Slowdown in new car sales intensifies
December 5, 2007
By Roy Cokayne
Pretoria - The slowdown in new car sales intensified last month with sales slumping to 29 335 units, almost 16 percent less than in November last year.
It was the 10th consecutive month of no growth in year-on-year new car sales.
Tony Twine, a motor industry analyst and director of Econometrix, said the new vehicle markets were now clearly reacting more sharply to the continuing interest rate pressure of the Reserve Bank's monetary policy committee (MPC).
"The negative pattern of year-on-year growth rates for all segments, except for luxury or premium cars and the van and minibus market, is accelerating. This indicates that monetary policy is now stretching beyond calming consumer demand and is into the productive side of the economy."
Twine did not believe the sales figures would prevent the MPC from raising interest rates again tomorrow but it would "make them feel more uncomfortable about having done so".
Figures released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) yesterday revealed that sales of light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses declined last month by 13.9 percent to 14 973 units, compared with the corresponding month last year. Medium commercial vehicle sales improved by 0.2 percent to 1 253 units while heavy truck and bus sales climbed by 11.6 percent to 2 146 units in the same period.
Nico Vermeulen, Naamsa's executive director, said last month's sales represented one of the weakest months in the past two and a half years. They were hampered by interest rate increases, record levels of household debt and pressure on disposable income due to rising inflation.
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