Johannesburg – National Chairperson of the National Automobile Dealers Association (NADA), Brandon Cohen, has expressed joy at South Africa’s total performance for new vehicle sales for the month of July 2024.
According to the latest sales figures by naamsa, Sales of new cars saw an overall increase of 4,356 vehicles with passenger cars accounting for 3,171 units.
Overall, franchised dealers accounted for 81.1% of total sales, with rental contributing 13.5%. Government purchases represented 2.9%, and corporate fleets absorbed 2.5% of the total sales. The passenger car segment saw a 6.8% increase, while light commercial vehicle sales fell by 8.8%. Sales of medium and heavy trucks performed weaker in July, with a decline of 6.6% and 3.7%, respectively.
The performance comes off the back of marginally improving economic conditions, returning consumer and business confidence in the wake of positive interest rates outlook in September 2024, as well as months of consistent electricity supply, the lack of which had a negative impact on the rand value (article).
“Although the increase was modest at 1.5% compared to the same month last year, the sale of 44,229 units is encouraging,” said Cohen, adding: “When compared to June 2024 sales, July witnessed an overall increase of 4,356 vehicles with passenger vehicles accounting for 3,171 units. Year-to-date, we remain 6.3% behind the figures for 2023, but we are hopeful that the July sales mark the beginning of growth in the second half of the year. Despite this, with a year-to-date deficit of 6.3%, we have significant ground to cover before the year’s end.”
While the latest figures heralds a revival for the long suffering local auto industry, Cohen bemoaned South Africa’s high consumer inflation, which has been on a downwards trend since March 2023 (falling from 7.1% year-to-year to 5.1% per June print – as highlighted by investec), thus continuing to greatly impact indebted households’ purchasing power and general living expenses.
“There are positive indications that interest rates may be reduced by 25 to 50 basis points before the year ends, and some consumers are already factoring this potential change into their purchasing decisions,” Cohen said.
