South African new-vehicle sales saw a slight rise in February. The 45,352 domestic sales were 2.6% higher than the figure for the same month a year ago, according to figures released by Naamsa on March 1.
Year-to-date sales are up 4.3% which is encouraging, and despite odds seemingly skewed against consumers, says Mark Dommisse, chair of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (Nada).
“First, it was budget month, which could have meant increased taxation and less take home pay, and second, there has been a significant amount of political upheaval during the February. In addition to these headwinds, the South African Reserve Bank increased the interest rate for the eighth consecutive month. Fortunately these burdens did not seem to slow down recent sales momentum.”
Dommisse said it was difficult to predict how the 2023 new-vehicle market will play out, as there are so many factors influencing spending patterns of consumers and businesses.
“The energy crisis and ongoing load-shedding will drastically impact consumer confidence as the year goes on, but the market has proven its resilience for the past three years and Nada believes there is still growth potential,” he commented.
While momentum for the new vehicle market has been slow, Naamsa forecast that both domestic sales will grow by 6.3% to 563,000 units this year and export sales will grow 8.3% to 380,900 units. The year is riddled with a combination of challenges from logistic infrastructure to power security and pressures on business and household spending, however historic resilience by the industry is a safe compass driving industry aspiration, said Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa.
There were 29,976 new passenger cars sold last month, a 1.1% gain on February 2022, while light commercial vehicles (including bakkies and minibuses) grew 5.5% to 12,972.
Toyota maintained its position as the country’s top selling brand ahead of Volkswagen and Suzuki.
TOP SELLING NEW-VEHICLE BRANDS, FEBRUARY 2023:
Toyota — 11,560
Volkswagen — 5,288
Suzuki 4,309
Nissan — 3,712
Hyundai — 2,715
Ford — 2,499
Renault — 2112
Isuzu — 2,057
Kia — 1,843
Haval — 1,538
BMW — 1,392
Chery — 1,381
Mahindra — 1,201
Mercedes — 753
Honda — 354
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These were South Africa's top selling car brands in February
Car and light commercial vehicle sales grew slightly despite economic and load-shedding challenges
Image: Dall-E
South African new-vehicle sales saw a slight rise in February. The 45,352 domestic sales were 2.6% higher than the figure for the same month a year ago, according to figures released by Naamsa on March 1.
Year-to-date sales are up 4.3% which is encouraging, and despite odds seemingly skewed against consumers, says Mark Dommisse, chair of the National Automobile Dealers’ Association (Nada).
“First, it was budget month, which could have meant increased taxation and less take home pay, and second, there has been a significant amount of political upheaval during the February. In addition to these headwinds, the South African Reserve Bank increased the interest rate for the eighth consecutive month. Fortunately these burdens did not seem to slow down recent sales momentum.”
Dommisse said it was difficult to predict how the 2023 new-vehicle market will play out, as there are so many factors influencing spending patterns of consumers and businesses.
“The energy crisis and ongoing load-shedding will drastically impact consumer confidence as the year goes on, but the market has proven its resilience for the past three years and Nada believes there is still growth potential,” he commented.
While momentum for the new vehicle market has been slow, Naamsa forecast that both domestic sales will grow by 6.3% to 563,000 units this year and export sales will grow 8.3% to 380,900 units. The year is riddled with a combination of challenges from logistic infrastructure to power security and pressures on business and household spending, however historic resilience by the industry is a safe compass driving industry aspiration, said Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa.
There were 29,976 new passenger cars sold last month, a 1.1% gain on February 2022, while light commercial vehicles (including bakkies and minibuses) grew 5.5% to 12,972.
Toyota maintained its position as the country’s top selling brand ahead of Volkswagen and Suzuki.
TOP SELLING NEW-VEHICLE BRANDS, FEBRUARY 2023:
Toyota — 11,560
Volkswagen — 5,288
Suzuki 4,309
Nissan — 3,712
Hyundai — 2,715
Ford — 2,499
Renault — 2112
Isuzu — 2,057
Kia — 1,843
Haval — 1,538
BMW — 1,392
Chery — 1,381
Mahindra — 1,201
Mercedes — 753
Honda — 354
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
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