Vehicle sales still improving

Vehicles sales are still improving in South Africa and the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) said on Tuesday that it's starting to show signs of sustainable recovery.

New car sales were up by 21.9% last month compared to March 2009 with 28478 cars sold in comparison to 23353 while the figure for commercial vehicles sold also rose sharply.

The automotive market is viewed as the barometer of South Africa's economy and when vehicle sales took a dive of 25% in 2009, consumers were starting to worry. Things are finally on the up and improving, though and Naamsa is predicting a great year of growth.

"There were 38293 new vehicles sold last month, a year-on-year rise of 14,99%, and sales growth for this year could go up to 12%," Naamsa said.

"The outlook for domestic sales this year continued to improve and could gain momentum as economic activity picked up."

"Improved business confidence and consumer sentiment, as well as lower interest rates and lower inflation, should also help sales," Naamsa added.
Naamsa believe that the demand from car rental firms will continue to remain strong as South Africa prepares for the soccer World Cup and also predicted that export sales would continue to show improvement.

Nedbank economist Isaac Matshego said total vehicle sales had recorded their third successive month of year-on-year increases and added that there had been a strong month-on-month growth in sales. He predicted that this could be boosted even further by the interest rate cut last month.

If you're considering buying a new vehicle, remember to assess the finance
options available to you and asses which one is most affordable before getting yourself into debt.