In 2020, South Africa saw a total of 380 449 new vehicles sold. The figure is somewhat discouraging, given that it's one of the lowest sales figures registered in the country in the last two decades. Compared to 2019 when 536 612 new vehicles rolled off showroom floors, new vehicle sales figures nosedived by a massive 29.1% - according to official sales figures released by NAAMSA (National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa).

As is common knowledge by now, global economic activity in 2020 has been severely curtailed by Covid-19 and the subsequent lockdown, which left consumers cash-strapped and thinking twice about big item purchases. Regarding new vehicle sales, the industry took quite a knock; which led to the 29.1% drop in annual sales. The worst sales month last year was April when a mere 574 vehicles were sold - nationally!

Thankfully, things improved, and the year ended on as positive a note as possible.

When overall sales were tallied at the end of the year, it was the Toyota Hilux that came out on top as South Africa's best-selling vehicle. According to NAAMSA's figures, 31 263 Hilux bakkies were sold in South Africa last year. The Hilux topping the sales charts comes as little surprise as the bakkie's been the local bakkie king for the best part of 50 years. It was followed by the Volkswagen Polo Vivo on 1970 units, Ford's Ranger bakkie (18 846 units), and the Volkswagen Polo (16 335 units). Isuzu's D-Max made the top five with 12 704 units sold, ahead of the Toyota Hi-Ace on 11 263 units. Nissan's popular NP200 is the last vehicle on the list to breach the 10 000-mark with 10 480 units. The last three slots go to the Toyota Fortuner (9 635 units), Toyota

Corolla Quest (7 365 units), and the Ford EcoSport (7 255 units).

Source: News24.com/wheels

Hilux 2020