FORD SA ACHIEVES GROWTH DESPITE DECLINING LOCAL MARKET
Ford South Africa recorded encouraging growth in both its domestic sales and its export volumes in 2024, despite both segments declining year-on-year.
Having launched a raft of exciting new models over the past two years, Ford reinforced its commitment to delivering an even more compelling and competitive range of vehicles and services for its customers in the passenger car and light commercial vehicle (LCV) segments. This bold product strategy is bearing fruit, powering Ford’s upward momentum on the sales charts despite overall industry sales declining by more than 3 percent in 2024.
Ford notched up a total of 32 765 new vehicle sales last year, which represented an increase of 2 056 units or 6.4 percent compared to 2023.
The locally manufactured Ford Ranger remained the company’s leading contender in 2024. The 25 552 units sold in South Africa last year represented its highest volume since 2018 (30 135 vehicles), and was 935 units up on 2023. This helped secure a 24.3 percent share of the highly competitive LCV segment for the year, climbing from the 22.7 percent recorded in 2023 which helped cement its second place in the segment.
Ranger once again retained its prime position as the top choice for double cab buyers, ending 2024 with a total of 20 078 units sold (4 756 more than its closest competitor) and a 33.4 percent share of this segment. With an extensive line-up encompassing everything from the tough-as-nails Base model to the ultra-luxurious Platinum, there’s a Ranger Double Cab to suit every application.
Along with its success on the new vehicle sales front, Ranger remains one of South Africa’s most popular used vehicles.
Ranger exports
The Ford Ranger’s success on the new vehicle sales front was not only emulated but surpassed by its export results for 2024. The locally manufactured Ranger has consistently been one of South Africa’s top vehicle exports since 2011, and this was no different last year as it achieved a substantial 15.7 percent year-on-year growth despite the country’s total export volume of 399 809 units resulting in a 2.2 percent decline compared to 2023.
A total of 66 284 Rangers were exported last year – the second-highest figure to date, just 3 193 units shy of its 2018 record. This entrenched the Ranger’s status as the top export in the LCV segment, and placed it third in the overall export volumes accounting for passenger and light commercial vehicles combined. The Ranger is exported to more than 100 global markets, including Europe where it is the top-selling vehicle in its segment.
