It sure was a busy end to the quarter for dealers and manufacturers in the new car market.
According to the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers (Naamsa), 46 678 vehicles were sold in June, which is 3% or 1 346 vehicles more than the same month last year. It is also quite a bit better than vehicle sales in May of this year, when 42 950 vehicles were sold.
By now, most people expect that the end of a quarter will see a spike in sales activity. Most retail dealers are incentivised on a quarterly basis and they will do anything to make their targets before the next month rolls around. This means that you can often push for a better deal, more extras or better payment terms if you buy a new car at the end of a quarter.
Naamsa reports that passenger vehicle sales saw a spike of 4.4% to 29 886 cars in June. It was supported in part by unseasonably high vehicle rental purchases, which accounted for an estimated 11% of all sales in March.
VW, with very strong sales of the Polo and Polo Vivo, was the passenger vehicle market leader and sold 6 175 cars. They were followed by Toyota (5 893), Hyundai (2 861), Renault (2 469) and Nissan (2 108). Nissan has just launched the highly acclaimed new Micra and it sold 308 units in its first month.
If you add bakkies and other light commercial vehicles and trucks, then the picture changes dramatically. Toyota jumps to first place with overall sales of 11 823 units, which gives it a massive market share of over 25% of the total market. Volkswagen adds 540 units, mostly Amarok, to reach 6 715 sales and Nissan flies past Ford for third place with total sales of 4 911 units. The top five is rounded off by Ford (4 064 units) and Hyundai (3 108 units).
There is an interesting fight brewing between the medium-sized brands halfway down the sales rankings. Mazda (1 117 units) has been doing really well and are biting at Kia’s heels (1 409), while Suzuki is scampering up the sales charts with 954 units. Keep in mind that Suzuki has topped 1 000 units three times in the last 12 months or so, so they are serious about becoming a sales-heavyweight.
Below these three Honda (662 units) and Mahindra (506 units) are fighting it out, with Honda keeping a steady pace and Mahindra doubling sales since last year. With the latter now assembling Pik Ups in Durban, you can be sure to see more corporate interest in local vehicle sales and a strong drive from their 60+ dealers.
At the bottom of the sales rankings is another interesting story to tell. Bentley (six vehicles), Maserati (6) and Ferrari (6) are all doing pretty well for brands that sell cars and SUVs with stratospheric sticker prices. Porsche, who has the benefit of a wider range of models, are also doing really well with sales of 97 units in June.
And then there are some brands that are having a tough time locally. Subaru (95 sales) did not benefit from the sales spike and Tata (137 units) sold only 12 passenger cars in June. Mitsubishi are hovering around 120 vehicle sales per month, despite recently introducing the new Pajero Sport and Triton. Peugeot only managed to sell 103 cars last month.
With the second half of the year approaching, many market commentators expect the market to improve slightly. The second half is usually better that the first half and while we are down 0.8% from last year for the year to date, Naamsa and others believe we may even end the year 1% up.
Read the full Naamsa report for June 2018 below.
