New vehicle sales in South Africa in March were up 22.8% to 53,478 according to data released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa).
Naamsa said the strong recovery in sales of new cars over the past 15 months reflected a robust recovery on the consumption side of the South African economy, driven by the 6.5% decline in interest rates since December 2008.
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Total domestic vehicle sales for the first quarter of 2011 were 22.2% ahead of the corresponding three months in 2010. Total export sales – at 29,254 vehicles for March – represented the highest monthly vehicle export performance on record.
New car sales were in March were 35,167 units, some 23.5% ahead of the same month last year.
Besides a reviving economy, Naamsa also said that ‘aggressive marketing campaigns’ had also contributed to improved sales levels and that concerns about future availability of Japanese products, affected by the natural disasters in Japan, may have contributed to some pre-emptive buying in the month.
New light commercial vehicles, ‘bakkies’ (pickups) and minibuses gained 21.7% year on year in March to 15,736 units.
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By GlobalData“As anticipated, light commercial vehicle sales are starting to show signs of a fairly strong revival on the back of improved economic activity levels,” Naamsa said.
