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South Africa's new vehicle market ended 2022 on a high, with December's new vehicle sales registering their twelfth consecutive month of year-on-year growth.
Industry association, Naamsa, said on Monday that aggregate new vehicle sales grew 16.2%, with 41 783 units sold, an increase of 5 839 in December 2021.
Naamsa said the new passenger car and light commercial vehicle markets reflected a sound performance with a year-on-year volume increase of 15.4% in the case of new passenger cars and a gain of 16.1% in the case of light commercial vehicles.
Export sales in December also ended the year on a positive note, increasing 24.2%.
Naamsa chief executive, Mikel Mabasa, said despite the myriad of negative economic pressures and ongoing stock supply shortages, the new vehicle market continued to outperform expectations in 2022.
“On a positive note, the lifting of all COVID-19 lockdown restrictions in the country in 2022 along with the recovery in business and leisure travel provided some support to the new vehicle market to counter the growing pressures on household incomes,” he said.
Mabasa added that stronger sales in the various commercial vehicle segments indicated improved business confidence, even in tough economic times.
