With only a handful of midsize hatchbacks still available in South Africa, what was once a thriving segment appears to be on its last legs. Let’s take a closer look at the figures for April 2022…

Remember the days when the C-segment hatchback was the default option for family transport? Well, a glance at the latest sales figures in South Africa illustrates just how far this once-bustling segment has fallen.

Yes, the crossover craze has crushed more than just the traditional sedan segment, with the midsize hatch (we’re talking about cars with exterior dimensions similar to those of a Volkswagen Golf) also suffering the effects. In fact, there’s a laundry list of hatches from this segment that have been put out to pasture in the local – and in some cases global – market over the past few years due to flagging sales.

The Ford Focus and Opel Astra are two of the most prominent relatively recent examples of locally discontinued C-segment hatchbacks (despite new-generation versions being offered in European markets), though the register of dearly departed also includes traditionally less popular models such as the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, Kia Cerato, Renault Mégane and Peugeot 308, along with premium players like the Lexus CT200h and Volvo V40.

So, what midsize hatchback options remain – for the time being, at least – on the South African market? Well, there are only a few, and none is selling particularly well. In fact, the best-performing player in the country in April 2022 was the Toyota Corolla Hatchback, with a mere 40 units registered (remember the sort of numbers the Auris used to achieve?). Of course, the slack has been well and truly picked up by the Prospecton-built Corolla Cross, which has proven immensely popular in SA.Next came the Mazda3 (34 units), ahead of the Audi A3 Sportback (25 units).

Interestingly, the remaining three models are all performance variants in their respective ranges, with the cooking derivatives no longer offered locally: the Hyundai i30 N (24 units), Volkswagen Golf 8 GTI (17 units) and Honda Civic Type R (1 unit, though technically this single registration could have come courtesy of the Civic sedan line-up since Honda Motor Southern Africa reports a combined figure for the two body styles). Of course, as halo models, hot hatches tend not to be volume drivers, so these fairly meagre numbers are to be expected (and were likely further reduced thanks to global supply constraints).

In addition, since BMW and Mercedes-Benz have made a habit of not reporting individual model sales figures on a monthly basis, it’s not clear how many examples of the 1 Series and A-Classhatchbacks were sold locally in April. Still, we’re willing to bet the numbers were modest at best…