Hopes that the SA new-vehicle market could recover to pre-Covid levels in 2023 are at risk after another deflating sales performance in November.
A total of 45,075 cars and commercial vehicles were sold last month — 9.8% fewer than the 49,986 of November 2022, according to data from industry association Naamsa on Friday. It was the fourth month in a row that comparative sales fell. After 11 months of 2023, the aggregate market totals 491,967. That’s only 0.8% ahead of the 487,836 at the same stage last year. At the end of October, the gap was 2.1%.
In 2019, the full-year market was 536,612. In 2022, it was 529,562.
While SA’s general economic woes and shortage of cash among consumers contributed to falling sales, Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa also blamed “the return of stage six load-shedding and supply chain disruptions at Transnet”.
Some local motor companies have had to cut production because of load-shedding — Volkswagen SA (VWSA), for example, has built 10,000 fewer vehicles this year than planned — and Transnet’s failures are complicating both local production and the movement of vehicles.
Thomas Schaefer, former VWSA MD and now head of the global VW group’s car operations, said last week that these issues, if unresolved, threatened the very existence of the SA motor industry.
Car sales continued their decline last month. The total of 29,384 was 12.1% fewer than in November 2022. Even bakkies and minibuses, saviours of the overall market for much of this year, suffered — down 3.9% from a year earlier. Sales of medium trucks slid 13.5% while heavy trucks experienced a 10.7% decline.
Vehicle exports fared better in November, when 41,660 vehicles were shipped out. That was 25.5% more than in the corresponding month of 2022.
After 11 months of 2023, aggregate exports are 13.8% ahead of last year — up from 325,490 to 370,284. Exports are the lifeblood of the local motor industry — they account for nearly two-thirds of production — and companies prioritise their logistical needs above all else.
Note: December 1 2023
The figures in this story have been corrected throughout as per the re-issued Naamsa statement.
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