New vehicle sales plummet

Thu, 03 Jul 2008

New vehicle sales fell 21.9 percent in June, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) said on Wednesday.

"Sales at 39 064 units registered a large decline of 10 956 units or 21.9 percent compared to the 50 020 vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year," Naamsa said.

New passenger vehicle sales fell the most. At 22 861 units, the data reflected a decline of 7964 units or 25 .8 percent compared to the 30 825 new cars sold during June 2007.

Factoring in the new car sales not reported in detail, the year-on-year decline amounted to 8464 units or a fall of 24 8 percent.

The daily sales rate during June 2008 represented the lowest level in over four years.

Naamsa reported sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses at 12 975 units during June 2008, a decline of 2888 units or 18.2 percent compared to the 15 863 unit sales during the corresponding month last year.

Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments of the industry showed a mixed picture during June 2008. At 1079 units and 2149 units respectively, they recorded a significant decline of 296 units or 21.5 percent, in the case of medium commercials, versus a gain of 192 units or 9.8 percent, in the case of heavy trucks and buses – compared to the corresponding month last year.

On the new vehicle export side, however, the industry continued to perform well and export sales were supporting the operations of vehicle and component producers.

Naamsa said that for the remainder of 2008, in the domestic market, new vehicle sales would "remain under severe pressure as a result of the cumulative effect of interest rate rises, inflationary pressures, high levels of personal debt and a slowdown in economic activity".