August 2013 saw about 30 000 workers in the South African vehicle manufacturing industry down tools, but according tothe National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA),“the impact on domestic sales of the current industrial action at the seven major vehicle manufacturing plants had to date been muted.”

The association added that the “main impact of the strike action to date had been on the industry’s export performance and particularly the export operations of BMW and Ford Motor Company which had been negatively affected due to other industrial action which preceded the current industry strike – now in its third week.”

Although a prolonged strike threatens the industry’s latest gains and reputation towards the rand and investment flows, year to date sales still showed an improvement of 5.9% compared to the corresponding months of 2012, with the aggregate industry sales of 56 115 units for August 2013 reporting a 0.3% decline from the 56 270 units sold during August last year.

Out of the total reported industry sales of 56 112 vehicles, 46 442 units represented dealer sales, 11.4% represented sales to the vehicle rental industry, 3.3% to Industry corporate fleets and 2.5% to government.

However, despite a less promising outlook for the automotive sector for the balance of the year, the year as a whole would still represent the second or third best year on record in terms of domestic sales. With a continuous low interest rate environment, a highly competitive trading segment, ongoing attractive incentives and high technology new model introductions, annual projected industry sales can be expected to show significant improvement and growth.

Bellow is a summary of new vehicle sales in South Africa for the month of August 2013 including top 5 Passenger and Light Commercial Vehicles and export figures.

South African new car sales summary For August 2013

Total new vehicle sales: Industry sales of 56 112 reflected a decline of 0.3% or 155 vehicles from the 56 270 units sold in August last year. Total export sales: Export sales registered a decline falling by 22.9% in volume terms in August 2013, compared to the 25 024 vehicles exported in August last year.A total of 38 892 new cars were sold in August 2013, which represented a decline of 1 487 units compared to the 40 379 new cars sold in August last year.Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) including bakkies, and mini busses at 14 376 units during August 2013 reflected an increase of 726 units compared to the 13 650 light commercial vehicles sold during the corresponding month last year.

Best-selling car brands August 2013

Top 5 Selling Passenger Vehicles

Top 5 Selling Light Commercial Vehicles