- September 2026 domestic sales up 12,7% to 61 645.
- Export sales down 18,8% to 31 473 units.
- Passenger car sales up 14,7% to 44 291.
- Repo rate raised 25 basis points to 7.25%.
- 18 945 NEV sales in first eight months.
South Africa’s new vehicle market recorded domestic sales of 61 645 units in September 2026, a 12,7% increase on the 54 706 units sold in September 2025, according to figures released by naamsa on 1 October. The growth came in the same month that the South African Reserve Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee raised the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%, taking the prime lending rate to 10.75% and increasing the cost of vehicle finance for buyers.
Export sales fell by 18,8% to 31 473 units. Of the total domestic sales, an estimated 50 171 units, or 81,4%, were dealer sales. A further 13,8% went to the vehicle rental industry, 2,6% to government and 2,2% to corporate fleets.
September new vehicle sales by segment
Passenger car sales reached 44 291 units, up 14,7% from 38 615 units a year earlier, with the car rental industry accounting for 18,4% of the total. Light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses rose 9,6% to 14 361 units from 13 099. Medium commercial vehicle sales increased 3,4% to 789 units from 763, while heavy truck and bus sales totalled 2 204 units, 25 fewer than the 2 229 recorded in September 2025.
naamsa CEO Dr Mncane Mthunzi said the market “closed the third quarter of 2026 on a remarkably resilient footing”, pointing to higher borrowing costs, renewed inflationary pressures and subdued economic growth facing consumers and businesses.
New energy vehicle sales in South Africa
Cumulative new energy vehicle (NEV) sales reached 18 945 units in the first eight months of 2026, already 13.4% more than the 16 703 units sold in the whole of 2025. Hybrid electric vehicles made up 49.6% of NEV sales year-to-date, plug-in hybrids 36.5% and battery electric vehicles 13.8%, meaning rechargeable vehicles now account for just over half of the segment.
By August 2026, plug-in hybrid sales had reached 6 919 units compared with 2 810 for all of 2025, while battery electric sales reached 2 622 units against 1 088. Year-to-date, about one in every twenty new vehicles sold in South Africa is electrified, and electrification is beginning to appear in the light and medium commercial vehicle segments.
Economic outlook and SA Auto Week
Headline CPI inflation rose to 4.4% in August from 4.3% in July, driven partly by fuel prices. naamsa attributes continued sales growth to more brands, models and price points, competitive pricing and financing offers. The seasonally adjusted Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index rose 4.9 points to 50.7 in September, back above the neutral 50-point level after three months of contraction.
The industry’s attention now turns to SA Auto Week 2026, which takes place in eThekwini, KwaZulu-Natal, in 12 days and marks five years of the event.
Supplied by MotorPress (Theresa Nel, Media Contact, naamsa)
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