Car sales are on the increase

New vehicle sales continued the strong trend first noted in February this year, with overall sales, including partially reported sales, increasing by a dramatic 20.5% over the same month last year.

February’s total vehicle sales of 39 312 vehicles also showed an increase of 1 241 vehicles or just over 3% when compared to January. This would imply a combined sales figure of 77 383 vehicles for the first two months of the year, which is 18% stronger than the comparative months in 2009.

Mirroring comments by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), Andrew Kirby, Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Toyota South Africa Motors warned against a too optimistic view on the market.

“We should keep in mind that any increase in comparison with the preceding year will be dramatic, given the fact that we experienced such as dramatic decline in sales last year as a result of the global economic slowdown,” states Kirby.

Kirby also notes that more than 4 000 vehicles were delivered to rental companies, which is to be expected in the ramp up to the Soccer World Cup in June.

“Rental companies will remain large buyers in the coming months and that will add impetus to the current upswing in the new vehicle market,” says Kirby.

Toyota retained its leadership in the South African market with an overall market share of 21.4%.