New-vehicle sales in July declined by 6.1%, to 54 112 units, compared with the same month last year.

Sales numbers released by the Department of Trade and Industry on Monday, showed that new passenger car sales plummeted by 8.8% in July, to 36 506 units.

Sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses, at 15 090 units, gained 0.7%, while sales of medium trucks, at 841 units, dropped by 1.6%.

New heavy truck and bus sales contracted by 6.3%, to 1 675 units.

The good news was that new-vehicle exports continued the positive trend seen to date this year. The local automotive assembly industry sold 28 291 units to markets abroad, which was a 24.4% jump on July last year.

The decline in the new-car market happened despite attractive incentive packages on offer by most automotive companies, noted the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) in a statement.

“Intense competition in an increasingly difficult trading environment continued to put pressure on margins throughout the automotive value chain. Slower economic growth and the recent 0.25% increase in interest rates are expected to put further pressure on sales of new cars over the balance of the year.

“A positive feature was the contribution of the car rental sector, with more than one in six cars sold being purchased by car rental companies.”

Naamsa expected the market to remain under pressure over the short to medium term.

“Subdued levels of economic activity, electricity supply constraints, the impact of higher personal taxation, petrol price inflation, new vehicle price increases and higher interest rates will all continue to contribute to a deteriorating outlook for domestic new vehicle sales.

“Business confidence and consumer sentiment are also under pressure.”

Top-selling Cars and Bakkies in July:
1. Toyota Hilux 3 546
2. Volkswagen Polo Vivo 2 871
3. Ford Ranger 2 618
4. Volkswagen Polo 2 084
5. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest 1 919
6. Toyota Etios 1515
7. Nissan NP200 1 411
8. Isuzu KB 1 299
9. Chevrolet Utility 1 294
10. Toyota Quantum 1124

Notable Sales for July:
In tandem with a slowing economy, the entry-level Datsun Go has certainly seen sales increase over recent months, recording its best sales month to date in 2015, at 704 units.

Sales in June were 300 units, with 406 new Gos sold in May, 517 in April, 391 in March, 564 in February, and 604 in January.