JOHANNESBURG, August (ANA) - New vehicle sales rose by 2.6 percent year-on-year in July as 47,881 cars were sold for the month following another growth of three percent in June and 2.4 percent in May.
The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa) said that the latest domestic sales figures had been in line with industry expectations, but that exports had again disappointed as they fell 19.2 percent to only 28,063 from 34,720 cars last year.
The association said that the improvement in domestic sales, specifically new car sales, was encouraging against the background of recent weak economic growth numbers.
The new car market continued to be supported by steady consumer confidence and improved new vehicle affordability with average price increases of new cars remaining well below inflation for the fourth consecutive quarter, Naamsa said.
Naamsa said the latest lower than expected vehicle export sales numbers would necessitate a downward revision in 2018 industry export projections.
- African News Agency (ANA)
