September sales of 31,726 units show a decline of 9,132 vehicles compared to the 40,858 units sold during the corresponding month last year. Factoring in aggregate vehicle sales reported by the AMH/AAD Group, the year on year decline amounted to 19.5%.
Overall, out of a total NAAMSA reported industry sales of 31,726 vehicles, 77.0% (24 420 vehicles) represented dealer/retail sales, 13.6% sales to the car rental industry, 5.7% sales to Government and 3.7% sales into auto industry corporate fleets.
New car sales during September were down 5,068, or 20% compared to September 2008. The year on year decline is over 15% at 4,454 vehicles.
Sales of NAAMSA new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses at 9,867 units during September, 2009 reflect a decline of 2,770 vehicles or 21.9% compared to the 12,637 units of the corresponding month last year.
Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments of the industry are down by 35.8%.
With three quarters of calendar 2009 accounted for, aggregate industry new vehicle sales at 294,481 units reflected a decline of 30.3% compared to the 422,731 vehicles sold during the corresponding nine months of last year.
The impact of the global financial and economic crisis was also reflected in the lower number of vehicles exported in September - a whopping 49.3% down on September 2008. And NAAMSA says no significant improvement in export sales was anticipated in the short to medium term.
