Three Big Reasons Why South Africa's Bakkie And Light Commercial Vehicle Market Fell By 12 In 2024

After narrowly missing the milestone of returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2023, South Africas new vehicle market declined by 3 in 2024 and this was largely led by a decline in light commercial vehicle sales.

A quick recap: Naamsa reported recently that 515,712 new vehicles were sold in 2024. Passenger cars, at 351,302, were up by 1.1, while light commercial vehicle sales, at 133,254, fell by 12.

But did sales of traditional one-tonne bakkies really take such a big knock in 2024?

Its a mixed picture. While the three biggest players, the Toyota Hilux, Ford Ranger and Isuzu D-Max, were once again among the five top selling vehicles overall , Hilux sales at 32,656 units fell by 12.6, but the Ranger 25,533 and D-Max 19,153 climbed by 3.6 and 1 respectively, and the Mahindra Pik-Up and Nissan Navara also saw modest gains.

However, if we delve deeper into the numbers, it becomes evident that there were two other big culprits in the 2024 LCV sales decline: minibus taxis and Nissan NP200.