Mahindra emerges as South Africa’s fastest-growing brand
Mahindra’s brand sales in South Africa grew by 78% in 2002 and the Mahindra Pik Up was the fastest growing bakkie brand. Mahindra has also been a top-five fastest growing brand for four of the past five years and best performer in 2019 and 2022.
This was revealed in the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) vehicle-sales statistics for December, which also included final industry sales figures for the whole of 2022.
The report shows that Mahindra increased its sales volume by a massive 78% compared to 2021. This is the highest of all the vehicle brands that report their sales to Naamsa and more than five times the market average.
The Naamsa sales report further shows that Mahindra grew its total sales in the passenger-vehicle market by 80% to 4 027 vehicles in 2022, and its light commercial sales (its popular Pik Up and Bolero ranges) by 77% to 8 885 vehicles.
Thanks to this massive growth rate, Mahindra hit an average monthly sales figure of more than 1 000 units per month, breaking through the magical 10 000 unit per annum mark for the first time and reaching close to 14 000 total unit sales for the year.
This is also the second year since 2019 that Mahindra has been crowned South Africa’s fastest growing brand and the fourth year in in the past five that the brand has been among the country’s fastest growing brands. Mahindra recorded a compound annual growth rate of 23.6% over that period.
The Mahindra Pik Up was the fastest growing bakkie brand in the market (calculated for single-brand OEMs that manufacture 750 or more vehicles per month; figures correct as per November 2022, the latest month with model-by-model sales statistics), reaching the top of the leader board in growth for bakkies overall and for the single-cab market in particular.
The XUV300 – the safest car in Africa as tested by the GNCAP – was the fastest- growing compact SUV in its addressable segment (SUVs with manual transmission), with 2 079 units finding homes in 2022.
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“Our sales success in 2022 and our title as South Africa’s fastest-growing vehicle brand can be attributed to our entire network, including our assembly plant in Durban that had to make do with component shortages and our dealers who supported customers on our waiting list,” says Rajesh Gupta, chief executive of Mahindra South Africa.
“In the new year, we hope to repeat our performance with the recently launched XUV700, which achieved a record number of pre-order bookings for the brand. The much-anticipated Scorpio-N SUV and other new models will be launched in due course.”
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The auto industry had a much better year than in 2021. In 2022, the entire industry grew its sales volume to 528 963 vehicles. This is 13,9% better than the previous year, despite persistent stock shortages in both electronic parts and fully built-up vehicles.
“Mahindra first entered the market in 2004 and made every effort to build a solid foundation to support our future growth. In the past few years, we have accelerated our investment with a local assembly facility, a new technical training centre, a local fitment centre for special edition models, a new, larger, and more advanced distribution warehouse, and a new head office.
“We believe that we are now seeing the fruit of these long-term investments, and of making South Africa our second home outside of India. We are proud to be a part of the South African landscape and of contributing to the local economy,” says Gupta.
Mahindra South Africa is a fully owned subsidiary of Mahindra & Mahindra of India. Mahindra SA is celebrating its 18th year of operations in South Africa.
The company has dealers in all nine provinces of South Africa, which are comprehensive facilities that handle sales, service, and spare parts.
With 74 dealerships, in cities and in towns across Southern Africa, Mahindra has a growing national footprint that is moving even deeper into communities as the company continues its drive to offer authentic SUVs and bakkies to its customers.
The company has also expanded into other sub-Saharan countries, currently exporting vehicles to Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, and Namibia, besides having presence in Swaziland and Lesotho.
