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MOTORING: SA Vehicle Market Continues to Perform
Recent Gauteng Business News
During the month of April, a total of 26 347 new passenger vehicles were sold in South Africa, 2 769 units more when compared to April 2010. On a year-to-date basis, the passenger vehicle market is up by 22.4%.
According to Chris De Kock, Executive Head of Sales and Marketing at WesBank, South Africa’s leading asset-based financial solutions provider, traditionally April is a slower month in terms of sales activity within the new passenger market due to the number of public holidays. Despite this, the rate of sales per day during April remained optimistic at 1 949 units. When compared to the sales activity in April 2010 the motor industry this year sold nearly 400 units per day more.
De Kock says findings from the company’s book support the increase in sales activity levels seen so far this year. “During the month of April we received 79 055 applications, 3.86% up on April 2010.”
WesBank data also shows that there is a definite downward trend on the average deal duration, implying that the replacement cycle for new vehicles is shortening.
According to WesBank, consumers are currently waiting around 43 months before replacing their current vehicle, compared to 45 months in October last year.
Commenting on the effect of the Japanese crisis on South Africa’s motor industry, De Kock says that the fact that there are no anomalies in Toyota’s sales indicates that the feared supply issues have not yet come into play. However, he says WesBank does expect fairly substantial stock shortages to start effecting original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) who rely on supply from Japan in the coming months.
“As per our initial forecast, we still firmly believe that the industry is on track to record an annual overall vehicle sales growth of 15.2% in 2011,” concludes De Kock.
Business News Sector Tags: Motoring|