January has seen a continued gradual monthly recovery in domestic new vehicle sales volumes, but as expected, compared with the pre-Covid-19 first month of last year, there has been a decline, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) has reported.
According to Naamsa, aggregate domestic sales at 34 784 units reflected a decline of 5 629 units, or 13.9%, compared to the 40 413 vehicles sold in January last year. Export sales recorded a second consecutive month of solid growth in January this year, and at 22 771 units reflected an increase of 6 468 units, or 39.7%, compared to the 16 303 vehicles exported in January 2020.
Sales in the medium and heavy truck segments reflected a positive performance at 497 units and 1 133 units respectively, but there was zero change in the case of medium commercial vehicles. In the case of heavy trucks and buses, there was an increase of 70 vehicles, or a gain of 6.6%, compared to the corresponding month last year.
