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New vehicle sales, as reported by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), continued to show growth during June, despite the attention of the country moving to the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
A total of 39 929 vehicles was retailed in June, with close to 90% of these vehicles sold through the retail dealer network. The June sales figure represents an increase of 20.7% over the same month in 2009, although it should be remembered that 2009 represented a depressed vehicle market amidst global economic concerns.
Toyota South Africa remains the clear market leader with sales of 8 224 vehicles sold in June. The company further exported 4 209 Corolla, Fortuner and Hilux models to its clients in Africa and Europe.
“New vehicle sales in June paint a positive picture for the South African vehicle market,” says Andrew Kirby, Senior Vice President: Sales and Marketing at Toyota South Africa. “With the country’s attention focussed on the World Cup there was an expectation that sales could slow during this period. We are however heartened by the state of the market and the upward trend of the first half of this year.
“The unexpected strong sales month in June has led to a review of our forecast of the year from 460 000 units to 470 000 units.
This forecast takes a possible softening in the third quarter into account, as this quarter will not benefit from the Soccer World Cup momentum that was evident in the past three months.”
New vehicle sales for the first half of 2010 reached 235 698 units, representing an increase of 23.9% over the same period in 2009. A further 106 766 South Africa built vehicles were exported to countries across the globe, which is 32.7% better than in 2009, a year in which major export markets showed a declining appetite for new vehicles.
