Macro political as well as socio-economic developments have been listed as some of the reasons behind a slump in investor confidence and consequently a steep drop in new vehicle sales in September.
Industry association Naamsa says consumers similarly would have been affected and concerns about the macro socio- economic environment was likely to have resulted in a deferral of purchasing decisions.
Aggregate industry domestic sales in September had improved by 740 units or 1.4% compared with September 2011.
Naamsa says total domestic sales for the nine months of the year remained 10%ahead of the corresponding nine months last year.
September, 2012 export sales at 26 638 vehicles had registered marginal improvement of 703 units or 2.7%
"Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) provides a single total sales number for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and export sales. Based on historical sales trends and forecasting techniques, Messrs RGT SMART (NAAMSA's data processing service provider) had compiled estimates for MBSA commercial vehicle sales by segment," Naamsa said in a statement on Tuesday.
"Overall, out of the total detailed (dis-aggregated) reported Industry sales of 52 368 vehicles (excluding MBSA), 78.4% or 41 040 units represented dealer sales, 13.9% represented sales to the vehicle rental Industry, 3.4% Industry corporate fleet sales and 4.3% to government."
"Aggregate Industry new car sales during September, 2012 had maintained modest upward momentum and at 39 496 units (including MBSA) reflected an improvement of 1 667 units or 4.4% compared to the 37 829 new cars sold during September 2011. Year to date new car sales remained 11.5% ahead of the corresponding nine months of 2011, whilst the daily selling rate during September, 2012 had continued close to 6 year high levels. The September 2012 new car market, for the third month in succession, had been supported by strong demand on the part of car rental companies with the car rental Industry accounting for 18.6% of total sales."
"Including estimates for MBSA commercial vehicle sales by segment - sales of Industry new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini buses had reflected a decline and at 13 279 units during September, 2012 showed a decrease of 725 units or 5.2% compared to the 14 004 light commercial vehicle sales during the corresponding month last year. The sales figures probably reflected a fall in general business confidence."
"Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments of the Industry at an estimated 779 and 1 543 units, respectively, had recorded a decrease of 73 units or 8.6%, in the case of medium commercial vehicles, and a decline of 129 units or 7.7%, in the case of heavy trucks and buses, compared to the corresponding month last year. The weak sales performance also reflected lower business confidence."
"Exports of South African produced motor vehicles, including MBSA export sales data, during September, 2012 at 26 638 vehicles had registered a marginal improvement of 703 units or 2.7 % compared to the 25 935 vehicles exported in September last year. The momentum of Industry export sales could receive support over the medium term as various export programmes were ramped up.'
" Exports of light commercial vehicles in particular were expected to increase substantially in 2013. However, exports into Europe would remain under pressure as the Eurozone automotive Industry continued to be characterized by massive over capacity and sluggish demand."
"Despite prospects of a lower domestic economic growth environment, there were a number of factors that would continue to support domestic sales. These included historically low interest rates, ongoing improvement in vehicle affordability in real terms and higher demand for credit by households and businesses."
"The recent 0.5% reduction in interest rates would also support sales of consumer durable products, particularly new motor vehicles. The highly competitive trading environment, attractive incentives and new model introductions also supported demand. In terms of domestic sales, the Industry remained on track during 2012 for growth of around 10%."
"Looking ahead to 2013, increasing inflationary pressures on the back of expected higher fuel and food prices and the impact of Rand weakness on new vehicle pricing were likely to result in a more difficult trading environment and more subdued growth in vehicle sales."
