South Africa’s favourite car brand that has sold 11,267 vehicles every month for five years 

Toyota remains South Africa’s most popular vehicle manufacturer, consistently selling twice as many cars in a month as the country’s second-best-selling brand, Suzuki.

Between January 2021 and August 2026, Toyota has sold 766,153 vehicles in South Africa, which equates to 11,267 cars per month.

This was revealed in a Daily Investor analysis of Naamsa’s Industry Vehicle Sales Data from 2020 to 2026.

The analysis showed that Toyota is comfortably South Africa’s best-selling car brand, regularly selling twice as many cars in a month as Suzuki, which holds second place.

July 2026 marked Toyota’s strongest month of sales so far this year, with 14,142 vehicles sold. This is slightly fewer than its all-time sales record of 14,146 in September 2025.

To put this into perspective, Suzuki sold 5,994 units in July 2026, while third-place Volkswagen sold 5,799 vehicles.

Toyota’s popularity in South Africa is partly due to its long history in the country, with the manufacturer first having entered the local market in 1961.

Prior to 1961, a small number of Toyota Land Cruisers were exported to South Africa.

However, in 1961, local entrepreneur Anton Wessels secured a franchise agreement to import the first 10 Toyopet Stout pickup trucks from Japan.

That same year, Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) was founded, marking the formal start of the brand’s local commercial operations.

A year later, in 1962, the local assembly and production of Toyota vehicles began in Durban. This proved a crucial move to cement the manufacturer’s position in the local vehicle market.

By the mid-1970s, Toyota had become one of South Africa’s most popular brands. In 1972, the brand’s dominance was cemented further with the opening of TSAM’s Prospecton Plant in Durban.

“What started as a basic assembly line grew into one of Toyota’s most advanced manufacturing facilities outside of Japan,” the company’s website states. 

Today, this plant produces the Hilux, Fortuner, Corolla Cross and the Hiace Ses’fikile minibus taxi.

The company attributed its rise to the top to “a combination of smart strategy and the right product at the right time”.

Toyota’s South African dominance

Aside from dominating local car sales, Toyota has also emerged as South Africa’s largest vehicle exporter. The cars Toyota produces in Durban are shipped to 70 countries worldwide.

Much of Toyota’s South African growth can be attributed to its highly popular Hilux model, which dominates local car sales.

In Naamsa’s latest sales data for August 2026, Toyota sold 13,814 vehicles, of which 4,189 were Hilux models.

This means the Hilux alone accounted for 28.1% of Toyota’s sales that month, making it the best-selling vehicle in South Africa.

The company noted strong performance across its other models as well, namely the Corolla Cross, Starlet, Starlet Cross, Vitz, and Urban Cruiser.

“The strength of our business is underpinned by the diversity of our product offering and our ability to serve customers across different segments,” said TSAM senior vice president of sales and marketing, Leon Theron.

“This remains particularly important in a market where customers continue to balance affordability, practicality, and value.”

This consumer trend toward affordability and value has led many South Africans to turn to affordable Chinese cars in recent years.

This has, in turn, put established local players such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Mazda, Kia, and Nissan under pressure.

Now, Chinese brands such as Chery and Jetour are seeing their sales grow significantly faster than some of these traditional manufacturers.

However, the rise of Chinese vehicles’ popularity does not appear to be putting pressure on Toyota, which continues to grow its sales in South Africa.

Between January and August 2026, Toyota has already sold 102,633 vehicles, averaging 12,833 sales per month. 

This puts the manufacturer well on track to reach, and potentially exceed, its 2025 sales of 146,000 vehicles, which equated to an average of 12,167 cars per month.