Vehicle sales registered relatively strong gains in April, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) said on Thursday.
“Aggregate Industry sales had improved by 4 034 units or 10.5% to 42 617 vehicles from 38 583 units in April last year, well above the growth rate in industry total sales of 6.9% for the four months of the year,” said the association.
The figures were strong despite the high number of public holidays over the course of the month.
Exports of South African produced motor vehicles, including MBSA export sales data, during April 2012 at 17 656 vehicles had registered a decline of 2 172 units or 11.0% compared to the 19 828 vehicles exported during April last year.
“Industry export sales were expected to improve modestly over the balance of the year as the Ford global compact vehicle export programme and the BMW new 3 series export volumes were ramped up. However, the industry’s overall export performance during 2012 would remain a function of the direction of the global economy,” explained Naamsa.
Overall, out of the total detailed (disaggregated) reported industry sales of 40 417 vehicles excluding Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA), 90.7% or 36 671 units represented dealer sales, 4.1% to industry corporate fleet sales, 2.8% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry and 2.4% sales to government.
“From a seasonal perspective, sales to car rental companies were expected to improve from June, 2012 onwards as the car rental Industry started to re-fleet,” noted Naamsa.
MBSA received a global directive by parent company Daimler AG, Germany instructing it not to report disaggregated sales data for the time being. It will, however, provide a single total sales number for passenger cars and commercial vehicles and export sales.
In April, aggregate industry new car sales performed reasonably well and at 29 517 units (including MBSA) reflecting an improvement of 3 190 units or 12.1% compared to the 26 327 new cars sold during April 2011.
Naamsa said the year-on-year growth momentum in April new car sales remained 9.1% ahead of the corresponding four months of 2011.
Including estimates for MBSA commercial vehicle sales by segment – sales of industry new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and mini buses at 11 028 units during April 2012 showed an increase of 741 units or 7.2% compared to the 10 287 light commercial vehicle sales in April 2011.
Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments of the industry at an estimated 668 and 1 404 units, respectively, had recorded an increase of 74 units or 12.5%, in the case of medium commercial vehicles, and a rise of 29 units or 2.1%, in the case of heavy trucks and buses, compared to April 2011.
For the first quarter of 2012, commercial vehicle sales had underperformed the growth in the new car market.”
Vehicle exports into Europe remained under pressure due to the debt crisis in the Eurozone and as a result vehicle export projections had been revised downwards. They now expected to reach about 270 000 vehicles down from 300 000 units originally projected for 2012.
“The outlook for 2012 in terms of total industry sales remained one of modest growth. Factors that would continue to lend support to the domestic market included the on-going improvement in the financial position of consumers, relatively low interest rates, continuing improvement in vehicle affordability in real terms, the highly competitive trading environment and new model introductions.”
The continued growth in consumer expenditure and the public sector infrastructural investment would also support domestic new vehicle sales. Domestic sales, said Naamsa, are expected to improve by between 8% and 10%. – BuaNews
Port Elizabeth based General Motors South Africa ranked in fourth position during April with 4 744 sales for its highest market share so far this year of 11,1%. NAAMSA Industry reporters recorded total sales of 42 617 vehicles against 38 583 for the same period last year, an improvement of 10,5%.
“April, typically one of the shorter trading months of the year, showed growth year-on-year when comparing daily retail sales rates” says Malcolm Gauld, GMSA’s Vice President Sales Marketing. “This rate may well be over-stated when factoring in last year’s supply constraints resulting from the natural disaster which affected Japan in March 2011.
“One can also see a high percentage of the current market activity being driven by new model launches and highly competitive trading positions. The short-term outlook suggests this trend may continue, with indications that it will moderate to deliver single digit industry growth for the year.”
“Within the GMSA stable the new Chevrolet Utility was again a star performer at the head of the sub-1 ton segment for both April, and for the four months year to date. Deliveries of 1 379 for this model accounted for 12,5% of all light commercial sales in April – the second most popular of all LCVs for the month – with the Isuzu KB range filling 5th position.
“The Chevrolet Aveo, which competes in the ‘B’ segment for small cars, was amongst the top ten best sellers with 471 sales for the month.
“The Chevrolet Spark was not far behind with 460 sales for the month. Exciting news on this product is that it is now part of our locally produced vehicle portfolio. Along with the localisation of the Spark comes a product repositioning that makes this model an exceptional value proposition in the small car sector. Deliveries of the locally manufactured Spark to dealers commenced on the 26th of April.”
Volkswagen Group South Africa kept its top position in the passenger car market with total sales of 6 461 units and market share of 21.9% in April 2012.
In April 2012, a total of 29 517 new passenger cars were sold in South Africa, a decline of 24.3% when compared to March 2012 and a growth of 12.1% against the same period in 2011. The month-on-month sharp decline was caused by the number of holidays during the month of April and was also amplified by strong new car sales in March.
“In spite of the decline, the encouraging fact however is that the selling rate of the new cars per day in April decreased by only 10.5% when compared to the selling rate in March, when the seasonal analysis of the selling rate would have indicated an expected 13% decline. From this perspective of the selling rate of new cars per day, April performed reasonably well as has generally been the case for the new car market so far in 2012,” said Mike Glendinning, Director: Sales and Marketing, Volkswagen Group South Africa.
“The somewhat more robust performance of the new car market so far in 2012 is reflected in similar developments in the broader economy. The Reserve bank’s leading indicator of economic activity has been improving slowly but steadily since August 2011. It is currently back at a level equivalent to April 2011, suggesting modest but sustainable and ongoing growth through 2012. The RMB/ BER business confidence indicator for the first quarter 2012 is in positive territory and the Kagiso purchasing managers index remains in expansionary territory.”
“Volkswagen Group South Africa maintained its top position in the passenger car market for the fourth consecutive month in 2012. Our two top-selling Brands, Polo Vivo (2 256 units) and Polo (1 766 units) continued their market dominance in their respective segments,” added Glendinning.
The Audi Brand recorded its best April sales yet with 1 129 units sold. Audi’s performance was aided by the A4 sedan/Avant with the sales of 384 units.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles reported sales of 707 units and 358 of these units were Amarok Single and Double cabs. Supply constraints in Argentina have severely impacted on the delivery of the Amarok range into South Africa.
Glendinning concluded: “With regard to demand for new passenger cars, the rate of growth currently reflected in the market is likely to continue for the foreseeable future. The market will continue to be supported by growth in the real disposable income of households and real new vehicle prices which continue declining, a trend that began in May 2010. Furthermore, debt servicing costs remain low which significantly enhance the affordability of new cars.”
