The month of October 2013 experienced 3.89% more sales than September 2013. The lower percentage increase was expected following the recent automotive industry labour strike.

However, new vehicle sales have decreased by 2.9% to 56 927 units, when compared with October 2012. Also in October 2013, passenger vehicles recorded an increase of only 0.40%, while Light Commercial Vehicles grew by 14.30% – contributing to this year’s growth with 2.58%.

Vehicle exports were also down 15.1%, to 21 125 vehicles, while Year to Date (January – October 2013) sales grew 3.87% in 2013 compared to the same period last year, equating to 20553 more vehicles sold for the ten months of 2013 compared to last year.

Top 5 Brands In South Africa

*Click the graph to view in full1. Earlier in the year when Toyota sales started to pick up, they had just introduced their 2013 Auris model and later the HSD Hybrid variant which both contributed to total sales of 11 027 units.

2. Volkswagen sales went through a dip of about 1411 in February, but the introduction of the Golf 7 in the middle of the year slowly spiked sales up in both June and July.

3. In August, GMSA reported its highest sales to date, with demand across its Chevrolet Spark range which achieved record sales of 1086 units.

4. Ford experienced a slow start to the year with the first two months not even hitting the 5000 sales mark. However they still managed to be in the top 5 best selling brands in South Africa. The launch of their all-new Eco Boost SUV in August helped up sales as the vehicle recorded 522 units in first month of selling.

5. Nissan experienced serious sales drop in April, but the brand saw massive growth in March which has been their best to date this year.

Passenger Vehicle’s Segment

During October 2013, 40 102 new passenger cars left showroom floors – a 4.4% drop compared with the same month last year.2012 had maintained upward momentum and at 41 621units reflected an improvement of 4795 units or 13.0% compared to the 36 826 new cars sold during October 2011. Year to date new car sales remained 11.7% ahead of the corresponding ten months of 2011.

The graph bellow illustrates that in the passenger vehicle segment this October, the Volkswagen Polo Vivo climbed back on top, while the Toyota Etios finally managed to regain second place at the expense of the Volkswagen Polo. The Ford Figo is steady in fourth place, while last year at this time it grew 14.8% – in a market that grew 5.4%. The BMW 3 Series makes a huge leap from tenth best selling passenger car in South Africa in September to fifth in October, with total sales of 1066.

Top 5 Passenger Cars In SA For October 2013 (Compared to October 2012)

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Light Commercial Vehicle’s Segment

The graph below shows the growth or decline that these five vehicles had in the corresponding month last year.

Toyota South Africa returned to full production and delivered 2894 locally produced Hilux bakkies and 1540 locally assembled Quantum’s to customers, despite some imbalances in model mix and colour availability due to the strike. There was also good recovery in Ranger sales with 1516 units sold to South African customers. The Isuzu KB also made its way back to the top 5 with strong sales of 1232 units delivered.

Top 5 Light Commercial Vehicles In SA For October 2013 (Compared to October 2012)

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According to NAAMSA, the Year on Year monthly sales comparison shows a decrease of 2.91% in October 2013 compared to October 2012. The average sales per day in October 2013 (2108) were less than October 2012 (2142).

Further, the average number of sales for October since 2010 have been 51 400 (excl October 2013) and on average, October has ranked as the best month since 2010. Further more, October surpassed the average number of sales, (56 927 to 46 401) and has been the 2nd best month for sales this year.

Despite the unfortunate slow down in vehicle sales growth, Year to date sales have dropped to 4.2% in October. Sales are unlikely to reach the 10%+ targets set by various market analysts at the start of 2013. However 2013 is still expected to be one of the three best years in South Africa’s motor sales history.