April’s motor trade sales fell 7.2% and wholesale trade sales fell 2.1% from the same month in 2016, Statistics SA reported on Thursday. These declines contrasted with the better than expected 1.5% growth in April’s retail trade sales, according to Stats SA data reported on Wednesday. In current prices, April’s retail, wholesale and motor sales came to R271bn. The figures are combined to calculate the trade portion of GDP, and a 0.8% decline in trade was the main contributor to SA’s economy shrinking 0.7% in the first quarter. Total wholesale revenue of R149bn contributed 55% of the total, retail’s R77bn contributed 28% and motor’s R46bn was 17% of the total. The motor trade figures showed new vehicle sales declining 14.4% and used vehicle sales declining 13% over the year. Workshop income fell 14.9% and sales of accessories fell 10.8%. Fuel sales at current prices rose 8.5% and food court sales 3.2%. But this did not improve the gloomy picture of garage profitability as the wholesa...
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