New-vehicle sales in South Africa may, at best, decline by 16% in 2020, says Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) sales and marketing senior VP Leon Theron.

“That is if the situation returns to normal immediately after [the end of lockdown on April 30], which is clearly not possible,” he adds.

“So, one can expect an even greater contraction in sales for 2020.”

Theron is not, however, keen to predict a worst-case scenario for the local new-vehicle market.

“It’s going to be very fluid. We really don’t know what is going to happen. What we do foresee happening is that the premium market will be hit the hardest.”

Cash-strapped South Africans will also be forced, perhaps in greater numbers, to buy into the lower-end of the new-car market.

As Toyota, “we would like to still sell a respectable number of new vehicles this year”, says Theron. 

The Covid-19 pandemic has, however, not only affected sales, but also the country’s dealer networks.

TSAM has 260 dealers across the region, says Theron, employing around 15 000 people. 

Once lockdown is lifted, what will this dealership environment look like, especially considering the fact that it will be a gradual return to business, with Covid-19 still present?

“We are going to do it very responsibly,” says Theron.

“We are going to have to adhere to a strict code of conduct to minimise the risk of spreading the disease. 

“These measures include cutting down on the number of people in one courtesy vehicle being shuttled after dropping their vehicles for a service, to sanitising cars after they have been serviced.”

Other measures may include technicians collecting vehicles at the customer’s home for a service, and/or remote servicing, as well as customers booking time slots for services, so as not to crowd the dealership.

“We will be providing all our dealers with a startup kit that will include masks, sanitisers, gloves, cleaning kits for cars, so we are ready,” adds TSAM CEO and president Andrew Kirby.

“Once lockdown is lifted, every Toyota, Hino and Lexus dealer will be open,” notes Theron.

“Our dealers are very keen to get back to business.”

Regarding job losses within dealerships, Kirby notes that TSAM is trying to “secure those jobs. There are some risks with some of our smaller dealers, but it really depends on how quickly business picks up when we all go back to work”.