New-energy vehicle (NEV) sales in South Africa reached 22 389 units in the first nine months of 2026, which is 34.0% more than the 16 703 sold in the whole of 2025, according to the Automotive Business Council (naamsa) in its October 2026 sales release of 2 November 2026. The 34% compares nine months with a full year, so it is not a growth rate for the same period.
Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) outsold fully electric cars (BEVs) by more than two and a half to one, but conventional hybrids remain the largest group of NEVs.
What it means for your business
If you run a fleet, a dealership or a delivery operation, the numbers show where buyers are moving as fuel costs climb, and that most of them are not yet choosing fully electric. Naamsa says petrol would remain about 39% above January levels at October prices even after the levy cut, so running costs stay a live issue for any business with vehicles.
The numbers, as naamsa reports them
Naamsa says cumulative NEV sales for January to September 2026 reached 22 389 units, “already eclipsing” the full-year 2025 total of 16 703 units by 34.0% with a quarter still to go. It adds that one in every nine cars sold in September was an NEV.
The naamsa release splits the 2026 total this way:
- Traditional hybrids (HEVs): 11 090 units, 49.5% of NEV sales.
- Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs): 8 082 units.
- Battery electric vehicles (BEVs): 3 217 units.
Naamsa says rechargeable vehicles, PHEVs and BEVs combined, made up 50.5% of year-to-date NEV sales in September, and have been above 50% on a cumulative basis since July 2026. By our arithmetic, PHEVs are about 36% of NEV sales and BEVs about 14%, and the PHEV to BEV ratio is 2.5 to one.
Fully electric cars remain a sliver
Total domestic sales in the first nine months were roughly 492 000 vehicles, which we derived from naamsa’s October year-to-date total of 554 081 less October’s 61 890. On that base, BEVs are about 0.65% of new vehicle sales, and all NEVs are about 4.5%. TechCentral, which reported the release, describes BEVs as less than 1% of the roughly 490 000 new vehicles sold in the period, in line with our calculation.
The release says commercial uptake is “nascent”, with early adoption across light and medium commercial vehicles. It calls for aligned policy, more charging infrastructure and faster local manufacturing to turn demand into local investment and jobs. Naamsa does not give a commercial NEV count in the release.
Why fuel prices matter here
The release records inland 95-octane petrol passing R30 a litre for the first time, reaching R30.25 from 7 October, a 12.4% rise on September. It says Brent crude averaged US$101 a barrel in the October fuel price review period and rose above US$110 towards month-end. The R10 billion levy relief announced in the 21 October Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement cuts the diesel levy by R3 a litre and the petrol levy by R1.50 a litre from 4 November. Naamsa describes the relief as a tactical buffer rather than a structural solution, and says diesel wholesale prices would stay about 57% to 61% above January levels. See our report on the levy cut and its step-down dates.
Naamsa does not say fuel prices caused the rise in NEV sales, and we cannot show that link from its data.
The wider October market
Domestic new vehicle sales rose 10.4% year on year to 61 890 units in October. Passenger car sales rose 13.6% to 45 084, with the rental industry taking 21.4% of them. Light commercial vehicle sales rose 2.2% to 13 689, medium commercial vehicles fell 0.9% to 770, and heavy trucks and buses rose 8.1% to 2 347. Year to date, domestic sales are up 12.3% at 554 081 units, according to naamsa’s October sales flash. Exports were 38 117 units in October, up 6.3% on a year earlier and 21.1% on September, but cumulative exports for the first ten months remain 8.3% below the same period of 2025.
For more on where the industry is investing, see our guide to investing in South African automotive components and our report on why electric cars for Europe may be built elsewhere. The overall new vehicle sales totals used here are in naamsa’s October flash report.
What to do
- Fleet managers: price the running cost of hybrids and plug-in hybrids against your current vehicles at today’s fuel price, and again after the levy relief ends on 5 January 2027.
- Dealers: note that hybrids and plug-in hybrids, not BEVs, are where the volume is.
- Check the figures before you quote them: the 34% compares nine months of 2026 with all of 2025.
