At the start of 2022, Opel South Africa was struggling to sell 50 units a month. By July, its monthly figure was 10 times as large. Here’s which models have been driving this impressive growth…

Despite a local heritage stretching all the way back to the 1930s, Opel has endured a tough few years in South Africa. So tough, in fact, that fewer than 50 units were registered here in January 2022 (a fact perhaps amplified by the sort of global supply constraintsexperienced by many automakers).

However, it seems the German brand has finally turned a corner in South Africa, with sales growing steadily every couple of months in 2022. While just 44 units were sold in South Africa in January, that figure doubled to a still relatively paltry 88 in February.

Despite a slight dip to 75 registrations in March, Opel finally crossed back into three figures in April, selling 141 vehicles across the country. That tally more than doubled to 317 units in May before growing another 100% to 633 units in June. July was another fairly strong month, with 497 units registered.

Breaking down Opel’s sales figures in South Africa

So, which models have been driving this growth? Interestingly, the sixth-generation Corsa and the facelifted Crossland have been doing much of the heavy lifting for the Rüsselsheim-based automaker.

The Corsa (514 units) dominated June’s total of 633 units, though 250 of those sales came courtesy of the rental channel. The Crossland (87 units) was next, with the new Mokka (21 units), Grandland X (5 units), Vivaro panel van (5 units) and Combo Life (1 unit) making up the numbers.

In July, however, the Crossland (207 units) outsold the Corsa (200), despite the latter benefitting from 105 registrations in the rental space. The light-commercial Combo contributed 42 units and the Mokka 35 units, while the Zafira (6 units), Combo Life (3 units), Grandland X (2 units) and Vivaro (2 units) were all stuck in single figures.

Peugeot Citroën South Africa took over the local distribution of Opel products back in January 2021, with the German brand having moved under the Stellantis umbrella. For the past three months, Opel has been the best-selling brand in the Stellantis family in SA, outdoing Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Fiat, Jeep and even Peugeot on the sales charts.

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