Heavy commercials carry Marsh vehicle sales

Strong increases in sales in the light, heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicle sectors carried an otherwise stalled South African new vehicle sales market in March. According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa), light commercial vehicle sales were up by 3.7% (total sales of 15 848) year-on-year, heavy commercials by 23.6% (487), and extra heavy commercials 21.9% (1 263) in March 2014 compared to March 2013. Medium heavy commercial sales were down by a marginal 0.3% to 1 005 units. In contrast, new passenger vehicle sales dropped by 2.2% to 36 798, and exports were down by 11.2% to 24 665. Naamsa cautions that the local market will “continue to be affected by subdued economic growth, above inflation new vehicle price increases as a result of exchange rate weakness and upward pressure on interest rates.” On the plus side, “vehicle exports should benefit from improving global economic conditions and, barring domestic supply disruptions, could well show strong growth during the second half of 2014, particularly in respect of vehicle exports to Asia, Africa and Europe,” it says.