International – By now we’re quite familiar with the cars that dominate the South African market, but essentially we make up less than 1% of the world’s market.
But what vehicles are our counterparts around the globe buying most frequently? Information specialist JATO Dynamics set out to answer that question – and it’s certainly no mean feat considering that just under 80 million vehicles were sold across the globe last year.
While the Toyota Hilux dominates the South African market (with last month being an exception that worked in the favour of Ford’s Ranger), the venerable bakkie range only managed sixth place in the global ranking, with a total of 632 000.
Toyota’s RAV4 took top honours as the world’s top-selling vehicle in 2022, with estimated sales of 1 016 000, albeit a 10% drop from last year. This insight is based on JATO’s own data for 53 markets as well as further research and estimations for 95 other markets.
The Toyota Corolla Sedan came second with 992K units, but if you include the Corolla Cross, which was listed separately in 8th place with 530K sales, then the Corolla nameplate as a whole is still the world’s most popular, accounting for over 1.5 million sales.
The Toyota Camry also made the top five at 673K, but it was beaten by the Honda CR-V (733K) and Tesla Model Y (747K). See the Top 10 list below, rounded off to the nearest thousand:
World’s best-sellers, 2022: JATO Dynamics
- 1. Toyota RAV4 – 1 016 000
- 2. Toyota Corolla Sedan – 992 000
- 3. Tesla Model Y – 747 000
- 4. Honda CR-V – 733 000
- 5. Toyota Camry – 673 000
- 6. Toyota Hilux – 632 000
- 7. Nissan Sentra – 566 000
- 8. Toyota Corolla Cross – 530 000
- 9. Ford F-150 – 525 000
- 10. Tesla Model 3 – 482 000
If ever you need evidence that electric car sales are surging in other markets, consider that the Tesla Model Y crossover was the third best-selling vehicle in the entire world last year, while the Model 3 sedan made 10th place.
According to JATO, global sales of fully-electric vehicles increased by a whopping 66% year-on-year to 7.37 million units.
JATO global analyst Felipe Munoz believes that the EV boom is set to continue in the coming years.
“Governments in the developed world have continued to offer generous incentives, encouraging consumers to make the switch away from ICE vehicles, while average prices have decreased thanks to the introduction of more affordable models by OEMs.”
Sadly none of this has happened in South Africa as yet, notwithstanding the lack of a stable power grid, although GWM could partially solve the affordability problem here later this year – more on that here.
Overall global vehicle sales declined by 2% last year, JATO reported, and this is attributed to the well-publicised supply chain disruptions that Covid caused as well as the Russia-Ukraine war.
However, the African continent saw a 5.5% increase in 2022, and this was largely thanks to South Africa, which saw a 14% increase year-on-year. While we remain a small player in global terms, South Africa still accounts for 44% of African vehicle sales.
On the South African sales charts, the Toyota Hilux topped the list with 32 203 sales last year. The Volkswagen Polo Vivo was the country’s top-selling passenger car with 20 866 sales, followed by the Suzuki Swift, with 17 282. See the Top 10 list for cars and SUVs here.
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