Naamsa has released May 2022s new vehicle sales figures, and despite global troubles, theres still a silver lining.
Over the last several months, the South African automotive industry has been clawing back miraculously after the fallout brought on by COVID-19 and the chip shortage.
Unfortunately, it seems that the wave is about to crash as manufacturers begin facing a bombardment of issues as global economic woes begin banding together to create what may be the perfect economic storm.
On local shores, Toyota South Africa has been hard hit by the damage inflicted by the recent storms in KwaZulu-Natal that damaged their plant and caused major disruptions to the automotive supply chain.
These events, coupled with various key export markets continuing to face multiple headwinds, including rising interest rates, resurging COVID-19 waves, Russias war in Ukraine, and consumer inflation at the highest levels in decades, has led to industry and global outlooks that are not exactly what consumers and business were hoping for.
Despite the gloom and doom, the local industry outlook remains positive in some respects thanks to new locally manufactured models being introduced during the year and relatively good prospects for exports, despite questionable global economic growth.
Reflecting on May 2022s new vehicle sales figures, Naamsa said that the markets performance during the month reflected the knock-on effects of current global affairs, as seen in the aggregate of domestic new vehicle sales. According to Naamsa, 39,177 new vehicles were sold in May 2022, a modest increase of only 819 units or 21% compared to May 2021.
On the negative side though, export sales recorded a huge fall of 11,013 units, or 29,9%, equating to 25,786 as compared to the 36,799 vehicles exported in May 2021.
So which sector was the big winner in May 2022 despite the odds being stacked against them? Well, it comes as no surprise that the passenger car segment led the way with 27,437 new cars registered, an increase of 13.8% over May 2021, driven strongly by the car rental industry accounting for 10% of total sales.
With new car sales still in positive territory and consumer economic pressures building steam, could this mean that used car prices may ease off slightly as the market shifts to accommodate buyers with less cash on hand? Well, I dont expect miracles, but I think it may be right time to start looking out on the used market and speaking to dealers who might be willing to move on prices to keep stock flowing.
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