South Africa September Pickup Sales: Chinese Pickups Sold About 1,500 Units in One Month

Recently, the South African Motor Industry Association (Naamsa) released new car sales data for September 2026. The overall sales of new cars in the South African new car market reached 61,645 units that month, a year-on-year increase of 12.7%; among them, the light commercial vehicle (LCV) sector sales were 14,361 units, a year-on-year increase of 9.6%. As the "basic foundation" of South African car consumption, pickups have the dual attributes of production tools and family vehicles, and their monthly sales rankings have always been regarded as a barometer of the car market.

In September, the total sales of the top 20 pickups in the South Africa sales ranking were about 12,390 units, a month-on-month increase of about 6.1% compared to 11,675 units in August, with market enthusiasm further enhanced compared to August. The biggest highlight of the ranking is that the Isuzu D-Max surpassed the Ford Ranger again after half a year, and the top three positions saw a rare swap.

At the top level, although Toyota Hilux sales dropped 2.9% month-on-month to 3,769 units, it still firmly held the top spot with an absolute advantage of leading the second place by more than 1,200 units. The currently available Hilux is produced by the Durban Prospecton plant, where the eighth and ninth generation models are sold together, and its status as the "King of South African Pickups" remains hard to shake in the short term.

The real contest is between the second and third places. Isuzu D-Max increased by 27.2% month-on-month to 2,551 units, rising to second, including 516 units of government procurement orders, accounting for about two-tenths of its total sales; this is the second time this year it has surpassed Ranger since March. Ford Ranger manufactured by Silverton plant sold 2,502 units, increasing 5.4% month-on-month, setting a new monthly high for many years, but still placed third with a slight gap of 49 units. The two locally made pickups are showing a close combat situation.

In the second tier, Mahindra Pik Up dropped 14.9% month-on-month to 521 units, holding fourth; Great Wall P-Series (including P300 and P500, P500 equipped with all-new 3.0T diesel power) decreased 12.1% month-on-month to 517 units, following closely with a difference of only 4 units, and has firmly held the top spot for Chinese brand pickups for several consecutive months. Volkswagen Amarok rose sharply by 22.5% month-on-month to 430 units, surpassing Toyota LC79 to rise to sixth; Land Cruiser 79 dropped slightly by 3.5% month-on-month to 419 units, falling to seventh.

The competition among other top 10 models is also fierce. JAC T Series increased 3.7% month-on-month to 255 units, rising to eighth; its 360 kW T9 plug-in hybrid version will also be launched soon; Mahindra Bolero increased by 46.8% month-on-month to 226 units, Peugeot Landtrek soared by 55.6% month-on-month to 207 units, both of which have entered the top 10.

Those falling out of the top 10 are Nissan Navara and Foton Tunland. Affected by the suspension of production at Rosslyn plant in May and the production line being handed over to Chery, Navara plummeted 37.2% month-on-month to 184 units, ranking only 11th, resulting in one less seat for Japanese brands in the top 10; and Chery taking over the Rosslyn plant also means that Chinese automakers in South Africa are moving from product exports to production capacity localization. Foton Tunland sales were 179 units, increasing 13.3% month-on-month, ranking 12th.

Other Chinese brands performed steadily overall. BYD Shark 6 increased 23.6% month-on-month to 157 units, JMC Bus also increased 16.2% month-on-month to 151 units, SAIC Maxus T60 increased 6.7% month-on-month to 128 units. Changan Hunter surged 330% month-on-month to 99 units, with the highest increase among the entire ranking; Mitsubishi Triton manufactured in Thailand and Kia Tasman were 53 units and 30 units respectively, both refreshing their best achievements for the year. The 8 Chinese brand pickups listed totaled about 1,495 units, an increase of about 6.8% month-on-month, accounting for more than 12% of the total ranking sales, and are becoming an important force driving market expansion.

Final Thoughts: In September 2026, the South Africa pickup market presented a pattern of "overall recovery, top swap, Chinese brand advance". With Navara local production capacity exiting and plug-in hybrid pickups entering one after another, the ranking battle on this list in the fourth quarter will still be full of uncertainties.