Vehicle sales fall sharply, and across the board
Local sales fell in all sectors, from cars to trucks, and there was bad news on the export front as well
New-vehicle sales crashed 13.3% in April from a year earlier, fulfilling forecasts that economic uncertainty caused by SA’s credit downgrading to junk status would have an immediate effect on consumer and corporate confidence. Sales last month totalled 34,956, compared with 40,348 in April 2016. All sectors suffered: car sales tumbled 13.7%, from 26,012 to 22,452; light commercial vehicles 13.3%, from 12,217 to 10,592; and all truck categories, by between 3.4% and 15.5%. As a result, total new-vehicle sales for the first four months of 2017 were down 1.4% from a year earlier, from 184,520 to 181,899. Car sales fell 2.2%, from 124,389 to 121,676. There was also bad news on the export front, with April shipments of South African-built vehicles down 25.5% from a year earlier, from 32,832 to 24,449.
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