Bakkies bomb but cars hold stable
VEHICLE SALES/ Light commercial sales drop an alarming 22.1% in November, though Hilux continues to rule the charts, writes Denis Droppa
After the best month of the year in October, newvehicle sales took a beating in November with the light-commercial market the worst affected. According to the latest Naamsa figures, sales of light commercial vehicles, which include bakkies and minibuses, dropped to 10,679 units last month, an alarming 22.1% drop over November 2018.
“The poor performance of pick-up sales is concerning as they are among the highest volume-selling nameplates in the market, and also because they are locally manufactured,” says Lebogang Gaoaketse, Communications, Social Media and PR Manager of Wesbank.
Passenger cars showed more positive signs with sales of 31,444 units, a 1.3% rise over November 2018. Sales through dealers grew 3.6%, accounting for 22,918 units, but the rental market at 6,893 units was 8.9% down on November last year.
Sales in the low-volume medium and heavy truck segments both performed weaker during the month and at 733 units (-7.6%) and 1,882 units (-1.8%) respectively.
The overall market, including cars, light commercials and trucks, moved 44,738 units in November, a 5.8% decline over November 2018.
Despite business confidence showing small signs of improvement in the fourth quarter, buyers of new vehicles are holding off making their purchasing decisions until economic uncertainty steadies, says Gary McCraw, National Director of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association.
There were 399,454 new vehicles sold on dealer floors year to date to November 2019 (2018: 413,346) showing a -3.4% decline on dealer floors year on year.
November export sales at 35,271 vehicles were a marginal 306 units down the same month last year, but the 374,215 yearto-date figure has already surpassed the previous annual record of 351,139 vehicles exported in 2018.
With additional fuel price hikes and no change in the interest rate during November, consumers remain under pressure.
“Consumer Price Inflation may be in check within the target range, but Wesbank customers financed their biggest new-vehicle deals by value size this year in November, indicating that new car price inflation remains very real within an affordability-driven marketplace,” says Gaoaketse.
Despite the downturn in light commercial sales, Toyota’s Hilux bakkie continues to be SA’s most popular vehicle, with the VW Polo Vivo the country’s best-selling passenger car.
VW’s new T-Cross is the most notable mover in the passenger car charts, occupying seventh place overall after just a few months on the market, although the Ford Ecosport continues to hold on to its top position in this competitive compact SUV segment. The segment will have another new contender with the Hyundai Venue being launched in SA this week.
The Renault Kwid budget hatch had an excellent month with 1,508 sales, making it the third most popular passenger car. The rival Datsun Go dipped to 233 sales last month after regularly selling more than 600 units a month earlier this year.
With the return of Citroën cars to its stable along with the launch of new Peugeot models, PCSA (Peugeot Citroën SA) is making slight inroads into the market, reporting 171 sales in November after averaging less than 100 units earlier this year.
The Toyota Fortuner continues to dominate the large SUV market, in tenth place overall.
Top-selling passenger cars 1. VW Polo Vivo — 2,439 2. VW Polo — 2,038 3. Renault Kwid — 1,508 4. Ford Ecosport — 1,360 5. Ford Figo — 1,002 6. Toyota Etios — 858 7. VW T-Cross — 842 8. Kia Picanto — 733 9. VW Polo sedan — 711 10. Toyota Fortuner — 664 11. Toyota Corolla Quest — 598 12. Hyundai Grand i10 — 576 13. Suzuki Swift — 550 14. Hyundai i20 — 540 15. VW Tiguan — 536 16. Toyota Yaris — 525 17. Toyota Avanza — 507 18. Renault Sandero — 446 19. Hyundai Creta — 416 20. Kia Rio — 398 21. Toyota Rav — 373 22. Renault Clio — 361 23. Fiat Panda — 332 24. BMW 3-Series — 330 25. Mazda CX-5 — 321 26. Nissan X-Trail — 310 27. Nissan Almera — 292 28. Hyundai Elantra — 280 29. Nissan Qashqai — 278 30. Mazda CX-3 — 275
Top-selling bakkies 1. Toyota Hilux — 2,588 2. Ford Ranger — 1,894 3. Isuzu D-Max — 1,299 4. Nissan NP200 — 694 5. Nissan NP300 — 293 6. Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up 238 7. Toyota Landcruiser Pick Up — 224 8. VW Amarok — 186 9. Hyundai H100 Bakkie — 167 10. Nissan Navara — 161 * List excludes Mercedes-Benz and Haval who do not report their detailed sales.
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