August vehicles statistics released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) show that the new vehicle market has recovered from the economic disruptions caused by the unrest in July, but that the knock-on effects of the disruptions, as well as the cyberattack on Transnet operations, still affected vehicle exports during the month under review.
According to the latest Naamsa report, aggregate domestic new vehicle sales totalled 41 425 units, reflecting an increase of 8 166 units, or 24.6%, compared to the 33 259 vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.
Export sales recorded a decline of 3 583 units, or 15.6%, to 19 446 units this year compared to the 23 029 vehicles exported at the same time last year.
“Sales for medium and heavy truck segments of the industry reflected a weak performance - and at 719 units and 1 800 units respectively, showed a decline of 56 units, or 7.2% in the case of medium commercial vehicles, and in the case of heavy trucks and buses, a decline of seven vehicles, or a fall of 0.4% compared to the corresponding month last year,” the report read.
Although the August 2021 sales number reflected a fall compared to vehicles exported in August 2020, for the year-to-date, vehicle exports are still 37.7% ahead of the same period last year.
Naamsa said that the return of the adjusted level 3 lockdown regulations in the country and the improvement in civil stability had supported the new vehicle market’s gradual recovery during the month.
