MOTORING NEWS - The South African new vehicle sales market continued its 2016 decline this April.

 

According to the latest aggregated figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) total industry new vehicle sales declined 9.2%, year-on-year, with only 40,390 new vehicles sold across all segments.

 

Passenger car sales fell 13.2%, year-on-year, with sales of 26,077 new cars during April. In the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment the arrival of highly anticipated new models helped buck the downward trend somewhat, with a minor 0.1% sales decline, compared to the same period last year. However, this is expected to be short-lived and should normalise within one or two months.

Dealer channel decline

Sales through the dealer channel fell 5%, reflective of consumers continuing to move to the pre-owned market. Passenger car sales through the dealer channel plummeted 13.7% compared to the previous year, while LCV sales through the dealer channel grew 15.6% – indicative of the pent-up demand for the aforementioned new arrivals. Growth in the rental channel continued during April, with sales up 17.8%.

“So far, every month this year has seen the new vehicle sales industry take a beating, despite positive growth in the rental channel,” said Simphiwe Nghona, CEO of WesBank Motor Retail.

 

“The year-to-date sales figures indicate a decline of 9.7%, which is in line with our forecast for the year in the current economic climate.”