New vehicles sales continue to plummet

Figures just released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) show that the 40,395 registered new sales are down by 17,575 to 40,395 from the 57,970 sold in August 2007.

Out of the total reported sales 75.1% or 30,345 units represented dealer/retail sales, 13.9% represented sales to the car rental industry, 6.6% sales to Government and 4.4% into NAAMSA member company fleets.

New car sales at 25,304 units reflected a decline of 32.9% with the worst sales for the past four years.

Light commercial sales were down by 28.5% to 12,084.

Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments were down by 30.2%.

The only ray of sunshine was new vehicle exports of 27,078, up a healthy 73.8% over August 2007.

NAAMSA expects new vehicle sales to remain under pressure as a result of the cumulative impact of interest rate rises, inflationary pressures, high levels of personal debt and lower economic activity levels.