Leapfrogged by Toyota in the passenger-vehicle sales race in the first half of 2022, Volkswagen South Africa says it is determined to defend its “dominance” over the rest of the year…

Volkswagen South Africa says it is “determined” to defend its “dominance of the passenger-car market” after a “very rough” start to 2022.

In the first six months of 2022, the VW brand says it registered 30 581 units – comprising both passenger cars as well as light-commercial vehicles – in South Africa. According to our maths (using official Naamsa figures), the Volkswagen brand sold 28 647 units in the passenger-vehicle market in the first half of the year, putting it in an unfamiliar second placebehind Toyota (37 151 units), but ahead of third-placed Suzuki (21 889 units).

Steffen Knapp, Head of Volkswagen Passenger Cars in South Africa, suggested supply constraints were to blame for the Wolfsburg-based firm’s fall to second spot in the passenger-vehicle stakes.

“We had a very rough first quarter due to supply and political challenges which affected stock availability, but we are determined defend our dominance of the passenger car market in South Africa,” he said.

“June was a fantastic month for the Volkswagen brand. Not only did we post the best dealer channel sales since October 2021, we also achieved a 16.4% share in the passenger car market,” Knapp said, adding the T-Cross continued to “dominate” its segment, while the fresh-faced Taigo enjoyed 343 registrations in its launch month.

Of course, the Polo Vivo was the country’s best-selling passenger car in the first half of 2022, with its 9 469 registrations putting it ahead of the Suzuki Swift (8 810 units), Volkswagen Polo hatch (7 976 units), Toyota Corolla Cross (7 216 units) and Toyota Urban Cruiser (7 188 units). The Vivo is produced at VW’s Kariega facility in the Eastern Cape, alongside the Polo hatchback (including the GTI). The 500 000th example of the current-generation Polo recently rolled off the production line at the factory.

What about the VW brand’s commercial-vehicles division? Well, the outgoing Amarok was the volume driver in that space, accounting for 1 052 units of the 2 500-odd vehicles sold from the start of January to the end of June. That saw it place 10th on the list of South Africa’s best-selling bakkies for the reporting period.

As a reminder, the new Amarok is scheduled to hit the local market early in 2023. Before then, however, VW SA plans to launch a number of new or updated passenger-vehicle products locally, which it hopes will help improve its fortunes.

“We are determined to have a strong second half of the year which will be supported by the new Taigo sales which will ramp-up from July as well as launches of the new T-Roc, all-new Polo Sedan, all-new Tiguan R and the new Golf 8 R,” concluded Knapp.