November car sales show decline
Sales figures, they drive (no pun intended) everything. And mostly we groan at the barrage of numbers that are thrown at us. However, they can be an incredibly useful tool confirming decisions we’ve made, like deciding to keep your car longer or buy pre-loved instead of brand new.
The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) has confirmed a decline in the new-vehicle sales for November 2019. A benchmark for industry performance and the general economic climate these figures reflect that financially we’re not able to afford new as easily as before.
The passenger car sales (think VW Golf, Renault Kwid, Toyota Rav) have been strongly supported by the sales of rental cars to agencies. This, in a roundabout way, is good news, more rental cars mean we’re getting more tourists which is great for the economy overall.
Year-on-year comparison for November 2018 and 2019 shows an increase in sales. Passenger sales have a total of 31 444 units, which is an increase of 392 units compared to the 31 052 vehicles sold in November 2018.
Surprisingly there has been a decrease of 3 038 for bakkie sales. In November 2018 bakkies sales were a total of 13 717, only 10 679 light commercial vehicles were sold last month. Bakkie sales in South Africa are a fraught segment with the top honours being fought over between Toyota’s Hilux and Ford’s Ranger. This segment dropping by 3 000 units and passenger car sales increasing year-on-year highlights that we’re rethinking our budgets when purchasing new vehicles, the cheaper and smaller options being financially savvy buying decisions.
The declining trend in the vehicle market continued into November 2019 due to the low economic growth and household income with the rising costs of living. Conditions in the passenger vehicle market are under pressure. These numbers add further credence to AA’s Going Further report that found car owners are keeping vehicles longer than before.
However, vehicles exported are performing well with a new annual record achieved with another month of the year left to go.
During the first eleven months, 374 215 vehicles have been exported surpassing the previous record of 351 139 in 2018 by 23 076.
-END-
Images: iStock