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SA car sales | January sales take a major hit as economy rattles consumers

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At the conclusion of January 2020, the overall sales charts saw a big drop compared to the same period in 2019. Naamsa reports that 39 475 new vehicles were sold in January, of which 32 050 were through the national dealer channel.

This means that 81.2% of all new vehicles sold in SA last month came through a dealer.

A tough 2020

However, although this might seem like an encouraging number, overall sales for last month dropped by 8.1% compared to January 2019. Furthermore, light commercial vehicles (LCVs) sales fell by 16.3% for Jan 2020 vs. Jan 2019 (9791 units vs. 11 700 units).

The low numbers link with Toyota South Africa’s projections last week that 2020 will see another year of low sales numbers, and that the year could see an overall sales figure of 515 000 units sold across the board. A decline of 4% over 2019’s accumulative sales figure.

READ: #SOMI2020 | Toyota predicts tough year for South African economy

Mark Dommisse, Chairperson of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (Nada), commented: “We are in for an interesting ride with industry forecasts in the red for the new car market in 2020. Over the past five years, the South African franchised motor dealer environment has been under enormous pressure. The decline in sales volumes and the vehicle park has had a direct impact on employment and dealer profitability.”

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