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 show 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 is that new-vehicle exports continue the positive trend seen to date this year. The local automotive assembly industry sold 28 291 units to markets abroad, which is a 24.4% jump on July last year.
The decline in the new-car market happened despite incentive packages offered by most automotive companies, notes the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).
“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 .”