The motor industry welcomed the start of the new year with a strong sales performance in January. NAAMSA sales statistics released today show continued growth in new vehicle deliveries with total industry sales of 45 135 for the month. Passenger vehicles accounted for 32 977 of those sales, light commercial vehicles 10 563, medium commercials 636, and heavy trucks and busses 959 units.
“The January vehicle sales month saw a continuation of the positive growth trend experienced in the motor industry during 2010,” says Malcolm Gauld, General Motors SA’s Vice President Sales and Marketing. “January was the 13th consecutive month of growth in the industry with sales running marginally ahead of forecast.
“We make the observation that the first reporting month of the year can be prone to distortion caused by different year-end close-off strategies amongst manufacturers that can act to inflate sales in the first reporting period. This year the industry faced a different situation with a number of constraints seen in the supply chain that will have impacted on the full sales potential for the month. A temporary shortage of supply of popular models will have seen a number of buyers unable to take immediate delivery of the vehicle of their choice as South Africa got back to business after the holidays.
“The passenger vehicle sector was the strong performer for the month with 32 977 deliveries, up 22,1% on 2010. Of these sales 81% were delivered through the dealer channel indicating continued strong support from the private sector. In contrast deliveries to vehicle rental fleets were down on 2010 but this was expected given that we were in a pre-world cup fleeting up phase for this industry this time last year. The rental industry was also quite aggressive with fleet replacements during the last quarter of 2010.
“In contrast to the Passenger market, the Light Commercial Vehicle sector was a little subdued with sales of 10 563 units producing growth of 7,7% compared to last year. However, we believe this to be slightly artificial given known product shortages in the industry. The medium commercial sector was strong out of the blocks with a 39,5% gain on last year while extra heavy commercials showed a gain of 32,6% - both encouraging numbers as they reflect directly on capital investment by the business sector.
“On balance January delivered sales slightly above expectations to support a continued bullish trend in the industry. Sales potential for the year? A total on the upside of 520 000 seems plausible at this early stage.
“As ever there are some cautionary flags that need to be observed. As January drew to a close a correction in the value of the rand over the recent highs became evident. This favours exporters and the continued development of export trade but will over time introduce pricing pressures on imported goods. A second flag is the upward pressure on oil prices in the face of rapid and political change and uncertainty in the Middle East. These issues aside we look forward to a positive year in the industry with lots of new model excitement to attract buyers over the coming months.”
Positives for GMSA in January were a rising market share of 11,4% and strong performances by individual models. The Chevrolet Cruze achieved sales of 817 units and the Spark 752, both of these featuring in the top ten list for the month. The Corsa Utility continued its leadership of the sub-1 ton light commercial sector, now unbroken for 70 months, with sales of 1 265 units.
STORY BY GENERAL MOTORS
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