SMALL BUT STEADY GAINS FOR MARCH

• Toyota South Africa Motors maintains market leadership with sales of 10 379 vehicles
• Unexpected upturn in passenger car sales
• Commercial vehicle growth stunted

The National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA) reports that March 2012 new vehicle sales registered modest gains, improving by 2552 units or 4,8% to 56 110 vehicles compared to the corresponding month last year.

“These numbers, however, don’t tell the full story, When you drill down into the aggregated figures, two things stand out – the passenger car market soared by 10.8% over the same period last year while there’s evidence that the LCV market is beginning to attenuate, having declined by 7,5%,” says Dr Johan van Zyl, President and CEO of Toyota South Africa Motors.

This upturn in the passenger car market is reflected in the sales of a number of Toyota group products. The Corolla (including Auris) for example had its best showing in six months, recording overall sales in excess of 2000 units.

Bucking the trend of falling LCV sales (also echoed by declining demand in the medium and heavy truck segments), Toyota once again leads the way with a very buoyant performance. Market leader Hilux notched up 3189 sales, whilst a total of 1038 Quantums, which now goes into localised production, were shifted during the month of March.

The recession and debt crisis in the Eurozone and the sluggish global economy has dented overall export numbers but Toyota remains the leading exporter, racking up total sales of 7425 units.

Dr van Zyl is cautiously optimistic about the months ahead: “We see scope for the South African vehicle market to remain in positive territory, but admittedly this will depend on the impact that rapidly rising energy and transport costs will have on the consumer’s disposable income.”