Prospects for South Africa’s new vehicle market are continuing to improve, with the latest data from local trade body Naamsa showing sales in November up almost 30% on year-ago levels.
Naamsa said that total vehicle sales in South Africa in November reached 44,371 units – some 29.6% ahead of the same month last year.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
New car sales were boosted by retail buyers for an overall year-on-year gain of 28.9% in November to 29,530 units. However, Naamsa noted that the market was down versus October levels – something which it said ‘was probably due to the lagged impact and cost raising effect of the new car emissions tax which had increased new car prices, on average, by approximately 3%’.
The year to date improvement in car sales stood at 29.9%.
Naamsa said that reductions in interest rates, improved new vehicle affordability, further gradual improvement in finance approval rates, pent up replacement demand and new model introductions – should all continue to support new vehicle sales going forward.
For 2011, domestic new car sales, are projected by Naamsa to improve by between 7.5 and 10% in volume terms. New commercial vehicle sales, on the back of higher projected economic growth, could rise by up to 15%, Naamsa said.
