During September a total of 6‚622 units were exported - down 75% on the 26‚646 units exported in the same month of 2012‚ reflecting the effect of the three-week strike action in the industry.
Toyota sold the most units in September (9‚751)‚ followed by Volkswagen Group SA with 8‚961 units and Ford Motor Company with 6‚152 units.
Naamsa said as expected‚ the industry's export sales during September had been decimated as a result of the three-week strike experienced at the seven major vehicle manufacturing plants followed by industrial action in the automotive component industry.
"The main impact on domestic sales of the prolonged industrial action had been relatively muted because of existing inventory levels and the fact that about two thirds of new cars sold in SA were imported. In the event‚ aggregate export sales had declined sharply by over 75.1%‚ while overall domestic sales had fallen by 1.5% in volume terms‚" Naamsa said.
After four years of growth in the domestic market‚ aggregate sales continued to reflect modest growth on a year-to-date basis. Year-to-date domestic sales showed an improvement of 5.0% compared with the corresponding nine months of last year.
Overall‚ out of the total reported industry sales in September‚ 42‚408 units or 78.1% represented dealer sales‚ 15.3% represented sales to the vehicle rental Industry‚ 3.6% to industry corporate fleets and 3.0% to government.
During September‚ a total of 39‚792 new cars were sold which represented a marginal improvement of 303 units or small gain of 0.8% compared with September last year. The car rental industry had again contributed positively to the September sales numbers and accounted for 20.1% of new cars sold during the month.
Domestic sales of industry new light commercial vehicles‚ bakkies and mini buses at 12‚014 units during September‚ reflected a decline of 1‚269 units or -9.6% compared with the 13‚283 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.
Sales of vehicles in the medium and heavy truck segments of the Industry - largely unaffected by strikes - at 886 units and 1‚589 units‚ respectively‚ had recorded an increase of 108 units or 13.9% in the case of medium commercial vehicles and an increase of 46 units or 3.0% in the case of heavy trucks and buses - compared with the corresponding month last year.
The above average performance‚ in recent months‚ in sales of light‚ medium and heavy trucks suggested higher levels of investment in the economy and was in part related to infrastructural development projects.
"The strike action damaged SA's status as a reliable supplier to international export markets and could well negatively affect future export contracts being awarded to South African automotive manufacturers‚" Naamsa said.
"Labour stability was one of the most important considerations in the decisions by multinational corporations to allocate vehicles for production in SA. Frequent and prolonged industrial action portrayed SA as an unreliable base for manufacturing of vehicles and components for the world market," it said.
Naamsa said that domestically‚ expectations of lower economic growth and above-inflation new vehicle price increases would contribute to a more difficult trading environment.
"Despite a less promising outlook for the automotive sector for the balance of the year‚ the year as a whole would still represent the second or third best year on record in terms of domestic sales. The prevailing low interest rate environment should lend some support to the domestic market together with replacement demand‚ the highly competitive trading environment‚ ongoing attractive incentives and high technology new model introductions‚" it added.
Export sales remained a function of the performance and direction of global markets and a number of regions offered above average growth opportunities. These included North America‚ Asia and Africa.
"Now that the three and a half week strike in the component industry appears to be nearing resolution‚ it was expected that vehicle manufacturers would put into place action plans to make up for some of the lost production and to enable the industry to supply the needs of customers in highly competitive international markets. It would be extremely difficult‚ however‚ for manufacturers to make up for all of the losses in vehicle and component output‚" Naamsa said.
Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge
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