner - 852
15. Ford Fiesta - 718
16. VW Amarok - 589
17. VW Golf - 551
18. VW Tiguan - 538
19. Audi A4 - 535
20. Renault Sandero - 490
21. Ford Focus - 456
22. Toyota RAV4 - 447
23. Chevrolet Spark - 433
24. Chevrolet Cruze - 429
25. Nissan Micra - 415
26. Toyota Avanza - 393
27. Nissan NP300 - 390
28. VW Jetta - 382
29. Mercedes A-Class - 368
30. Chevrolet Aveo - 325
31. Chevrolet Trailblazer - 321
32. BMW 1 Series - 302
33. Honda Brio - 296
34. Audi A3 - 281
35. Mazda3 - 279
36. Nissan Juke - 276
37. Ford Kuga - 251
37. Tata Indica/Indigo - 251
39. Mazda BT-50 - 205
40. Renault Clio IV - 199
41. Toyota Land Cruiser PU - 196
42. Honda CR-V - 192
43. Audi A1 - 191
44. Jeep Grand Cherokee - 190
45. Jeep Compass - 188
46. BMW X3 - 184
47. Nissan Qashqai - 183
48. Mitsubishi ASX - 180
49. Peugeot 208 - 177
50. Mercedes B-Class - 168