Further slump in new car sales

New vehicle sales continued to decline in September with Naamsa reporting a 12% decrease over the corresponding month last year. Total industry sales for September were calculated at 55,733 (including “unreported” AMH sales) which represents a 14% decline over the previous month.

Passenger sales represented the biggest decline, being nearly 13% down on the previous month with 36,833 units sold. Commercial vehicle sales were down by 12% on the previous month with 15,987 units sold.

Ford South Africa sold a total of 5,781 vehicles during September, of which 2,961 were passenger cars and 2,820 were commercial vehicles. Ford Fiesta was the brand's top selling passenger vehicle with 842 units sold (an increase of over 20% on the previous month), while the Bantam was its top selling commercial vehicle at 1,483 units.

“Car sales continue to decrease especially at dealer level, with an off-set from rental and government channels,” said Jacques Brent, vice president sales and marketing, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. “The negative impact created by an increase in interest rates and the introduction of the NCA continue to be felt and the recent component supplier industry action also made conditions difficult because it has affected the production of some models, especially our high demand Ranger and BT-50's."

Year-to-date sales are down nearly 3% with the recent strike set to impact sales even further in the coming months, he said.