Domestic vehicle sales were up three percent in June but industry association Naamsa said exports in June fell by more than 15%.
Releasing June sales figures on Monday, Naamsa said aggregate vehicle sales in June at 45 32 were three percent up year on year.
"Overall, out of the total reported Industry sales of 46678 vehicles, an estimated 38498 units or 82.5% represented dealer sales, an estimated 11.0% represented sales to the vehicle rental Industry, 3.7% to industry corporate fleets and 2.8% to government," Naamsa said.
"The June 2018 new car market at 29886 units had registered a marginal improvement of 1261 cars or a gain of 4.4% compared to the 28625 new cars sold in June last year. On the back of fleeting replenishment the car rental industry contribution had recovered substantially by 15.1% during the month," said CEO Nico Vermeulen.
He said domestic sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses, at 14261 units, had declined during June 2018 by 58 units or 0.4% compared to the 14319 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.
Sales in the low volume medium and heavy truck segments of the Industry had reflected a mixed picture and at 731 units and 1800 units, respectively, had recorded a decrease of 22 vehicles or a decline of 2.9%, in the case of medium commercial vehicles, and, in the case of heavy trucks and buses, an improvement of 165 vehicles or a gain of 10.1% compared to the corresponding month last year.
"The improvement in domestic sales, particularly new car sales, was encouraging given recent weak economic growth and investment numbers," said Vermeulen.
"It appeared that the new car market had been supported by improved business and consumer confidence. However, the decline in the leading indicator of the Reserve Bank over the past two months suggested a challenging economic environment going forward. Normally new vehicle sales during the second half of a calendar year tended to show improvement on first-half sales and this reinforced NAAMSA’s expectations of a modest annual improvement in 2018 domestic sales volumes compared to 2017," he said.
Naamsa continued to project growth in export sales over the balance of the year, however, the industry’s export performance was likely to be affected by current protectionist policies in the United States which had increased the risk of a global trade war and this could impact on international trade flows, including vehicle exports.
