Johannesburg - While passenger car sales continue to grow at a healthy rate year-on-year, bakkie sales are faltering and May 2022 proved to be another sombre month for the market.
While passenger cars gained 13.8% versus the same month in 2021, light commercial vehicle sales fell by 22.6% year-on-year last month, but there are a variety of factors that led to such a huge decline and the main one was the shortage of Toyota Hilux bakkies caused by the devastating floods in KwaZulu-Natal which led to the temporary closure of Toyota’s Prospecton factory.
On the other hand Ford, which has been struggling with chip shortages in recent months, made a strong comeback in May, dominating the bakkie market with 1548 sales. The Hilux followed in second with 1 368 sales.
The Isuzu D-Max (1163), Nissan NP200 (1066) and Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up (688) completed the top five.
BEST SELLING BAKKIES: MAY 2022
- Ford Ranger - 1548
- Toyota Hilux - 1368
- Isuzu D-Max - 1163
- Nissan NP200 - 1066
- Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up - 688
- Nissan Navara - 461
- GWM Steed - 368
- GWM P-series - 327
- Toyota Land Cruiser PU - 294
- Hyundai H100 Bakkie - 255
The Volkswagen Amarok, once again narrowly missed out on the top 10 list, with sales amounting to 208.
Best of the worst in May 2022 were the Kia K2700 (110), Mahindra Bolero (95), Suzuki Super Carry (81) and JAC X200 (44).
Among the double cab contenders, Mitsubishi enjoyed another stronger-than-usual sales month with 61 Triton sales, while the JAC T8 managed 34 and the Peugeot Land Trek 28, while the ill-fated Mazda BT-50 saw just 19 sales.
South African bakkie sales are likely to enjoy a resurgence towards the end of 2022, with the hotly-anticipated new-generation Ford Ranger set to launch locally, and by that time Toyota Hilux production should be back in action.