According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), new car sales had held up surprisingly well despite the many public holidays over the month of April. Strong growth in the export industry had also continued.
Aggregate new vehicle sales in April at 44 503 units were slightly down from the 46 016 vehicles sold in April last year. Overall, out of the total reported Industry sales of 44 503 vehicles, an estimated 38 780 units or 87,2% represented dealer sales, 6,3% constituted sales to government, 4,2% to industry corporate fleets and 2,3% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry.
The April new car market at 30 184 units reflected a decline of 594 units or a fall of 1,9% compared to the 30 778 new cars sold in April last year. Intense competition in a challenging, difficult trading environment had resulted in incentive packages to promote new vehicle sales. Furthermore, a modest recovery in the used vehicle market had also been noticed.
Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini buses during April, 2015 at 12 077 units reflected a decline of 774 units or a fall of 6,0% compared to the 12 851 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.
Sales of vehicles in the investment-driven medium and heavy truck segments of the industry had registered declines. Medium commercial vehicle sales at 777 units and heavy commercial vehicle sales at 1 465 units, reflected a fall of 38 units or 4,7% in the case of medium commercials, and a decline of 107 vehicles or a fall of 6,8% in the case of heavy trucks and buses – compared to the corresponding month last year.
Vehicle exports had continued to contribute positively to South Africa’s current account of the balance of payments. Industry new vehicle exports at 23 615 units during April, 2015 had again registered exceptionally strong growth compared to the corresponding month last year rising by 6 813 vehicles or 40,5% relative to the 16 802 export sales in April, 2014. Vehicle exports for 2015 were on target to improve by around 25% in volume terms to a record export number of about 325 000 for the year.
At this stage, NAAMSA continued to project marginal volume growth in domestic sales based on an assumption of a slight improvement in South Africa’s economic growth rate, relative stability in automotive industry industrial relations, stable interest rates and unchanged credit ratings.
New vehicle industry production would continue to benefit from projected higher export numbers.
