Cars Car reviews
South Africans bought 46377 new vehicles in August 2010; 12502 more than in the same month last year.
The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) says the increase in sales had been in line with expectations, which were boosted by pre-emptive buying to avoid the CO2 new car emissions tax.
Export sales, whilst down in volume by 15.7% on July, had registered strong gains during August in relation to the corresponding month in 2009, “when exports had been severely affected as a result of the impact of the global financial and economic crisis at the time,” Naamsa says.
New cars sales had also been boosted by strong demand from the car rental industry.
Export sales were down due to strike action at the industry’s assembly plants during the second half of August, 2010. Further production disruption was currently being experienced at most of the vehicle manufacturing plants due to the strike in the automotive component industry.
The growth rate in new car sales is expected to decline in the months following the introduction of the CO2 new car tax at the beginning of September.
