20 most sought-after cars in SA in October 2019

Beat the Price offers a unique insight into the preferences of South African car buyers because it captures their initial preferences, rather than the vehicle they eventually settle for. If we compare the list above to the Naamsa figures, we see some marked differences.

VW arrives fashionably late to the compact SUV party

Although the two variants of Volkswagen’s wildly popular Polo have yet to be dislodged from the top spots in the Beat The Price index, the German automaker has rarely managed to get any other vehicles into the Top 20, besides an occasional appearance from the evergreen Golf.

This changed dramatically in October, with the newly launched Volkswagen T-Cross racing straight into 10th position, effortlessly overtaking other strong contenders from Haval and Kia, and hot on the heels of the Renault Kwid - a popular “crossover” that competes in the same segment.

Now available in SA: the all new VW T-Cross

Naresh Maharaj  1 Oct 2019

This is clearly the result of a highly successful marketing campaign by VW’s local arm. While it’s true that the T-Cross is an attractive vehicle, and that it capitalises on the current craze for this class of car, only a sustained and effective marketing effort can produce this kind of dramatic spike in interest. The marketing also appears to have had a halo effect on the brand as a whole, with the Golf making its highest appearance of 2019.

Interestingly the T-Cross is a very late entry to a segment already crowded with more than a dozen other options (many of which have appeared in our Top 20). VW has dabbled in the segment before (the short-lived Polo Cross, for example), but this is their first purpose-built subcompact SUV.

The launch of the T-Cross may signal a broadening of VW’s market appeal beyond the entry-level Polo, but it may also be a brief spike in interest that will quickly subside as it did with the recently launched Mazda CX3. The next few months will be critical for VW if they wish to turn their shiny new arrival into a firm favourite.

Preferences vs. sales

Although the Naamsa sales figures are an invaluable resource for tracking the market, they are less useful for forecasting and tracking consumer demand for brands and models. This is because:

• The sales figures include sales to large organisations (such as rental agencies and corporate fleets), which significantly distort the trends and are largely unaffected by marketing
  
• Sales do not always reflect initial preferences. Many consumers end up “settling” for a different model or even a different brand because of problems with availability or financing
  
• Car sales tend to lag marketing efforts significantly because of the longer purchase cycle for consumer vehicles. Beat The Price’s stats reflect underlying preferences and future car buying intentions.