Motor industry breathes small sigh of relief as more cars sold in 2017 than year before
In the end, the improvement was not as strong as expected, but after three consecutive years of decline in new-vehicle sales, the motor industry is relieved that the 2017 market showed any kind of upward movement. The industry sold 557,586 new vehicles in the domestic market in 2017 — a 1.8% improvement on the 547,547 achieved in 2016. Car sales followed a similar trend, up 1.9% from 361,264 to 368,068. The figures were published on Tuesday afternoon by the Department of Trade and Industry. The Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger were SA’s top-selling vehicles of any description in 2017 but despite their success, the overall light commercial vehicle market — mainly bakkies — managed only 0.9% year-on-year growth, from 159,283 to 163,346. Heavier commercials, including buses, fared less well. Mediums were down 6.4%, heavies 3.5% and buses 11.8%. Only extra-heavies bucked the trend, rising 2.6%. The true performance of all these categories, however, was muddied by the continued refusal of Me...
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