South Africa's new vehicle market is declining at an increasingly rapid rate.
After June's 4.8 percent year-on-year drop, July saw the overall sales fall 6.1 percent, compared to July last year, to 54 112 - this year's biggest decline so far.
The passenger car market is taking the most strain, falling 8.8 percent year-on-year in July, while medium and heavy truck sales (a certain indicator of business confidence) slipped by 1.6 and 6.3 percent respectively. Light commercials provided the only real glimmer of hope, with a modest 0.7 percent gain over July 2014.
Wesbank Motor executive Simphiwe Nghona said: “Major competition and very attractive marketing incentives from manufacturers have driven LCV sales all year. Even though sales in this segment look relatively flat, they're quite positive given the overall market conditions.”
The overall market decline came in spite of a strong contribution by the rental industry, which gobbled 11.1 percent of the pie, while dealer sales accounted for just 82.4 percent, corporate fleets took 3.4 percent and government 3.1 percent.
PRESSURE ON MARGINS
According to Naamsa, intense competition between car companies in this difficult environment is continuing to put pressure on profit margins while the recent 0.25 percent interest rate increase is expected to hurt the industry further, as will the subdued economic growth, new vehicle price increases due to rand weakness and lower business confidence. Sigh.
Even the fuel price, which dropped this month by between 51 cents (petrol) and 75 cents (diesel), is not expected to provide too much relief in the medium to long term, with analysts warning that the volatility of both the rand and international oil prices could set us up for increases in the coming months.
On the bright side, for those that manufacture at least, is that export sales rose 24.4 percent year-on-year to 28 291 units in August and South Africa is well on course for a record 330 000 exports this year.
HILUX BACK ON TOP
On the local sales charts, Toyota's Hilux bounced back with a vengeance after being beaten by the Ford Ranger in recent months - the Japanese bakkie outsold its rival by over 900 units.
At the lower end of the market, the Renault Sandero and Datsun Go had particularly strong months, the Renault up from 705 to 899 units and the Datsun Go (ing) from 300 to 704.
TOP COMPANIES
1. Toyota - 11 235
2. Volkswagen - 8475
3. Ford - 6429
4. AMH/AAD - 5650
5. General Motors - 4947
6. Nissan - 4285
7. Mercedes-Benz - 2939
8. Renault - 2080
9. BMW - 1913
10. Mazda - 802
TOP 100 REPORTED SALES - JULY 2015*
1. Toyota Hilux - 3546
2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo - 2871
3. Ford Ranger - 2618
4. Volkswagen Polo - 2084
5. Toyota Corolla/Quest/Auris - 1919
6. Toyota Etios - 1515
7. Nissan NP200 - 1411
8. Isuzu KB - 1299
9. Chevrolet Utility - 1294
10. Toyota Quantum - 1124
11. Nissan NP300/Hardbody - 997
12. Ford Fiesta - 948
13. Renault Sandero - 899
14. Ford Figo - 893
15. Ford EcoSport - 732
16. Toyota Fortuner - 717
17. Datsun Go - 704
18. BMW 3 Series - 669
19. Volkswagen Golf - 616
20. Toyota Rav4 - 597
21. Toyota Avanza - 505
22. Audi A3 - 444
23. Renault Duster - 436
24. Ford Kuga - 432
25. Ford Focus - 417
26. Chevrolet Spark - 381
27. Renault Clio - 354
28. Toyota Land Cruiser PU - 328
29. Nissan X-Trail - 323
30. Volkswagen Jetta - 320
31. Renault Captur - 311
32. BMW 1 Series - 303
33. Opel Corsa - 300
34. Chevrolet Aveo - 298
35. Volkswagen Amarok - 296
36. Chevrolet Cruze - 291
37. Audi A4 - 276
38. Nissan Qashqai - 236
39. Toyota Yaris - 227
40. Mazda CX-5 - 226
41. Volkswagen Up - 217
42. Mazda3 - 205
43. Jeep Grand Cherokee - 203
44. Volkswagen Tiguan - 194
45. Opel Mokka - 188
46. Chevrolet Sonic - 187
47. Suzuki Celerio - 184
48. Mazda2 - 179
49. Honda HR-V - 177
50. Honda Brio - 172
51. Volkswagen Caddy - 168
52. Suzuki Swift - 163
53. Ford Ikon - 159
54. Audi Q3 - 150
55. BMW X5 - 148
56. BMW 4 Series - 138
57. Volvo V40 - 132
58. Honda Jazz - 131
58. Mazda BT-50 - 131
60. BMW 2 Series - 129
61. Toyota Prado - 128
62. Audi A1 - 122
63. Land Rover Discovery - 114
63. Nissan NV350 Taxi - 114
65. Audi Q5 - 113
65. Nissan Micra - 113
67. Range Rover Evoque - 112
68. BMW X3 - 111
69. Chevrolet Captiva - 108
69. Jeep Cherokee - 108
71. Suzuki Jimny - 107
72. Mahindra Bolero - 106
73. Range Rover Sport - 104
74. Honda CR-V - 100
75. Opel Adam - 96
76. Land Rover Disco Sport - 94
77. Ford Transit - 91
77. Mitsubishi ASX - 91
79. Volkswagen T5 - 90
80. Audi A5 - 80
81. Mahindra Scorpio Pik-Up - 79
82. Jeep Renegade - 75
83. Chevrolet Trailblazer - 71
83. Renault Megane - 71
83. Volkswagen Golf SV - 71
86. Nissan Navara - 70
87. Mini Hatch 5-dr - 66
88. Jeep Wrangler - 65
89. BMW X4 - 64
90. Honda Ballade - 63
90. Mini Hatch 3-dr - 63
92. BMW 5 Series - 62
93. Jeep Compass - 60
94. Lexus NX - 57
95. Toyota Land Cruiser 200 - 56
96. Nissan NV200 - 54
96. Tata Super Ace - 54
96. Volkswagen Touareg - 54
99. Nissan Juke - 53
100. Fiat 500 - 51
100. Peugeot 208 - 51
*List excludes non-reporters such as Mercedes-Benz, Hyundai, Kia and GWM. Shame on them.
Data: Lightstone Auto, Naamsa