October 2026 New-Vehicle Sales: Everything You Need to Know

South Africa’s new-vehicle market grew again in October. naamsa’s figures for the month show 61 890 new vehicles sold, 10,4% more than in October 2025 and ahead of September’s 61 645. Passenger cars did most of the work, bakkies held steady, and SUVs took three of the top five passenger-car places. Here is what South Africa bought in October 2026, which brands and models led, and what it means for anyone shopping for an SUV before the end of the year.

What Did South Africa Buy in October?

Passenger-car sales climbed 13,6% to 45 084, and light commercial vehicles — bakkies and vans — rose 2,2% to 13 689. Medium commercials came to 770, heavy trucks to 738, extra-heavy trucks to 1 544 and buses to 65 — 2 347 heavy trucks and buses in all.

The way the market bought:

• Dealers: 78,0% of all sales
• Vehicle rental industry: 16,5%
• Government: 3,3%
• Corporate fleets: 2,2%

Exports rose too: 38 117 units, up 6,3% on October 2025. Year to date, South Africa has bought 554 081 new vehicles in 2026.

The Numbers at a Glance

Three figures carry the month: 61 890 vehicles sold, 45 084 of them passenger cars, and exports of 38 117. Unlike September, when exports fell while local sales grew, both moved up in October.

Which Brands Led the Market?

Toyota stayed well ahead of everyone else, with Suzuki and Volkswagen Group completing the top three. GWM finished sixth, ahead of Chery, and Jetour made the top ten.

* BMW Group’s figure is an estimate, as marked by naamsa. Per-model figures are reported to naamsa by the manufacturers and are not published in naamsa’s own release.

Which SUVs and Bakkies Sold Best?

The Toyota Hilux was the country’s best-selling vehicle, with the Ford Ranger second among SUVs and bakkies. The Chery Tiggo 4 Cross was the best-selling SUV, ahead of the Toyota Corolla Cross and the Toyota Starlet Cross.

Just outside the top ten were the Toyota Fortuner (894), Jetour T2 (753), Volkswagen T-Cross (739), Omoda C5 (726) and GWM P-Series (666).

Among passenger cars, the two best sellers were hatchbacks: the Volkswagen Polo Vivo (2 580) and the Suzuki Swift (2 344), with the Hyundai Grand i10 (1 430) third among hatchbacks. SUVs took the other three places in the passenger-car top five: the Chery Tiggo 4 Cross (1 924), Toyota Corolla Cross (1 723) and Toyota Starlet Cross (1 611).

How Is the Electrified Market Doing?

naamsa reports new-energy vehicle sales quarterly, so the latest figures cover January to September 2026:

• 22 389 new-energy vehicles sold in 2026 so far — already 34% more than the 16 703 sold in the whole of 2025
• Hybrids: 11 090
• Plug-in hybrids: 8 082
• Battery-electric: 3 217

October’s breakdown will come with naamsa’s next quarterly release.

What Was Happening in the Background?

• Exports recovered to 38 117 units, up 6,3% on October 2025, after falling 18,8% in September
• Chinese brands took 19,3% of manufacturer-reported sales (11 319 of 58 773), up from 16,1% in October 2025

The 58 773 base is the total of sales reported to naamsa by individual manufacturers, not the 61 890 market total.

What Does It Mean for SUV Buyers?

• Compact SUVs and crossovers fill seven of the top ten SUV and bakkie places
• The Chinese brands are firmly established: GWM, Chery and Jetour are all in the top ten manufacturers, with Omoda & Jaecoo in the top fifteen
• The rental industry took 16,5% of October’s sales, which usually means more nearly-new cars reaching the used market later

Every vehicle in the tables above has a record in the Sport Utility Vehicles catalogue with current pricing and specifications: Explore SUVs →

Sport Utility Vehicles Verdict

October 2026 kept the market’s momentum going. Double-digit growth, a passenger-car market up 13,6% and exports back in positive territory make it a strong month across the board.

The shape of the market keeps shifting towards compact SUVs. Three of the five best-selling passenger cars were SUVs, the Tiggo 4 Cross outsold every Toyota SUV, and the Starlet Cross, Jolion, Sonet, Fronx and Urban Cruiser all sold more than 900 units each.

For buyers, that means more choice and more competition in the busiest part of the market — and with the end-of-year run-out approaching, the timing to compare carefully could hardly be better.

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