New car sales continue to slow

New car sales showed negative growth for the second month in a row according to figures for March 2007 released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa. Total new car sales for the first quarter of the year totalled 104,000, down 174 units or 0,2% compared to the same period last year.

Boosted by a growth of 6,194 light commercial vehicles (up by 14%) for the period, total sales of new vehicles in South Africa during January, February and March were 180,665, representing a growth of 5,7%.

March sales of new cars were 36,041, down 1,455 units or 3,9% compared to March 2006, while light commercial sales were up 15,9% or 2,548 units for the same period.

“The continued slowdown in consumer spending can be attributed to pressure on private buyers to curb spending and also to the January new car price increases,” said Roel de Vries, sales and marketing director of Nissan SA.

“On the other hand, business sector spending remains healthy and we can expect light commercial vehicle sales to continue to make a positive contribution to the overall market in the months ahead.

“However, this will be offset to an extent by further new car price increases which came into effect on April 2,” said De Vries. “April sales will also be affected by the number of working days lost to holidays.”