November new-vehicle sales provided little festive cheer ahead of the holiday season, continuing the negative trend evident throughout this year by dropping 9.6%, to 46 413 units, compared with November last year.
Statistics released by the Department of Trade and Industry show that November new-passenger-car sales declined by 13.8%, to 28 334 units.
Sales of new bakkies, minibuses and vans, at 15 632 units, inched up 1%, while sales of medium trucks, at 830 units, dropped by 18.7%.
New heavy-truck and bus sales declined by 17.1%, to 1 617 units.
The latest truck-sales figures suggest continued lower levels of capital investment in the economy and reflect the subdued economic conditions in South Africa, notes the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).
New-vehicle exports provided some good news for the month, increasing by 12.1%, to 31 508 vehicles, compared with November last year.
Naamsa says the upward momentum in new-vehicle exports is expected to continue into 2017.
In the domestic market, however, the short to medium-term outlook for new-vehicle sales “remains extremely challenging”.
Double-digit new-vehicle price inflation, pressure on household disposable income, low levels of consumer and business confidence and relatively high interest rates create a negative environment for new-vehicle sales.
This said, however, Naamsa believes the new-vehicle market could experience marginal growth next year.
“On the assumption that the economy would register growth in 2017, in real terms, of around 1%, new-vehicle sales could grow by between 3% and 4%.”