Dakar - South African crews dig deep as second week begins
The 2026 Dakar Rally roared back into action on Monday with Stage 8, a gruelling 481km loop around Wadi Ad Dawasir.
- Industry News
- 12 January 2026
As per usual there were no big surprises in the vehicle sales stakes for October with the usual suspects leading the pack.
The top five manufacturers of total units sold in October were Toyota (12 574), Volkswagen Group SA (4 904), Suzuki Auto (4 112), Nissan (3 011) and Hyundai Automotive South Africa (2 703); with Haval Motors SA breathing down Hyundai’s neck in sixth place with 2 602 units.
In the passenger category the roost was ruled by Toyota with its Corolla Cross in first place (2 014) followed by its Urban Cruiser (1 820), the Suzuki Swift (1 693), the VW Polo Vivo (1 583) and the Haval H6 (956).
As far as bakkies are concerned the Nissan NP-200 continues to stand its ground among the big boys. In first place was the Toyota Hillux with 3336 units sold, followed by the Ford Ranger (1 807), the Isuzu D-Max (1 802), the Nissan NP 200 (1 096) and the Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up (624).
The year-to-date sales for these top passenger vehicle performers were VW Polo Vivo (16 121), Suzuki Swift (13 032), Toyota Urban Cruiser (12 893), Toyota Corolla Cross (9 884) and Haval H6 (2 830).
The year-to-date units sold for the top five in the bakkie category were Toyota Hilux (23 263), Isuzu D-Max (12 499), Ford Ranger (12 060), Nissan NP200 (9 881) and Mahindra Scorpio Pik-up (6 263).
The 2026 Dakar Rally roared back into action on Monday with Stage 8, a gruelling 481km loop around Wadi Ad Dawasir.
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