New vehicle sales for October softened marginally in terms of year-to-date performance, despite showing reassuring gains year-on-year.
October sales increased 11.4% to 45,966 units compared to the same month last year, according to naamsa | The Automotive Business Council. “While this performance in isolation continues to be reassuring to South Africa’s new vehicle market, it needs to be considered in terms of the performance for the rest of 2022 and the easing off of market activity year-to-date,” said Lebogang Gaoaketse, Head of Marketing and Communications at WesBank.
Sales during the month had declined off September sales, down 3.8%, albeit that September was the second-best selling month of 2022. As a result, year-to-date market performance has eased to 13.1% from the year-to-September figure of 13.4%.
“The good news is that sales have breached the 400,000 mark by some margin and that a new vehicle market of over 500,000 units for the year is definitely possible,” said Gaoaketse. “In perspective, the year-to-date growth compared to last year is 50,713 units, or a good full month’s sales extra this year, which is good news for the industry and dealers alike.”
Passenger cars contributed 10.4% growth during October to 30,597 units. Dealer sales in the segment accounted for 24,454 units, an increase of 12.5% compared to October last year. Passenger car sales also broke a milestone year-to-date figure to reach 301,137 units, which is 19.8% ahead of the same 10 months last year.
A similar perspective is not so rosy for the Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) segment, which is down 1% year-to-date compared to 2021 to 111,751 sales. October sales in the segment outperformed passenger cars percentagewise however, growing 14.3% to 12,738 units year-on-year. Dealers retailed 13.9% more LCVs in October than in the same month last year, at 11,052 units.
The rental market contributed 6,032 units to the overall market volume during the month, up 4.5%.
“October sales remained reassuringly robust given the logistical disruptions experienced during the month,” said Gaoaketse. “With the rise in interest rates last month and the economic outlook provided by the mid-term budget, South African consumers are faced with a balancing act of affordability versus a growing need to replace their vehicles, a decision largely delayed over the past two years given the pandemic. It provides a cauldron of opportunity for the motor industry to meet the needs of motorists,” said Gaoaketse.