- Ford Ranger ends first half of the year as South Africa’s best-selling vehicle
- Highest export volumes in LCV segment for Ranger this year
- Ford EcoSport tops compact SUV segment, Mustang leads sports car category
- Ford ends June with 11.8% share of total industry, 12.6% market share year-to-date
PRETORIA, South Africa, 4 July, 2017 – The Ford Ranger wrapped up the first half of 2017 as South Africa’s favourite new vehicle, topping sales in both the light commercial vehicle (LCV) segment and the overall industry.
A total of 3 333 new Rangers were sold in June 2017 – some 17% up on June 2016 – which secured its status as the best-selling vehicle in the country for the fourth time this year. This gives the locally-produced Ranger dominance of the overall sales volumes year-to-date with 17 014 units delivered to customers in 2017.
Ford’s extremely popular bakkie also proudly leads the export volumes in the LCV sector, with 5 631 units shipped in June. A total of 25 399 locally-produced Rangers were exported to over 148 markets in Europe, the Middle East and Africa for the first six months of 2017, making it one of SA’s top export models.
Despite intense competition, the Ford EcoSport remained the best-selling compact SUV on 545 units for the month, while its big brother, the locally-assembled Ford Everest seven-seater SUV, secured 322 new buyers.
The Mustang continues to muscle its way into market leadership in the sports car territory, with the 86 units sold in June representing its second-best month for the year.
Overall, Ford South Africa sold a total of 5 371 vehicles last month, giving the company an 11.8% share for the month. Year-to-date, Ford’s market share is currently pegged at 12.6%.
According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), the overall industry ended on 45 369 new vehicle sales for June, a marginal 0.9% up on the corresponding month last year.
The passenger car segment, at 28 639 units, dropped 2.2% year-on-year, while sales of light commercial vehicles saw an upswing of 8.0% relative to June 2016.
“It is fantastic to end of the first half of 2017 with the Ford Ranger at the top of local sales, and entrenching its position as one of South Africa’s top exports,” said Neale Hill, Director of Marketing, Sales and Service for Ford Motor Company Sub-Saharan Africa Region.
“The investment Ford has made in the local assembly operations to deliver a world-class vehicle has clearly paid off, and the additional capacity afforded by the R125-million upgrade to the vehicle conveyor system at the Silverton Assembly Plant will help us meet this continued strong customer demand, both locally and internationally,” Hill said.
“There’s no doubt that the industry remains under pressure due to political and economic uncertainty, and it’s difficult to predict what the remainder of the year holds. However, we believe in the resilience of the South African people and the local economy towards building a sustainable and investor-friendly business environment that will create essential growth opportunities for the country.”
