Although February heralded the first month-on-month decline in passenger vehicle sales for four years, new records were set in all three segments of the commercial vehicle market. That’s according to the latest sales results released by Naamsa and AMH on Friday.
Although February heralded the first month-on-month decline in passenger vehicle sales for four years, new records were set in all three segments of the commercial vehicle market. That’s according to the latest sales results released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) and non-reporters Associated Motor Holdings (AMH) on Friday.
A total of 58 477 vehicles were sold during February, which represented a 5,5 per cent increase when compared with the same month in 2006. The sales total of the passenger vehicle market (36 653 units) was 0,5 per cent lower than in February 2006, although it should be noted that last year’s total for the month was the all-time high for February.
“This decline can be attributed mainly to the less favourable interest rate environment and relatively high debt levels of South African consumers, which are undermining the propensity to buy,” said McCarthy chairman Brand Pretorius. “(However), in relative terms, even the car market is still performing at a healthy level”.
By contrast, February was an outstanding month for commercial vehicles. Looking only at Naamsa’s results, the LCV segment sold 17 352 units last month (12,4 per cent higher than in February 2006. The Medium Commercial Vehicle segment recorded 1 245 sales and 1 673 Heavy Commercial Vehicles were sold last month, which represented increases of 16,2 per cent and a significant 38,6 per cent compared with the February 2006’s totals.
“These record sales provide further evidence that the country is still experiencing significant economic growth,” said Pretorius. “We are also starting to see meaningful signs of the increase in fixed investment and much higher levels of capital expenditure by the private sector.”
“in overall terms, passenger and light commercials’ total sales in February again represented an all-time record for a February, mainly due to the strength of the commercial vehicle market,” said Pretorius, but added: “Passenger vehicle sales are expected to show an improvement in March due to the many aggressive marketing campaigns by dealers and manufacturers currently underway.”
Click here to download a summary of the latest new vehicle sales statistics as supplied by Naamsa.
Please note that because the sales figures supplied here have not yet been audited, CARtoday.com will not archive them. To access audited new vehicle sales figures for previous months, consult www.rgt.co.za.Toyota SA set new benchmarks for export sales and combined domestic and export sales in February with a total of 19 854 vehicles delivered during the month. Of this total, 7 157 units were export sales which amounted to 43 per cent of all vehicles
