Online Reporter
WAS the Ford Ranger again South Africa’s top-selling double-cab pickup in January 2025 or did the Toyota Hilux hit back in the opening month of the year?
In 2024, the Ford Ranger took the title of South Africa’s top-selling double-cab pickup, despite the Toyota Hilux remaining the most popular pickup overall (that is, including all three body styles). So, what happened in January 2025?
First, a reminder: The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa)’s monthly sales report unfortunately does not include a breakdown of the three pickup body styles (though be sure to check out the overall list of SA’s most popular pickups for January 2025 anyway).
Thankfully, however, the studious folks at Lightstone Auto have again assisted us by providing these fascinating registration figures.
According to Lightstone Auto, the Ford Ranger picked up right where it left off, leading the double-cab sales race in January 2025 with 1 572 units sold.
By our maths, that works out to a considerable 84,6 percent of the Silverton-built pickup’s overall tally (1 858 units) for the year’s opening month.
That meant the Toyota Hilux again had to settle for second place on the dual-cab standings, with 1 097 units — or 42,9 percent of the Prospecton-made stalwart’s 2 557-unit total for the month, including the other body styles — registered in January 2025.
The final place on the double-cab podium went to — yes, you guessed it — the Isuzu D-Max, which finished the year’s opening month with sales of 497 units for this body style.
Our calculations suggest this translates to just 35,2 percent of the Struandale-manufactured model’s overall total of 1 413 units for January.
For the record, Lightstone Auto’s figures show that all other 1-tonne double-cab pickup derivatives (over and above the Ranger, Hilux and D-Max) collectively managed 1 212 registrations last month.
The Hilux leads the single-cab race after the opening month of 2025.
What happened in the single-cab space in January 2025?
Well, as it did across the whole of 2024, the Toyota Hilux again led the charge in the 1-tonne single-cab segment last month, with 1 090 units (or 42,6 percent of its overall tally) registered.
The Isuzu D-Max single cab was second on 772 units (54,6 percent of the D-Max total), while the two-door version of the KwaZulu-Natal-assembled Mahindra Pik Up was not far behind in third, with 661 units sold (82,5 percent of this nameplate’s total) in January.
Some 82,5 percent of all Mahindra Pik Up sales in January 2025 were single cabs.
The Ranger single cab, meanwhile, could muster only 62 units. Furthermore, Lightstone Auto’s dataset suggests that all other 1-tonne single-cab pickup derivatives (other than the Hilux, D-Max, Pik Up and Ranger) collectively managed 825 units in January.
The Toyota Hilux also topped the charts in the extended-cab segment in January 2025, finishing the month on 367 units.
Next came the Ford Ranger (224 units), followed by the Isuzu D-Max (144 units).
These are, of course, the only three pickups offered locally in this so-called “cab-and-a-half” body style. — cars.co.za
Tinaye Agere