Bumper year for new vehicle sales as 2025 surges ahead

Stephen Grootes speaks to Paulina Mamogobo, chief economist at the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) about South Africa's 2025 new vehicle sales.

Listen to the interview in the audio player below.

South Africa’s new vehicle market is on track for one of its strongest years in a decade, with sales for the first eleven months of 2025 reaching levels last seen in the mid-2010s.

New vehicle market posted strong gains in November 2025, with aggregate domestic sales rising to 54,896 units, up 6,113 units (12.5%) from the 48,783 recorded a year earlier. 

Year-to-date, the market is tracking 15.4% ahead of the same period in 2024, signaling steady momentum in both consumer and business demand.

Dealers accounted for the bulk of sales, moving 43,702 units (79.6%), while 16.3% went to the rental industry, 2.4% to government, and 1.7% to corporate fleets.

Passenger car sales climbed to 39,158 units, a rise of 3,871 units (11.0%) compared to November 2024. Rental companies remained key drivers of this segment, making up 21.2% of purchases ahead of the holiday season.

Light commercial vehicles, including bakkies and minibuses recorded 13,048 units, an increase of 2,221 units (20.5%) from the 10,827 sold a year earlier.

October alone delivered an impressive 55 973 units, up 16.1% year-on-year and 2.4% higher than September 2025. This continues a streak of eight consecutive months of double-digit growth as lower interest rates spur consumer demand.

Speaking to Stephen Grootes on The Money Show, Paulina Mamogobo, chief economist at the Automotive Business Council (Naamsa) says with sustained momentum and favourable economic conditions, the industry is poised to close out 2025 as one of the most successful years for new vehicle sales in the past decade.

"The levers that turned in our favour. We've seen inflation easing quite nicely. Which consequently led to the reduction of interest rates. Of course that creates credit availability, and we saw household disposable income pick up quite nicely."

"Of course we've seen the rand strengthening, that has emboldened the ability to import into the country. So even on the new vehicle sales side, we see this boom,"

"18% of total new vehicle sales are actually those that are emanating from China....so that has contributed quite significantly. These vehicles are coming in at a very competitive price point," adds Mamogobo.

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the full interview.