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Johannesburg - New vehicle sales in October declined by 9.7% compared to the same month in 2008, official data showed on Tuesday. But when taking into account sales of imported Hyundai and Kia vehicles - Fifa 2010 World Cup sponsors - year-on-year levels are down only 3.3% and show a slight improvement on September.
Purchases from car rental companies in anticipation of an influx of tourists were also up almost 30% during the month.
Associated Motor Holdings (AMH) imports Hyundai and Kia cars, but the company does not provide detailed sales figures to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).
The marketing campaign around the Korean manufacturer's World Cup sponsorship has boosted its sales by a whopping 53% during the month compared, to 2008.
Over the three-month period July to September, sales to rental companies accounted for over 20% of the market. It is estimated that more than 4 000 cars went into those fleets during October. According to Naamsa, 24 592 passenger vehicles were sold last month and the car market is set to fall by a quarter for the full year.
Toyota Corolla was the best-selling car with sales of 1 559 units. The overall favourite vehicle remained the Toyota Hilux bakkie, of which 2 231 found new owners. Ford was the only manufacturer to show an increase in sales over last year, with strong sales of its Fiesta and new Ford Ranger models.
Commercial vehicles, exports suffer
When stripping out fleet sales, the Mercedes C-Class was the best-selling passenger car in the country. The luxury segment and SUVs have fared better than the overall market, with sales declining about 15%. Porsche delivered 65 cars to new owners, while four new Maseratis and a single Lamborghini also found new homes in October.
The commercial vehicle segment is in much worse shape than passenger cars. According to latest results released by Naamsa, sales of bakkies and trucks - a good indicator of general levels of business confidence and economic growth - dropped by close to a quarter and heavy vehicles declined by almost 50%. Year to date medium and heavy vehicle sales are down over 40%.
Car exports of under 100 000 units so far this year show a 40% decline, while the number of light commercial vehicles exported almost halved. BMW - which assembles the 3-Series locally - and Volkswagen topped the export list. The total market with sales of 36 082 units also showed a 12.5% decline on sales recorded in October 2008.
- Fin24.com