New-vehicle sales in August increased by 6.7% compared with the same month last year, to 49 222 units.
Sales numbers released by the Department of Trade and Industry on Friday show that new passenger car sales jumped by 5.4%, to 32 161 units.
Sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses, at 14 834 units, also showed positive momentum, gaining 10.8%.
New heavy truck and bus sales increased by 6.1%, to 1 594 units.
It was not all good news, however.
August sales of new medium trucks, at 633 units, dropped by 13.9% in the domestic market.
New-vehicle exports also fell, declining by 12.9% to 29 927 units.
The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) notes in a statement that the domestic automotive industry “continues to hold up relatively well in the current difficult economic environment”.
The association says the August new-vehicle market was assisted by reduced new vehicle pricing pressure, overall lower inflationary trends, as well as a recent cut in interest rates, all serving to provide some relief to consumers.
“Attractive sales incentives also supported demand.”
Naamsa says it anticipates the overall new-vehicle market for 2017 to be at levels similar to those recorded in 2016, with the possibility – based on domestic sales over the last two months – of an improvement of between 1% and 1.5%.