New vehicle sales may have dropped sharply in January but there were plenty of reasons to be cheerful about prospects for the rest of the year, says Ghana Msibi, head of sales and marketing at WesBank. Sales of all new vehicles totalled 45,888, down 8.9% from the 50,386 of January 2017. Car sales fell 11.6%, from 36,908 to 32,642, while most categories of commercial vehicles also went backwards, according to figures released by the Department of Trade and Industry. The biggest cause of the slide was a 33% decline in car sales to rental firms, said Msibi. They have plenty of stock after propping up the market in 2017. Volkswagen SA’s year-end manufacturing switch to new Polo and Vivo models had created a supply challenge, while the absence of Chevrolet, following General Motors’ December disinvestment from SA, had also complicated purchases for some consumers. January sales have often been misleading in the context of full-year sales, and Msibi said it would be premature to read much...
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