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The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) reports that new vehicle sales continued to decline in June 2019, although lower passenger car sales had been offset by growth in some of the commercial vehicle segments.
Reflecting on the new vehicle sales statistics for the month of June 2019, Naamsa confirmed that aggregate domestic sales at 45 939 units showed a decline of 724 units or 1.6% from the 46 663 vehicles sold in June 2018.
Following a surprising decline in May 2019, export sales returned to register strong growth of 3 819 vehicles (+14.3%), compared to the 26 785 vehicles exported in June last year.
Overall, out of the total reported industry sales of 45 939 vehicles, an estimated 36 922 units or 80.4% represented dealer sales, an estimated 12.5% represented sales to the vehicle rental Industry, 3.7% to government, and 3.4% to industry corporate fleets.
Car sales
The June 2019 new passenger car market had registered a decline of 942 cars or a fall of 3.2% to 28 885 units compared to the 29 827 new cars sold in June last year. The car rental Industry’s contribution accounted for a substantial 18.4% of new car sales in June 2019.
Bakkies
Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini-buses at 14 495 units during June 2019 had recorded a modest increase of 173 units or a gain of 1.2% from the 14 322 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.
Exports
The June 2019 export sales number represented a substantial improvement with export sales at 30 604 vehicles reflecting an increase of 3 819 vehicles, or 14.3%, compared to the 26 785 vehicles exported in the same month last year. Vehicle exports for the year to date are now 29 459 vehicles or 19.3% higher than the corresponding period last year.
'Conditions remain weak'
Naamsa commented: "Underlying demand conditions for new vehicles remain weak. In general, low business and consumer confidence, growing pressure on household disposable income and ongoing subdued economic circumstances continued to limit growth prospects.
"However, some vehicle segments showed signs of an improvement during the month and bodes well for an anticipated better second half of the year performance. The upward momentum on the export side remains strong and industry vehicle production levels would continue to benefit from strong vehicle export sales."
