Figures released on Tuesday, 4 October 2011, by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) show an increase of 30% in total new vehicle sales from September 2010 to the same month this year - up from 41 825 vehicles to 54 364.
Total year to date domestic sales are 16.2% ahead of the corresponding nine months in 2010 and the September export sales jumped by 106.9%.
Of the total September sales of 54 364 vehicles, 77.8% or 42 279 units represented dealer sales, 15.9% represented sales to the car rental industry, 3.5% sales to government and 2.8% represented industry corporate fleet sales.
NAAMSA attributes the sharp improvement in the growth momentum in the new car sales cycle to an ongoing improvement in the financial position of consumers on the back of relatively low interest rates, further improvement in vehicle affordability in real terms and the positive influence of aggressive marketing and sales incentive programmes during the month. In addition, consumers would have been encouraged to bring forward planned purchases in light of the risk of future price increases as a result of the recent substantial depreciation in the Rand exchange rate.
Sales of industry new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses had exceeded expectations and at 14 006 units during September, 2011 reflected an increase of 4 109 units or a gain of 41.5% compared to the 9 897 units sold in the corresponding month last year. For the first nine months of 2011, new light commercial vehicle sales were ahead by 10.9% compared to the corresponding period last year.
The latest sales figures are ahead of industry expectations and the new car market for 2011 could show an improvement of about 15%, in volume terms, on the 2010 figures.
Additional consumer interest is also expected as a result of numerous new model launches at the Johannesburg International Motor Show which will be held at Expo Centre, Nasrec, from 6-16 October 2011.
