The 2024 new-vehicle market continued its late-year rally in December but not enough for full-year sales to overtake 2023.
Figures released on Wednesday by vehicle manufacturers and importers association Naamsa show that 41,273 new cars and commercial vehicles were sold last month.
That was 2.5% more than the 40,262 of December 2023 – the third consecutive month of year-on-year improvement.
However, the full-year total of 515,712 was 3% fewer than the 531,775 of 2023. Tellingly, it once again fell short of the pre-Covid 2019 market of 536,612.
Cars were the only vehicles to increase sales in 2024 — by 1.1%, from 347,379 to 351,302. Light commercial vehicles, primarily bakkies and minibuses, experienced a 12% drop in demand, from 151,490 to 133,254.
Medium commercials lost 6.5%, from 8,252 to 7,714, while sales of heavy trucks and buses retreated 4.9%, from 24,654 to 23,442.
Analysts say that while the last-quarter boost to new vehicle sales augurs well for 2025, economic conditions and consumer debt will continue to limit market growth.
There is the added threat to established motor companies, from the growing demand for Chinese vehicles. Along with Japanese importer Suzuki, they significantly increased their market share in 2025.
Local vehicle manufacturers must also deal with increasingly tough export conditions. For the first time since Covid-affected 2020, exports declined in 2024, falling 22.8% from 399,594 to 308,830.
Naamsa CEO Mikel Mabasa blamed slowing demand in the EU, the SA industry’s main export region.
Reasons included “low economic growth, stricter emission rules, and competition from cheaper electric vehicle imports from China in the region”.
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