New Vehicle sales fell 13.3 percent to 37 521 units in February from those sold in the same month a year before, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (naamsa) chief executive Mike Mabasa said yesterday.
He said it had from yesterday changed its name to naamsa, the Automotive Business Council, following the inclusion into the organisation of a wider number of stakeholders. Export sales fell 8 percent to 29 582 units in February.
“We are convinced the automotive industry is going to change faster in the next ten years than it has in the last hundred years. Since the beginning of this year, we’ve invited other like-minded companies to join naamsa as associate members so they can directly influence the transformative direction we have set for ourselves,” said Mabasa.
Out of the total reported industry sales of 37 521 vehicles, an estimated 84.3 percent was from dealer sales, 10 percent were sales to the vehicle rental industry, 3.4 percent to government and 2.3 percent to industry corporate fleets.
The new passenger car market at 24 270 units declined 18.1 percent compared to 29 622 new cars sold in February 2020. Domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini-buses at 11 246 units fell 3.2 percent from those sold in the corresponding month last year.
Sales for medium and heavy truck segments fell 14.8 percent, while heavy truck and bus sales were up 3.1 percent, compared to the corresponding month last year. On exports, despite the monthly decline, vehicle export volumes were steadily gaining traction and for the first two months of 2021, vehicle exports were 3 895 units above the corresponding period last year.
Mabasa said the performance of the new vehicle market for the first two months of 2021 continued to reflect economic and social challenges in South Africa considering that the country’s economy was already in a recession before the outbreak of the global health Budget tax relief measures and the lower corporate income tax rate, along with the low interest rates and low inflation, he said.
BUSINESS REPORT