naamsa is pleased to release the challenging December 2023 new vehicle statistics.
Overall, the period under review has been challenging since it is our fifth consecutive month of year-on-year decline. “We have not been able to out-perform the 2019 pre-pandemic levels yet but we remain hopeful that 2024 will deliver a different outcome for new vehicle sales in South Africa”, says Mikel Mabasa, naamsa CEO.
1. BRIEF COMMENT ON DECEMBER 2023 SALES
The new vehicle market registered its fifth consecutive month of year-on-year decline during December 2023, with aggregate industry new vehicle sales at 40,329 units recording a decline of 1,392 vehicles or a loss of 3,3% compared to the total new vehicle sales of 41,721 units during the corresponding month of December 2022. The December 2023 new passenger car market and light commercial vehicle market reflected a weak performance with a year-on-year volume decline of 3,9% in the case of new passenger cars and a loss of 2,9% in the case of light commercial vehicles.
Sales of medium commercial vehicles declined year-on-year by 24,2% while heavy commercial vehicles and buses increased by 13,9%.
Export sales in December 2023 ended the year on a positive note and at 26,612 units reflected a gain of 317 vehicles or an increase of 1,2% compared to the 26,295 vehicles exported during December 2022 to end the year at a record-high of 396 290 units.
Overall, out of the total reported industry sales of 40,329 vehicles, an estimated 35,483 units or 88,0% represented dealer sales, an estimated 8,7% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 2,2% to government, and 1,1% to industry corporate fleets.