By Otsile Kadiege

Toyota South Africa Motors shared their total sales for the month of May 2021. The Japanese automaker’s Hilux which sold over one million units in South Africa posted a total of 3,700 units in May – the highest monthly aggregate by any model this year.

The Hilux, together with the Hiace (1 331), spearheaded Toyota’s strong show of 5,336 sales in the Light Commercial Vehicles (LCV) – staking a market share of 44.7%. “The Hilux’s mass appeal cannot be denied, and this is supported by the fact that it’s a top seller in the Single, Extra and Double Cab body types. Hilux caters to customers who are interested in both leisure (Double Cab) and small business (Single Cab) vehicles, as well as anything in-between (Extra Cab),” says Leon Theron, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Toyota South Africa Motors.

Out of Toyota’s aggregate sales of 9,882 (25.8% market share), a remarkable 4,316 – translating to a 17.9% market share – were passenger units. Some of the star performers in the segment included Fortuner (872), Urban Cruiser (717), Starlet (651), Corolla Quest (614) and Agya (517).

Toyota’s luxury arm Lexus sold a total of 55 vehicles in May, with 22% being hybrid models – a clear indicator that the premium brand is on a serious path to carbon neutrality.

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA): “Overall, out of the total reported industry sales of 38,337 vehicles, an estimated 33,642 units, or 87.8%, represented dealer sales, an estimated 8.2% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 2% to industry corporate fleets and 2% to Government sales. The May 2021 new passenger car market at 24 122 units registered an increase of 15 156 cars, or a gain of 169%, compared to the 8 966 new cars sold in May 2020. The car rental industry accounted for 11.4% of car sales in May 2021.”