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Cape Town - The Volkswagen Polo Vivo barely managed to hold onto its position as South Africa's best-selling passenger car.
Though the popular hatchback tops the sales charts in April 2017, overall there is very little to celebrate as the local vehicle industry saw a huge decline.
With 1642 units sold in April, the Vivo once again proved its worth as a value-for-money proposition among buyers.
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SA's new vehicle sales: Huge slump in April 2017
Behind the Vivo its bigger brother, the Polo, was the only other passenger car to have sold more than 1000 units in April, with 1581 new Polo's finding owners. VW may have took top honours in this fight but Toyota had more vehicles in the top 10.
In third position was the ever-popular Toyota Fortuner, selling 985 units, followed by the Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest on 919.
The funky Fiesta gave Ford a spot in the top five with 875 units, outselling the Toyota Etios (698 units) by quite a margin.
Another Ford, the EcoSport, sold the seventh most units on 543, six ahead of the budget-beating Renault Kwid (537 units).
Renault Sandero and Toyota Rav4 complete the top 10 with 488 and 426 units, respectively.
Big decline
According to Naamsa, in April 2017 22 452 new passenger cars found owners, but it reflected a fall of 3560 cars or a decline of 13.7% compared to the 26 012 new cars sold in April last year.
Shedding light on the matter, Naamsa said: "The outlook for the balance of the year had turned negative on the back of the extra-ordinary political events at the end of March 2017 and early April 2017. Political and social polarisation in South Africa, together with prospects of lower domestic growth over the short to medium term - continued to weigh on business confidence and consumer sentiment.
What do you think should be done to improve new vehicle sales in SA? What do you think are the biggest factors contributing to declining sales? Email us
SA's top-selling cars: April 2017
1 Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 1642
2 Volkswagen Polo – 1581
3 Toyota Fortuner – 985
4 Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest – 919
5 Ford Fiesta – 875
6 Toyota Etios – 698
7 Ford EcoSport – 543
8 Renault Kwid – 537
9 Renault Sandero – 488
10 Toyota RAV4 – 426
