The automotive sector showed further signs of recovery in September 2021 as sales improved dramatically in the passenger car sector. Exports however, remain under pressure.

The Automotive Business Council said that the new vehicle market continued its gradual recovery during the month of September but that the knock-on effects of the July 2021 looting disruptions as well as the cyberattack on Transnet operations were still visible on vehicle exports.

New Car Sales in South Africa for September 2021

Aggregate new car sales of 43 130 units up by 15.8% (5 893 units) compared to September 2020New passenger car sales of 29 538 units up by 30.5% (6 895 units) compared to September 2020New LCV sales of 10 943 down by 10.9% (762 units) compared to September 2020Export sales of 12 202 units down by 50.7% (16 188 units) compared to September 2020

Best-Selling Car Brands in South Africa for September 2021

Toyota – 10 936 unitsVolkswagen – 7 029 unitsSuzuki – 3 134 unitsHyundai – 2 930 unitsRenault -2 520 unitsNissan – 2 330 unitsKia – 2 230 unitsFord – 2 021 unitsHaval – 1 990 unitsIsuzu – 1 924 unitsBMW Group – 1 114 unitsMazda – 579 unitsStellantis – 534 unitsMahindra – 461 unitsHonda – 438 units

New Car Sales Outlook

According to Naamsa, “the new vehicle market continued to show further good recovery during the month of September 2021 in line with the country’s return to adjusted level 2 lockdown regulations and overall enhanced business and consumer sentiment.

New vehicle demand is starting to pick up with consumers, businesses and rental companies returning to the market. However, many Covid-19 disruptive elements remain in play and prevailing market conditions have been hampered by higher logistics costs and supply chain disruptions, such as the global semi-conductor shortages impacting on the availability of certain models.

Analysts project that vehicle production losses due to the computer chips used in modern vehicles could be between 6.3 and 7.1 million vehicles for 2021 and it is expected that the shortages will spill over until the middle of 2022 before stabilising. However, it is encouraging that new vehicle demand seems to outstrip supply at present and the outlook for the balance of the year looks positive.

As anticipated, the knock-on effects of the economic disruptions caused by the civil unrest in July 2021 and the cyberattack on Transnet operations continued to impact on the industry’s export performance during the month. Much will depend on the last quarter of the year’s export performance on how quickly the industry could return to pre-Covid-19 record vehicle export levels.”

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