"For some time the motor industry has expected a levelling off in sales and the first evidence of this came in September," says Malcolm Gauld, GMSA's vice president for sales and marketing. "Month-on-month growth for September 2012 versus 2011 was just 1.4% with 55 097 vehicles delivered in the past month compared to 54 357 for the same period last year.
"Significantly all of that growth is attributable to the passenger vehicle sector which grew by 4.4%. All the commercial vehicle sectors reported sales lower than in September 2011. This would indicate a degree of conservatism with regard to expenditure on vehicles for delivery fleets within the business community. The LCV segment is down 5.2%, albeit that September 2011 sales were possibly inflated through external events," Gauld says.
"Once again the dealer channel was a strong performer, accounting for just under 75% of all sales, supported by continued seasonal fleet replacement in the vehicle rental industry. Private buyers continue to drive passenger vehicle demand with a focus on the lower end of the market, and supported with high levels of attractive retail offers.
"The effect of the cooling off in demand for new vehicles during September is best illustrated by the realignment of year-to-date growth numbers. The total market is now a more realistic 10% up on last year, down from its peak of 11.3% at the end of August. Passenger vehicles are up by 11.5% and light commercial vehicles a welcome 7.3% above last year," Gauld concludes.
The Chevrolet passenger vehicle range performed well in September with the Spark ranked as number seven in the top ten best sellers list with 1 011 sales, while the Sonic was ranked number nine with 725 deliveries. Other strong performers were the Aveo (670) and the Cruze (626). The Chevrolet Utility was again the top selling vehicle in the sub-1 ton LCV segment with 1 416 sales for the month.
