Publications
Partners
- September vehicle sales picked up 15.8%, exceeding economists' expectations.
- Exports are still weighed down by the impact of the civil unrest in July as well as a cyberattack at Transnet ports.
- Vehicle exports in September declined 57% compared to the previous year.
Vehicle sales continued their recovery in September, increasing 15.8% to over 43 000 units, the automobile business council, naamsa, said on Friday.
This increase was above the Bureau for Economic Research's consensus expectation of 12%.
However, exports are still dragged down by the impact of the civil unrest in July and a cyberattack on Transnet port operations. In September 2020, more than 28 000 vehicles were exported. By comparison just over 12 000 units were exported in September 2021.
"However, for the year-to-date, vehicle exports were still 22.7% ahead of the same period last year," naamsa said.
Demand picks up
According to naamsa, there was a recovery in new vehicle sales, helped by the relaxation of lockdown restrictions to adjusted level 2 measures and enhanced business and consumer sentiment.
"New vehicle demand is starting to pick up with consumers, businesses and rental companies returning to the market," naamsa said. However, it highlighted that a shortage in global semi-conductors - needed for vehicles - is impacting the availability of certain models.
"Analysts project that vehicle production losses due to the computer chips used in modern vehicles could be between 6.3 and 7.1 million vehicles for 2021 and it is expected that the shortages will spill over until the middle of 2022 before stabilising," naamsa said.
Naamsa is optimistic that new vehicle demand will outstrip supply and may remain so for the rest of the year.
For the year to date, new vehicle sales are up 30% compared to the same period last year.
Lebogang Gaoaketse, head of marketing and communication at vehicle financier WesBank, noted that the pre-owned market remained strong.
"While stock availability in the new vehicle market remains stressed, forcing some consumers into the pre-owned market, the sheer demand remains encouraging for the industry once global stock shortages are alleviated," said Gaoaketse.
