Engineering News

New-vehicle sales in South Africa decreased by 6.8% in January, to 53 025 units, compared with the same month last year, according to statistics released by the Department of Trade and Industry.

During January, 38 008 new passenger cars were sold – a 7% drop, compared with the same month last year.

Sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses, at 13 145 units, were down 6.6%.

Sales of medium trucks and big vans stagnated, at 780 units. Heavy truck sales, at 1 092 units, declined 8%.
New-vehicle exports dropped 19.7%, to 13 960 units, compared with January last year.

This drop came as Mercedes-Benz South Africa halted exports as the company retooled its East London plant for the production of the 2014 C-Class, notes the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).
“Export sales during the first half of 2014 will be affected by the absence of any contribution by Mercedes-Benz.”
Domestically, 2014 new-vehicle sales are likely to experience headwinds as a result of above-inflation average new-vehicle price increases, the slowdown in the economy and, more recently, rising interest rates, adds the association.
As a result, Naamsa expects a challenging domestic trading environment, characterised by consolidation in sales numbers around the levels recorded last year “at best”.
Standard Bank vehicle and asset finance head Sydney Soundy says new-vehicle prices grew by 3.8% in 2013 over 2012. However, used- car pricing dropped 2.2%, which will see the used-car market “become more attractive”