Cars bear the brunt of fall in domestic new-vehicle sales
JANUARY NUMBERS
SA new-vehicle sales started off 2019 modestly, with fewer passenger cars leaving showrooms than expected.
According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA, the overall market including cars, light commercials and trucks was 42,374 units in January, a decline of 7.4% compared with January last year.
In contrast, export sales started the year on a relatively strong note with 18,289 vehicles sold, a 29.4% improvement over January 2018.
The new-car market was particularly weak and the 29,040 units sold were off 10.8% from January last year. As was the case for most of last year, the car rental industry made a major contribution, accounting for 19.9% of new-car sales in January 2019, translating into one in every five new cars sold.
Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses at 11,681 units last month were almost unchanged from January 2018, while the medium and heavy truck segments held up relatively well at 552 units (up 24.6%) and 1,101 units (gain of 0.3%), respectively. 1. Toyota Hilux 2,794 2. VW Polo 2,512 3. VW Polo Vivo 2,461 4. Toyota Corolla/Auris/ Quest 2,202 5. Ford Ranger 2,194 6. Nissan NP200 1,483 7. Toyota Quantum 1,281 8. Toyota Fortuner —1,000 9. Hyundai Grand i10 867 10. Isuzu D-Max 821 11. Hyundai i20 715 12. Toyota Etios 698 13. Toyota Yaris 693 14. Ford Ecosport 679 15. Ford Figo 669 16. Kia Picanto 612 17. Toyota Avanza 567 18. Datsun Go 560 19. Nissan NP300 529 20. Renault Kwid 519 21. Suzuki Swift 479 22. Toyota Rav4 476 23. VW Tiguan 448 24. Toyota Rush 425 25. Mazda CX-5 408 26. Nissan Almera 405 27. Ford Everest 371 28. Mazda CX-3 363 29. Kia Rio 316 30. Ford Fiesta 298