The car-rental industry continued to provide substantial support to new-vehicle sales volumes in October, National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) has said.
Naamsa confirmed that aggregate domestic new vehicle sales, at 51 978 units, reflected a marginal increase of 122 units, or 0.2%, from the 51 856 vehicles sold in October last year.
Monthly export sales registered a further solid performance in line with industry expectations.
Overall, out of the total reported industry sales of 51 978 vehicles, an estimated 38 558 units, or 74.2%, represented dealer sales, around 20.3% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 3.7% to industry corporate fleets and 1.8% to government.
Last month’s new passenger car market increased by 860 cars, or 2.5%, to 35 904 units compared with the 35 044 new cars sold in October last year. The car-rental industry continued to support domestic volumes, accounting for a significant 28.2% of new car sales for the same month year-on-year.
Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini-buses, at 13 366 units during October 2019, had recorded a decline of 833 units, or a fall of 5.9% from the 14 199 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.
Sales in the medium and heavy truck segments of the industry reflected an improved performance and, at 839 units and 1869 units respectively, reflected an increase of 63 vehicles, or a gain of 8.1%, in the case of medium commercial vehicles, and, in the case of heavy trucks and buses, an improvement of 32 units, or an increase of 1.7% compared with the corresponding month last year.
The October 2019 export sales number, at 41 277 vehicles, reflected a strong increase of 7152 units, or 21%, compared with the 34 125 vehicles exported in the same month last year. For the first ten months of the year, vehicle exports, at 338 955 units, were at their third highest level on record with still two months to go for the year and well on track to achieve another record in 2019, Naamsa said.
"Although there were some positive signs during October 2019, the turnaround in the new vehicle market, anticipated for the second half of the year, has not been realised yet. Furthermore, the low growth environment and the rise in South Africa’s fiscal risks do not bode well for the foreseeable future.
"Prospects for domestic new vehicle sales would continue to be affected by the depressed current macro-economic environment, enduring pressure on household disposable income as well as low business and consumer confidence."
Demand for domestic new vehicles, particularly the new passenger car market, therefore, would continue to remain under pressure over the medium-term. Of significance, however, was the continued strong performance on the export side. After only 10 months, the third highest vehicle export level on record had been achieved and the industry was now squarely set to achieve a new record in 2019, Naamsa said.
