New vehicle sales in 2017 are finally in credit, after a 6.5% improvement in August lifted numbers for the year so far, above those of 2016.
Figures were released Friday by the department of trade and industry.
Sales of 49,224 new vehicles in August outperformed the 46,224 of August 2016. As a result, aggregate sales of 366,316 for the first eight months were 0.6% ahead of 2016’s 364,279.
New car sales of 32,161 in August were 5.1% better than last year’s 30,600. Sales of light commercial vehicles, mainly bakkies, showed a 10.8% improvement, but most heavier vehicles continued to lose ground. Extra-heavy trucks were an exception, gaining 12.4%.
Exports disappointed in August, falling 12.9% from a year earlier, from 34,358 to 29,927. Ford was the main victim; shipments of Ranger bakkies were well below those of previous months, and down by more than 50% from July. Ford officials could not immediately be reached for comment.
Following some weak months early in 2016 that threatened to send full-year sales into a fourth consecutive year of decline, the market has rallied and looks like it will improve on 2016, though not by much.
The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) said the market was "holding up relatively well", thanks to restrained pricing and attractive sales incentives by manufacturers and dealers.
It said: "We anticipate that the overall market for 2017 will be at levels similar to those recorded in 2016 with the possibility, based on domestic sales over the last two months, of an overall improvement of 1%-1.5%." WesBank analyst Rudolf Mahoney said: "It looks like the market is more resilient than we gave it credit for."
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