Surprising jump in new vehicle exports

The consumer-driven new car market dropped by 3% in March compared to the same month last year but new vehicle exports shot up by a surprising 38.5% compared to the corresponding month last year.,,

Figures released by the industry show a slight improvement in light, medium and heavy vehicle sales but he total new vehicle sales figures of 55,449 were virtually left unchanged from the 55,440 units sold in March last year.

Of the new vehicle sales an estimated 49,124 units or 88.6% represented dealer sales, 2.8% represented sales to the vehicle rental Industry, 3.9% to Industry corporate fleets and 4.7% to government. Toyota again tops the sales list with the Volkswagen Group in second place.

Industry sources say vehicle exports were now contributing positively to South Africa's current account of the balance of payments, whilst vehicle imports were declining. The bulk of the improvement was due to the export sales contribution by Mercedes-Benz.

Vehicle exports for 2015 were expected to improve by between 20% and 25% in volume terms to a record export number of between 332,000 and 340,000 for the year.