New-vehicle sales continued their downward spiral in August, dropping by 8.2% to 51 055 units, compared with the same month last year.

New-vehicle sales in the domestic market declined by 6.1% in July and 4.8% in June.

Sales numbers released by the Department of Trade and Industry show that new passenger car sales declined by 7.8% in August to 34 885 units.

Sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses, at 13 781 units, dropped by 7.8%, while sales of medium trucks, at 889 units, contracted by 11.2%.

New heavy truck and bus sales plummeted by 17.9% to 1 500 units.

Vehicle exports maintained their momentum for the year, however, increasing by 12.3% to 28 069 units.

The underlying trend in domestic new car and commercial vehicle sales remains negative, says the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa.

“Despite attractive incentive packages on offer by most automotive companies, trading conditions remained extremely challenging.

“Vehicle manufacturers with substantial export sales were cushioned to some extent against the impact of the weaker exchange rate, but imports of fully built-up vehicles were subjected to the full impact of exchange rate pressures.

Intense competition in the increasingly difficult trading environment continued to put pressure on margins throughout the domestic automotive value chain.”

Statistics released by Standard Bank show that consumers were feeling the pinch of a weakening domestic economy.

The average contract term for passenger car financing increased from 65.9 months in August last year to 69.3 months in August 2015, says Nicholas Nkosi, head of Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance.

Not only are consumers taking longer to pay off their cars, they are also targeting more-affordable vehicles.

Nkosi says the average deal size decreased from R305 774 in August last year to R289 006 in August 2015.

Top-selling Cars and Bakkies in August:
1. Volkswagen Polo Vivo2 711
2. Ford Ranger2 472
3. Toyota Hilux2 449
4. Volkswagen Polo2 313
5. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest2 215
6. Nissan NP2001 565
7. Toyota Etios1 417
8. Isuzu KB1 400
9. Chevrolet Utility1 301
10. Ford Fiesta1 230