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Johannesburg - The remarkably strong growth in new vehicle
sales during the first quarter of 2010 continued in April,
with aggregate industry sales at 35 763 units registering an improvement of
36% compared to the 26 288 vehicles sold during the corresponding
month in 2009, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers
of South Africa (Naamsa) reported on Tuesday.
It said, however, that the improvement should be viewed in relation to the low sales
registered this time last year due to the impact of the global financial and
economic crisis.
"Nevertheless, the growth momentum in new vehicle sales improved further during
April, 2010 with the year to date improvement running at 22.2% compared
to the first-quarter 2010 growth rate of 18.7%. Aggregate export sales
also registered strong growth," Naamsa said.
Overall, out of the total Naamsa reported industry sales of 30 462 vehicles, 85.7%
or 26 037 units represented dealer/retail sales, 7% represented
sales to the car rental industry, 4.2% represented industry corporate fleet
sales and 3.1% sales to government.
April 2010 aggregate industry new car sales again exceeded expectations
and at 23 606 reflected a massive improvement of 6 843 units or 40.8% compared
to the 16 763 new cars sold during April, 2009. Despite the number of
public and school holidays in April, the 2010 new car market had performed
well with the selling rate of new cars per day remaining relatively
robust.
Sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses at 10 572 units
during April, 2010 reflected an improvement of 2 558 units or 31.9%
compared to the 8 014 units of the corresponding month last year.
Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments of the industry reflected a
mixed performance and at 529 units and 1 056 units, respectively, recorded a decline of 165 units or a 23.8% fall in the case of medium
commercials, and a gain of 239 units or 29.3% in the case of heavy trucks
and buses – compared to the corresponding month last year.
Exports of South African-produced vehicles during April 2010 at 17 592 vehicles registered a gain of 5 989 units or an improvement of 51.6% compared to the
11 603 vehicles exported during April last year. The revival in
international demand for domestically-produced vehicles would support
industry export sales going forward.
Naamsa said the outlook for domestic sales for 2010 remained relatively positive and
could gain momentum as economic activity levels improved further. The
domestic market should receive support from further improvement in business confidence
and consumer sentiment, as well as lower inflation and the benefits of
interest rate reductions.
Export sales were expected to show further improvement over the balance of the
year. The automotive market in South Africa was at an early stage of what probably
represented a sustainable recovery. Industry sales projections had
recently been revised upwards, to reflect growth in aggregate sales for
calendar 2010 of around 14%.
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