According to figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) new vehicle sales totalled 43 591 units in March.
“The reassuring results indicate a positive ongoing trend to sales recovery, despite the March figures being buoyed by reasonably substantial rental sales ahead of the World Cup,” says vice president marketing, sales and service, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa, Jacques Brent.
Market growth was fairly evenly shared by passenger car and light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales. Passenger car sales rose 9.6% on February to 28 478, while LCVs increased 12.1% to 12 954 units. Their segment performances were up 21.9% and 14.5% respectively on the same period last year.
“While the figures look good, we should still be cautious about the road to recovery,” says Brent. “Comparing year on year sales still gives a false sense of security as they're compared to depressed market conditions and comparisons should be considered pre-October 2008 to give real indications of incremental growth.”
Top performers for Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) were the Fiesta (512) while Bantam leads their LCV onslaught with 756 sales during March.
“FMCSA is on track against its targets for 2010 in line with the 10%+ growth we forecast for the year,” says Brent. “The market is unlikely to continue such growth in the second half, post World Cup.”
The top performing new passenger vehicles sales for March are as follows - model (volume):
1. VW Polo (2367)
2. Toyota Corolla (1667)
3. Mercedes C-Class (1612)
4. VW Polo Vivo (1374)
5. BMW 3-Series (1366)
6. Toyota Fortuner (1036)
7. VW Golf 6 (564)
8. Ford Fiesta (512)
9. Renault Sandero (505)
10. Chev Aveo (466)
The top performing new light commercial vehicle sales for March are as follows - model (volume):
1. Toyota Hilux (3083)
2. Opel Corsa Utility (1283)
3. Toyota Quantum (1226)
4. Isuzu KB (927)
5. Nissan NP300 Hardbody (904)
6. Nissan NP200 (861)
7. Ford Bantam (756)
8. Ford Range (741)
9. Mazda BT-50 (474)
10. Nissan Navara (304)
Source: Naamsa
