RELEASE: SA new vehicle sales sees fourth consecutive month of year-on-year growth

MEDIA RELEASE

May 2010

 

SA new vehicle sales sees fourth consecutive month of year-on-year growth

 

The latest new vehicle sales figures for April released by NAAMSA have confirmed what many industry experts are starting to accept as the trend – a sustained return to growth. With total industry sales recording its fourth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, it is April’s number of 36% and the year-to-date figure of 22.2% which have brought welcome relief to motor industry stakeholders. Just a year ago, the industry had reached rock bottom when it reported total sales down by a massive 43.7%.

 

“It is becoming evident that our hypothesis of there being pent up demand in the industry was correct. Consumers and corporates can only delay the purchase of a replacement vehicle for so long before maintenance becomes uneconomical”, says Chris de Kock, Executive Head of Sales and Marketing at WesBank.

 

The main driving force behind the industry’s recovery is the increased demand for new passenger vehicles. Despite April traditionally being a slow month due to the number of public holidays, the daily rate of sales remained relatively high on 1554 units, resulting in a total of 23 606 new passenger vehicle sales for the month, 6 500 units more than April 2009. On a year-to-date basis, the passenger vehicle market is now up by 26%.

 

Findings from the WesBank book also support indications that consumers are slowly starting to regain their financial stability and likewise, that banks have regained their lending appetite. With finance applications on a year-to-date basis only up 18.5% compared to the 22.2% growth in industry sales and 26% growth in passenger sales, it is fair to deduce that a greater percentage of applications are being approved every month.

 

WesBank's new-to-used ratio provides further evidence of an increase in demand for new vehicles. Its new-to-used ratio, which reached a level of 2.3 used cars for every new car financed in November last year, has now recovered to a more sustainable level of 1.8 used for every new car.

 

WesBank is a division of FirstRand Bank Limited.WesBank is an Authorised Financial Services Provider.

 

For more information, please contact:

 

Genea Frade

Fleishman-Hillard on behalf of WesBank

011 548 2000

genea.frade@fleishman.co.za