Nearly half of the automotive industry’s sales to government in July 2023 came from the Volkswagen Group. Here’s which VWs the South African state bought last month…

Around 1.7% of July 2023’s total new-vehicle registrations (43 389 units) in South Africa represented sales to government. Fascinatingly, nearly half of those 749 units were delivered by Volkswagen Group South Africa.

Yes, the German firm’s local division sold 371 vehicles – including a handful of Audi models – to the South African state last month, followed by Isuzu (201 units), truck-maker Iveco (59 units), Nissan (52 units), Ford (15 units), Toyota (11 units) and Suzuki (10 units).

The government purchased 150 units of the Polo Sedan in July 2023.

So, which VW vehicles were purchased by government? Well, the Polo Sedan – which is imported from India – led the charge with 150 units, while the Kariega-built Polo Vivo accounted for a further 106 registrations. Next came the Crafter (46 units), followed by the Golf 8 (27 units), with the later nameplate including both GTI and R derivatives.

South Africa’s government also bought 13 units of the Transporter Crew Bus, along with 12 examples of the T-Cross and 6 of the Taigo. The Audi A1 Sportback (3 units), Polo hatchback (2 units), Kombi (2 units), Audi Q5 (1 unit), Audi Q8 (1 unit), T-Roc (1 unit) and Tiguan (1 unit) completed the set.

VW also sold 13 examples of the Transporter Crew Bus to government.

Overall, VW Group SA registered 5 797 new vehicles locally in July 2023, with the 371 units sold to government representing 6.4%. The German group sold 3914 units via the dealer channel and 1168 units to the vehicle rental industry, with 344 units representing so-called “single” registrations (which comprise vehicles registered by manufacturers for their own use).

Finally, VW exported as many as 10326 units from its Eastern Cape factory in July, all in the form of the Polo hatchback. VW Group SA exports the Polo to nearly 40 countries, building the hatch for all right-hand-drive markets and supplementing production for left-hand-drive markets. Kariega is also the sole manufacturer worldwide of the Polo GTI.

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