Vitz hits fresh high! SA’s top-selling passenger cars in September 2025
In September 2025, the Toyota Vitz registered its highest sales figure yet, relying heavily on the rental channel. Here are South Africa’s best-selling passenger vehicles…
- VW’s Polo Vivo grabs back top position
- Starlet climbs 3 rankings to 4th place
- Vitz hits new high thanks to rental sales
In September 2025, South Africa’s new-vehicle market surged to a 10-year high, increasing 24.3% year on year to 54 700 units. The new passenger-vehicle market, meanwhile, grew an even more impressive 28.0% year on year to 38 603 units, reaching its highest level since October 2014.
Keep in mind, however, that a considerable 7 768 units (or 20.1%) of the passenger-car total for September 2025 came courtesy of the new-vehicle rental industry. Indeed, several of the vehicles that cracked the top 10 relied heavily on rental-fleet buyers.
So, what happened on the list of South Africa’s best-selling passenger vehicles for September 2025? Well, the Kariega-made Volkswagen Polo Vivo returned to the top spot, gaining 6.7% month on month to reach 2 470 units. For the record, 723 of those sales (or 29.3%) were registered via the rental channel.
Meanwhile, the Suzuki Swift climbed a place to 2nd, finishing on 2 265 units (up 7.8% compared to August 2025) as the highest-ranked imported model. A whopping 43.9% of that figure came courtesy of rental-fleet buyers. After placing first in the prior month, the Toyota Corolla Cross experienced a 31.1% slide in sales to 1 891 units, seeing the Prospecton-built crossover fall to 3rd.
In contrast, the Toyota Starlet climbed 3 rankings to 4th, growing its sales 40.4% month on month to 1 629 units (40.6% of which represented rental-channel registrations). While the Hyundai Grand i10 gained 14.3% month on month to finish on what we believe is an all-time high of 1 451 units (including 320 rental registrations), it remained in 5th place. Note this figure excludes 19 sales of the Grand i10 Cargo-badged panel van in the light-commercial vehicle (LCV) space.
The biggest mover in the top 10 was the Toyota Vitz, which rocketed 4 rankings to 6th. Toyota registered as many as 1 446 units of this Suzuki-built budget hatchback in September, representing a 63.4% month-on-month surge in sales and a new record for the badge in SA. Exactly half of those units were registered in the rental-vehicle segment.
Though it remained the highest-ranked Chinese model, the Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (1 377 units; +2.8%, month on month) dropped 3 places to finish in 7th. Meanwhile, the Haval Jolion (1 215 units; +8.2%, month on month) held steady in 8th, registering what we suspect is its highest single-month tally yet.
The Toyota Urban Cruiser broke into the top 10 in September 2025 to grab 9th, with local sales soaring 87.9% month on month to 1 191 units (including 344 units sold to rental-fleet buyers). From what we can tell, that is the largest sales total for this generation of the Urban Cruiser. Finally, the Suzuki Fronx (1 054 units; -12.9%, month on month) fell 4 rankings to 10th.
So, which models were bubbling under in September? Well, the Kia Sonet (1 023 units) came close to cracking the top 10 last month, finishing ahead of the likewise Indian-made Nissan Magnite (916 units, excluding LCV sales). The locally built Toyota Fortuner (842 units) and Volkswagen Polo hatch (789 units) were next, followed by the Chinese-built Omoda C5 (784 units).
SA’s 10 best-selling passenger vehicles in September 2025
1. Volkswagen Polo Vivo – 2 470 units
2. Suzuki Swift – 2 265 units
3. Toyota Corolla Cross – 1 891 units
4. Toyota Starlet – 1 629 units
5. Hyundai Grand i10 (excluding LCV) – 1 451 units
6. Toyota Vitz – 1 446 units
7. Chery Tiggo 4 Pro (excluding LCV) – 1 377 units
8. Haval Jolion – 1 215 units
9. Toyota Urban Cruiser – 1 191 units
10. Suzuki Fronx – 1 054 units
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