10 best-selling bakkies in South Africa: September 2023

In HotWheels
October 3, 2023
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The sales figures are in, bakkie fanatics! This is your monthly look at South Africa’s best- and worst-selling bakkies for September 2023…

In September 2023, South Africa’s new-vehicle industry registered a year-on-year decline of 4.1% to finish on 46 021 units. Yet again, the light-commercial vehicle (LCV) segment was the only sector to see growth, with registrations in this space coming in at 13 169 units, or 4.6% more than in the same month in 2022.

So, what happened on the list of South Africa’s best-selling bakkies? Well, there was again very little movement in the rankings, particularly in the upper half of the table. That meant the Toyota Hilux was again top of the charts, with 3 249 units of the Prospecton-produced bakkie registered around Mzansi in September 2023.

With 2 413 registrations, the Silverton-built Ford Ranger again claimed the runner-up position, ending the month 836 units off the pace (it’s interesting to note, however, the Ranger was slightly ahead of the Hilux in the year-to-date double-cab sales race at the end of August 2023). The Struandale-made Isuzu D-Max completed the podium once more, with 1 639 registrations.

With production scheduled to cease at Rosslyn in March 2024, the Nissan NP200 (997 units) dipped into 3 figures last month, though the half-tonner was still comfortably in 4th place. The KwaZulu-Natal-assembled Mahindra Pik Up (578 units) likewise retained 5th spot, with the Chinese-built GWM P-Series (376 units) holding steady in 6th.

The evergreen Toyota Land Cruiser 79 (325 units) – an updated version featuring the brand’s 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine and an automatic gearbox was revealed back in August – climbed a position to 7th in September 2023, forcing the locally manufactured Nissan Navara (287 units) down to 8th, with the latter posting its 2nd-weakest effort of the year thus far. The Ford-built Volkswagen Amarok (273 units) kept 9th place, while the Mitsubishi Triton returned to the top 10 with 80 registrations.

Best of the rest in September 2023: bakkies outside the top 10

*The GWM Steed was knocked out of the top 10 in September.*

So, what about the bakkies that didn’t manage to crack the top 10 in September 2023? Well, the GWM Steed (76 units) was relegated by the Triton, while JAC’s T-badged bakkies (the Chinese automaker unfortunately reports only a combined figure for its T6 and recently updated T8 line-ups) was next on 59 units.

The rationalised Mahindra Bolero line-up had to settle for just 20 registrations in September 2023, while the Peugeot Landtrek finished the month on 13 units. As was the case in August 2023, the Mazda BT-50 (6 units) and Jeep Gladiator (4 units) failed to make it into double figures.

Export winners in the bakkie segment in September 2023

*The Prospecton-built Toyota Hilux led the bakkie export race last month.*

What about the export market? Well, the Toyota Hilux also pushed ahead of the Ford Ranger in this space, with 5 741 examples of the Japanese bakkie shipped off in September 2023, compared with 5 536 units of the Blue Oval brand’s contender.

The Navara (427 units), D-Max (413 units) and NP200 (25 units) again made up the numbers on the export charts. As has been the case for several months now, the official Naamsa report furthermore showed a few imported models being exported from local shores in September 2023, this time in the form of the GWM P-Series (69 units), Mitsubishi Triton (26 units) and GWM Steed (2 units).