The chief executive of McCarthy Limited, one of the largest automotive retailers in SA, Brand Pretorius says he is encouraged by the improved level of vehicle sales recorded in January.
The total market for January of 38 075 vehicles, which included sales by Associated Motor Holdings (AMH) and Amalgamated Automobile Distributors (AAD), was 15.4% up on the figure for January 2009 and 25% above the sales volume in December last year. This is according to the latest sales results released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) and AMH.
“We expected a fast start to 2010 because our dealerships had experienced an unexpectedly high level of interest from customers in December, which has resulted in sales being carried over for registration in January,” he explained.
“We are also pleased to see some fleet owners re-entering the market, while private buyers are benefitting from a slightly better rate of loan approval by the finance houses, which is allowing creditworthy customers to buy new vehicles again. The improved stock of new vehicles also impacted positively in the strong start to 2010,” added Brand Pretorius.
The passenger car segment was the star performer last month, with sales up 20.1% compared to January a year ago. The car market fared even better when compared to December 2009, with a jump of 41% in sales.
In comparison light commercial vehicle sales grew year-on-year by 9.7%, while medium trucks were down 22.9% and heavy commercial vehicles showed a 14.4% decrease.
No comments:
Post a Comment