South Africa's new vehicle sales picture is still on the rosy side but January 2012's figures, just released by NAAMSA, show that the momentum is slowing.
Last month saw total industry sales of 48 251 vehicles, up 7.0 percent on January last year. 35 428 of these were passenger cars.
It was still the best January sales performance in five years, however, largely fuelled by strong rental car demand.
The aforementioned figures include Mercedes-Benz's overall numbers, although (due to parent company politics that may be resolved soon) that company's individual model sales cannot be disclosed for the time being.
Excluding MB sales, 79 percent of January's new vehicles were sold through dealer channels while 12.8 percent were sales to rental companies, 4.7 percent to government and 3.4 percent to corporate fleets.
Export sales for the month amounted to 10 445 units (excl. MB), a 2.6 percent improvement over January 2011's numbers (incl. MB).
Looking at the numbers below, there were a few surprises as the 'new' Volkswagen Polo came close to its older Polo Vivo sibling in the passenger car sales race.
Toyota's new Yaris also crept into the top five, just behind the increasingly popular Ford Figo, while the Nissan Juke made its way into the top 10 with 602 units - surprising for a niche vehicle of this kind.
TOP 30 PASSENGER VEHICLES:
1. Volkswagen Polo Vivo - 2964
2. Volkswagen Polo - 2644
3. Toyota Corolla/Auris - 1598
4. Ford Figo - 1337
5. Toyota Yaris - 882
6. Volkswagen Golf - 659
7. Chevrolet Aveo - 657
8. Chevrolet Cruze - 606
9. Nissan Juke - 602
10. BMW 3 Series - 590
11. Toyota Fortuner - 589
12. Nissan Micra - 580
13. Audi A4 - 567
14. BMW 1 Series - 520
15. Ford Fiesta - 500
16. Renault Sandero - 481
17. Chevrolet Spark - 438
18. Chevrolet Sonic - 431
19. Volkswagen Jetta - 414
20. Audi A3 - 391
21. Honda Jazz - 335
22. Volkswagen Tiguan - 293
23. Nissan Qashqai - 276
24. Chevrolet Captiva - 272
25. Land Rover Discovery - 242
26. Ford Focus - 234
27. Range Rover Evoque - 233
28. Toyota Aygo - 226
29. Mini range - 225
30. BMW 5 Series - 217
TOP 20 LIGHT COMMERCIALS:
1. Toyota Hilux - 2774
2. Nissan NP200 - 1506
3. Chevrolet Utility - 1205
4. Toyota Quantum - 927
5. Isuzu KB - 800
6. Nissan NP300 - 596
7. Ford Bantam - 581
8. Volkswagen Amarok - 502
9. Mazda BT-50 - 243
10. Ford Ranger - 228
11. Nissan Navara - 198
12. Toyota Land Cruiser P/U - 190
13. Volkswagen Caddy - 120
14. Mahindra Scorpio P/U - 84
15. Mitsubishi Triton - 77
16. Volkswagen T5 C-Bus - 69
17. Land Rover Defender - 66
17. Tata Xenon - 66
19. Opel Combo - 53
20. Mahindra Bolero - 49
-Source: NAAMSA
INDUSTRY FIGURES SAID:
“While still early in the year current circumstances and expectations seem to suggest slow growth in the new passenger car market during 2012, with growth rates probably remaining in single digits.” -Mike Glendinning, VWSA sales and marketing director
“Market growth this year is not going to be seen in big numbers as was the case in 2011, purely because the market had already returned to a strong position last year,” said Stoneley. “It means that even small growth this year is indicative of a strong new vehicle market.” - Dean Stoneley, Ford SA marketing and sales VP
“As ever one has to view the January numbers with a degree of caution with some carry over in new registrations from December and varied close-off dates for December reporting. A more realistic perspective is typically gained with the February sales returns.” - Malcolm Gauld, GMSA sales and marketing VP