Confidence levels on the dealer floor in January were at their highest level ever in the three-and-a-half year history of the Wesbank Vehicle Sales Confidence Indicator, said Wesbank sales and marketing executive head Chris de Kock on Tuesday.

He said that confidence levels had reached 6,5 out of ten among vehicle dealers in January, up from 5,7 in October.

“The more cars they are selling, the better the dealers are feeling. Dealers are basically selling lots of cars and making money.”

De Kock said that there had also been a significant uptick in the number of credit applications received at Wesbank. The vehicle financier had seen applications jump to 4 350 a day, compared with a low of 3 200 a day during the recession.

“We have almost returned to the levels seen in the boom period.”

Wesbank’s credit approval rate had increased by 11% since October 2010.

Other good news was that Wesbank’s repossession numbers had been shrinking, down from 2 300 a month, to less than a 1 000 vehicles a month.

General repossessions in the South African vehicle market had also come down from 7 000 a month, to around 3 000 vehicles a month.

The number of South African consumers with impaired credit records had also reduced for the first time since June 2007, with the number of credit-active consumers continuing to grow.

“This turning point is quite a relief,” said De Kock.

Of the more than 18-million credit users in South Africa, more than eight-million had impaired records.

De Kock noted that a normal upswing – from the bottom of a cycle to the top – generally lasted for 22 quarters in South Africa, adding that there remained seven quarters in the current upswing, which meant that he expected the new vehicle market to continue improving in South Africa in 2011.

“We expect to see 10% to 12% growth [in new vehicles sales] this year.”

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