October vehicle sales show softer growth trend

"Vehicle sales in October continued to show growth compared to 2011 with stronger than anticipated sales in October, but with continued evidence of a tightening up in trading conditions," says Malcolm Gauld, GMSA's vice-president of sales and marketing. "A pause in the market was anticipated for the latter part of the year with a soft landing being forecast, and the indication is that this will be realised."

Private buyer the driving force

October saw sales accelerate beyond 10% month-on-month versus 2011 once again. In the passenger sector the private buyer remains the driving force with a continued focus on the lower end of the market. This sector delivered growth of 13,1% over the same month last year with 41 636 passenger vehicles sold during the month.

The light commercial sector once again provided an indication of some hesitancy to commit to fleet expansion in the business sector with sales just 5,3% up on October 2011 with 13 667 deliveries for the month. Leads and lags in the market for larger commercial vehicles saw a recovery in medium commercial vehicle sales compared to September. The market for heavy trucks was well up on September with 546 sales, up 28,2% on the same month last year but just 3,3% up over the ten month period year-to-date. Extra heavy vehicle sales were somewhat down compared to last year but remain in the 10% growth range for the past ten months.

Forecast is achievable

The motor industry remains on target to achieve 10% growth for the year. With year-to-date sales of just under 425 000 units, the forecast of 620 000 units for the full year is both realistic and achievable.

The Cruze Hatch experienced its first full month of sales during October, and the much anticipated Chevrolet Trailblazer has just started arriving in our dealer showrooms. The Chevrolet Utility continues in a commanding position as the most popular small pick-up in the market with close to 54% of sales in its sector with 1 763 units sold. In the passenger sector the Sonic was ranked as number eight with sales agonisingly short of the 1 000 unit mark at 969 units while the locally manufactured Chevrolet Spark rounded out the top ten passenger rankings for the month with 688 sales.