HAGI INDEX
Classic car values
June 2017 showed a slight increase in sales over the previous year, but can a depressed economy, combined with the effects of the country’s first recession in ten years maintain the positive momentum in the new vehicle market?
FOLLOWING A LETHARGIC MAY, NEW vehicle sales in June (45,369 units) showed some improvement with an increase by 418 units over sales recorded in June 2016. Export sales (31,631), likewise, showed minor improvement with 429 more units being shipped.
However, passenger car sales (28,639) were 630 units down from June 2016, while light commercial sales (14,278) grew by eight per cent – translated as an improvement of 1,062 units sold.
In the Top Ten category, those already on the podium held steady with Toyota, yet again, taking gold with 10,506 units sold – almost a thousand units more than in May. Toyota’s best sellers were the Hilux (3,161) – pipped to the post by Ford’s Ranger with 3,333 sales – while the Corolla/Auris/ Quest (1,420), Fortuner (1,198), and Etios (1,159) sales all contributed significantly.
Although a few metres behind Toyota in terms of domestic sales, Volkswagen’s 7,447 total is also an improvement on its results for May (6,386). Volkswagen will take great pride in its 7,871 exports which were nearly double that achieved by Toyota. Volkswagen’s Audi division contributed handsomely with a 966 total, while the Polo Vivo (2,516) was the top selling passenger car. The Polo (1,897) also did well, while the Up! should have done much better than its 290 sales. Even the brilliant Tiguan (334) outsold the Up!.
Still in third place overall, Ford (5,371) sold nearly 500 units more than in May with Kuga sales recovering to 121 units. The Ranger, as mentioned previously, was the overall top selling vehicle in June, with the Eco Sport (545), and the Fiesta (423) holding steady. Meanwhile, the demand for the Mustang continues unabated with 86 units finding new homes. Compare this with Toyota’s Subaru-engined 86 of which only six were sold. Toyota must be wondering what happened to the other eighty, which forms part of the name!
There was a shake out further down the rankings where Nissan (4,104) – previously fifth – slotted in ahead of Motus Corporation, which recorded 3,957 sales. Motus does not report individual sales, but Nissan’s stars were the NP300 (1,130), the NP200 (1,067), and the Datsun GO with 426 units sold. One Infiniti, a QX80, was sold. Nissan will be disappointed that its new Navara only managed 137 sales.
GM/Isuzu Trucks (2,924) is feeling the pain with the withdrawal of the Chevrolet brand, but the Isuzu KB remains popular with 1,178 sales, while the outgoing Chev Ute dips under the thousand ceiling with 919 sales. This model is crying out for an Isuzu badge.
In the last four places of the Top Ten rankings, Mercedes-Benz (1,879 and nonreporting) out-performed Renault with the French carmaker selling 1,680 vehicles consisting mainly of the Kwid (632), Sandero II (390), and Kadjar on 227 units.
BMW, also non-reporting, sold 1,525 cars and exported 4,197 units, against the Mercedes-Benz total of 9,226 units shipped.
Remaining in 10th place overall, Mazda continues to do well with 1,154 sales – 30 more than in May. Mazda’s achievers were the CX-5 (386), Mazda 3 (236), and CX-3
on 254 units sold. The Mazda BT-50 (33) continues to be outsold by Mitsubishi’s Triton of which 40 units went to new owners.
Of the manufacturers/importers falling outside the Top Ten bracket, Honda (570) again lost out to Suzuki (581) for the second month in a row. Expect to see some new Hondas in the near future to replace the current crop of boring and, quite frankly, ugly made-in-India offerings.
Other manufacturers that caught the eye include Porsche, which went from 116 units sold in May to 125 in June, while Volvo’s 156 total should be a cause for concern. Jaguar/Land Rover’s 364 total is nothing special, although the Jaguar nameplate (118) was significantly better than the 71 sales recorded by Toyota’s Lexus division.
In the über-luxury segment, Maserati performed admirably with 18 sales, Ferrari sold eight, while Bentley recorded five sales.
Meanwhile, the outlook for the second half of the year remains uncertain with political tensions impacting negatively on consumer sentiment. At this stage, domestic new vehicle sales are likely to remain flat at best, while industry export figures are expected to improve by 3.6 %.