South Africa’s new vehicle sales in October declined by 25.4pc to 38,752 units from 51,968, but still registering the highest growth in four months since the beginning of the lockdown, according to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa). The association said that sales is slowly picking up but not at the prior-year’s speed.
New passenger car sales in October declined by 25pc to 26,793 units from 35,899 units in the same month last year. New light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales stood at 9,644 units, down by 27.8pc from 13,361 units from the year prior.
Sales of medium trucks stood at 662 units, down by 21.2pc from the prior year, while heavy trucks and bus sales fell by 11.5pc to 1,653 units from the prior-year period.
Exports
The country’s total vehicle exports in October stood at 33,474 units, down by 18.9pc from 41,266 units in the prior year.
Outlook
Naamsa said that while vehicle exports made a steady comeback, it is anxious about the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic across Europe which could further depress its overall outlook balance for 2020. It poses significant downside risks on the pace of recovery in domestic vehicle exports over the short to medium term.
The export recovery will depend on the improvement in the economic climate of the country’s main trading partners in the auto sector. It added that low-interest rates could assist some businesses and consumers from an affordability point-of-view. However, the business sentiments in the next six months remains pessimistic.