Vehicle sales expected to end 1% down in 2018
An upturn in the truck market was the only positive in a pretty bleak year
A fifth consecutive month of improved truck sales took the edge off a disappointing November for the SA new-vehicle market. Figures released on Monday by the department of trade & industry show that aggregate sales of new vehicles in November fell 4.6% from the corresponding 2017 month, from 49,751 to 47,486. Car sales were down 5.4%, from 32,818 to 31,054, while sales of light commercials — mainly bakkies and minibuses — tumbled 6.1%. Sales of medium and heavy trucks improved year-on-year for the fifth consecutive month. Mediums grew 17.5% from November 2017, and heavies by 34.1%. Extra-heavy truck sales also grew, by 25.8%. Volumes in these sectors — a combined 2,661 sales in November — are not enough, however, to radically change the overall market, but will merely smooth its edges. Nico Vermeulen, director of the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA, said the trend suggests growing investment confidence among transport operators and the industries they service....
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