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Johannesburg - Long-serving McCarthy Group CEO Brand Pretorius said on Tuesday he will step down from the post in February.
McCarthy is a division of diversified industrial giant Bidvest (BVT).
McCarthy MD Graham Damp will take over from Pretorius.
Pretorius said he was stepping down at end of February, marking an end to a 38-year career in the local motor industry. He started at Toyota SA in 1973 and joined McCarthy in 1995.
The announcement followed an upbeat look by Pretorius on the local motor industry.
Growth of close to 12% in new vehicle sales was likely to be attained in 2011, he said, predicting "meaningful growth" for the industry.
"I am therefore predicting a total market for 2011 of 550 000 units, which will equate to a rise of 11,6% over the 2010 figure," Pretorius said at his annual media briefing in Johannesburg.
Buoyed by better-than-expected sales in 2010, it seemed the South African motor industry's sales were set for an even better 2011, Pretorius said. "I was reasonably positive about prospects for 2010 at the similar briefing a year ago, but like most industry commentators I was still proved far too pessimistic as the overall market grew by almost 25% when generally it was felt that a 10% improvement on a disastrous 2009 would have been realistic," Pretorius said.
Reflecting on last year's vehicle sales, Pretorius said the motor industry saw a low level of new vehicle price inflation, which resulted in a pronounced swing towards the buying of new instead of used vehicles.
The industry benefited somewhat from an improvement in the credit application approval ratio, while sales were also boosted by strong buying by car rental companies.
Car rental purchases continued to underpin passenger car sales, accounting for 13.3% of the volume, after a high of 14.7% in 2009.
Pretorius said it was a very good performance considering that global confidence remained fragile in the wake of the financial crisis.
SA was fortunate that the recovery was much quicker than expected, he said. Improvements in business and consumer confidence and a stronger rand also contributed, he said.
