Vehicle sales in February showed modest growth compared to the same period last year, growing by 6.4%, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa) said.
Aggregate industry sales improved by 3 159 units or 6.4% to 52 356 vehicles from 49 197 units in February 2011.
Aggregate industry new car sales in February at 36 357 units — which include Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) — showed an improvement of 2 303 units compared to the 34 054 new cars sold in February last year. MBSA is, for the time being, providing a single total sales number for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and export sales.
In January’s vehicle data, the association said that MBSA received a global directive by parent company Daimler AG (Germany) instructing MBSA not to report disaggregated sales data for the meantime. It will, however, provide a single total sales number for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
“The new car market had received support from car rental industry demand, which accounted for about 10.5% of total new car sales,” said Naamsa on Friday.
Overall, out of the total detailed (disaggregated) reported industry sales of 49 556 vehicles (excluding MBSA), 82.2% represented dealer sales, while 7.6% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 5.8% sales to government and 4.4% to industry corporate fleet sales.
Industry total commercial vehicle sales at 15 999 units showed an improvement of 5.7% compared to the 15 143 units sold in February last year.
South African produced export vehicles, including Mercedes-Benz, at 22 630 had registered a 10% decline compared to February 2011.
“Industry export sales were expected to improve from April 2012 onwards as the Ford global compact vehicle export programme and the BMW new 3 series export volumes were ramped up,” said the association, adding that exports to Europe were likely to soften because of the debt crisis in the Eurozone.
“This could be offset by higher export volumes to African countries. At this stage, it was anticipated that for the year as a whole, vehicle exports could grow by about 10% to just over 300 000 units.”
Naamsa expects total industry sales for 2012 to be of modest growth.
“Factors that would continue to lend support to the domestic market included the on-going improvement in the financial position of consumers, relatively low interest rates, continuing improvement in vehicle affordability in real terms, the highly competitive trading environment and new model introductions.
“Domestic sales were expected to continue to reflect growth, but at a relatively subdued rate,” said the association.
During February a total of 36357 new passenger cars were sold in South Africa. Total new passenger car sales in February increased by 2.7 percent when compared to the January 2012 market, and by 6.8 percent when compared to February 2011, bringing the year-to-date February market to a level 7.1 percent above the same period for 2011.
As was the case in January the performance of the new passenger car market in February was probably more robust than generally expected. The selling rate of new cars per day in February registered the highest level since September 2011, a month which was strongly assisted by sales to rental car companies, and before that since September 2007.
Volkswagen Uitenhage:
“Volkswagen Group South Africa (VWSA) retained its passenger car market leadership position, capturing 21.5 percent of the market in February. This equated to sales of 7 814 units during the month, and was once again spearheaded by the market dominance of the locally-produced Polo Vivo (2 651 sales) and Polo/Polo Sedan (2 470 sales),”said VWSA Sales and Marketing Director, Mike Glendinning.
The Audi Brand finished the month with 1 140 sales – with its strongest seller still the Audi A4 Sedan/Avant, of which 371 units were sold during February.
“The Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Brand reported sales of 1 111 units during February. The Amarok Single and Double Cab pick-ups accounted for nearly three quarters of these sales – with a cumulative 817 units leaving the showroom floors during the month,” said Glendinning.
“We are confident that the demand for new cars willcontinue to be supported during the year by declining real new vehicle prices and improved affordability with interest rates potentially remaining unchanged for the duration of 2012,” concluded Glendinning.
GMSA Port Elizabeth:
The Chevrolet Utility continues to be South Africa’s best loved sub 1-ton bakkie having sold 1 846 units in February. This locally built light commercial vehicle (LCV) has been leader in the segment for nearly 7 years now.
Built at the same plant as the Chevrolet Utility, the Isuzu KB sold 1 029 units giving GMSA a share of 22,3% of the overall LCV market.
Together with its passenger cars, General Motors South Africa (GMSA) sold 5 755 units out of total new vehicle deliveries of 52 356 for the month according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), accounting for 11% share of the market. Total vehicle sales for February were up 6,4% on the same month last year.
Chevrolet products performed well in the top ten passenger vehicle sales log in February with the Aveo placed at number seven with 710 sales. The newly launched Chevrolet Sonic is fast catching the attention of small car buyers, recording sales of 521 units. During the first two months of this year our Chevrolet sales volumes increased by 10% versus the same period last year.
“The market performance in February provides a clearer picture of market moving ahead with trading conditions more settled after the start up to the new year,” says Malcolm Gauld, GMSA’s Vice President; Sales and Marketing. “The growth in sales compared to February last year is in line with our expectations at 6,4%.
“The market is ahead by 9,1% for the first two months of 2012 but we expect that this may well normalise at a slightly lower number through the year. February returned relatively strong sales at dealer level. A high intensity of marketing and promotional activity together with ongoing new model introductions will have played a role in drawing buyers into the market. Stock levels were also more balanced with a more free supply of popular models.”
“Looking ahead we expect that the positive sales trend will continue, a little muted perhaps compared to 2011, but still in firm positive ground. There is a lot of new model excitement to come through the year which will sustain buyer interest. As ever there are a number of economic factors to consider. Amongst those the global oil price seems to be the most volatile and the one most likely to impact on inflation with the prime rate and stability of the rand in the background.”
Alan Straton
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