The top three countries from which South Africa imported vehicles in 2013 were India, at number one, with 97 167 vehicles, South Korea second, at 62 058 units, and Germany third, at 56 997 units, says Standard Bank vehicle and asset finance head Sydney Soundy.
This means India has the highest contribution to total imports, at 24.9%, followed by South Korea, at 15.9%, and Germany, at 14.6%.
India is home to a number of domestic brands, such as Mahindra, but has also, in recent years, developed into a manufacturing hub for a number of European, Korean and US brands. The Ford Figo and Toyota Etios come from India, for example.
In 2004, only 1.2% of all South African new- vehicle imports came from India, accounting for 0.3% of all new-vehicle sales, says Soundy. However, in 2004, there was only one vehicle manufacturer that imported vehicles from India.
In 2013, there were ten different vehicle manufacturers importing products from the subcontinent.
“This has changed tremendously, with imports from India now accounting for 14.9% of all new vehicles sold [in South Africa],” notes Soundy.
Owing to the eurozone crisis, a number of European carmakers have moved some of their manufacturing plants and facilities into Asia to take advantage of lower operating costs, says Soundy.
“In 2013, imported vehicles made up 59.8% of the total vehicles sold in South Africa. This is a huge increase in imports compared with ten years ago, when imported vehicles made up only 21.2% of vehicles sold.
“Of the 389 461 imported vehicles sold in 2013, 86.6% were passenger cars. Imported passenger vehicles make up 74.8% of the total passenger car market.”
South Africa imported vehicles from five different, countries in 1994, adds Soundy, while, in 2013, this increased to 31 different countries.