No let-up as new vehicle sales end February head down

South Africa’s new vehicle sales ended in the red for a second consecutive month in February despite marginally improving on the figures recorded in January.

According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), sales dropped by 13.3% from 43 296 to 37 521. The 0.6% improvement on the figures released in January didn’t spill to the various segment though with passenger vehicles posting a drop of 18.1% from last year’s 29 622 to 24 270, and light commercial vehicles a 3.2% decline from 11 616 to 11 246.

Sales of medium and heavy duty commercials remained mixed with the former falling by 14.1% to 560 units and the latter improving by 3.1% to 1 445. After two months of recovering sales, exports ended the month in the red with a decline of eight percent from last year’s 32 143 to 29 582.

“The performance of the new vehicle market for the first two months of 2021, compared with the pre-Covid 19 first two months of 2020, continues to reflect the economic and social challenges in South Africa considering that the country’s economy was already in a recession before the outbreak of the global health pandemic,” NAAMSA said.

Although a rebound in the Page 3 of 4 new vehicle market is anticipated from March 2021 onwards, compared to the low-base affected Covid-19 corresponding months in 2020, it is likely that both business and consumer confidence will remain subdued over the balance of the year.

Out of the best performing manufactures, Toyota remained on top with sales of 8 308 units, followed by Volkswagen (6 652), Ford (3 020), Hyundai (2 792), Nissan (2 625), Suzuki (2 142), Kia (1 601), Isuzu, (1 497), Mercedes-Benz (1 442) and Renault (1 401).

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