Weak rand continues to impact new car sales
NEW-VEHICLE sales in South Africa continue to tumble. Last month there were 54 244 reported sales of cars, bakkies and trucks, which was a decline of 8.6% on October 2014, while yearto-date the numbers are down by 4.5% compared with the first ten months of last year.
However, sales through the dealer channel only declined 2% last month and there is still strong demand for new vehicles from private buyers.
The big decreases took place in government sales (down 25.7%) and sales to rental firms (down 23.8%), which finance firm WesBank attributed to prevailing low confidence levels which are driving corporates to not spend money acquiring new or replacement assets, choosing instead to hold onto their capital.
Passenger car sales took the biggest knock last month, with sales down 10.9% compared to October 2014, while bakkies and light commercials were more resilient and dropped just 4.1%.
Overall, sales of light commercials continued to hold up well with year-to-date sales almost at the same level as the first ten months of 2014.
Although demand from private buyers remains high, banks warn that high levels of household debt and more stringent new lending rules could mean that fewer consumers will qualify for vehicle finance, particularly for higherpriced vehicles.
Affordability will also become more of a factor.
The ongoing weakness of the rand is expected to push up vehicle prices while interest rates are forecast to rise further over the
next 12 months.
Top 40 best selling vehicles in October:
VW Polo Vivo Toyota Corolla/Auris Ford Ranger Toyota Hilux VW Polo Chevrolet Utility Nissan NP200 Toyota Etios Isuzu KB Toyota Quantum Ford Fiesta Ford EcoSport Renault Sandero Ford Figo Toyota Fortuner Renault Clio VW Golf Toyota Avanza BMW 3 Series Toyota Rav4 Nissan Hardbody
3 170 2 769 2 740 2 639 2 320 1 947 1 845 1 478 1 376 1 256 1005 968 920 835 746 575 535 509 509 506 505
PICTURE: QUICKPIC
VW Amarok 447 Audi A3 Datsun Go Chevrolet Aveo Ford Focus Renault Captur Ford Kuga VW Up Audi A4 BMW 1 Series Mazda3 Toyota LC Pickup Nissan NV350 Taxi Mazda2 Chevrolet Spark Nissan Qashqai Suzuki Swift Chevrolet Cruze Jeep Grand Cherokee VW Jetta Opel Corsa 431 418 415 374 357 355 329 295 270 269 261 258 247 239 214 212 210 210 191 190 Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai and Kia do not reveal their monthly sales figures.