By Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK – The year 2014 ended on a strong note with aggregate industry new vehicle sales at 51 461 units, an improvement of 4 979 vehicles or 10.7 percent gain compared to the total new vehicle sales of 46 482 units during the corresponding month of December 2013.
The figures were released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (NAAMSA), which tracks the sales of vehicles in Namibia, South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Botswana.
During December 2014, new passenger car and light commercial vehicle markets reflected a year-on-year volume improvement of 9.3 percent and 14.7 percent, respectively. Sales of extra heavy commercial vehicles rose by 29.9 percent year-on-year. Export sales recorded a marginal decline in December 2014 at 21 833 units reflecting a fall of 357 vehicles or 1.6 percent compared to the 22 190 vehicles exported during December 2013.
Following four successive years of growth in new vehicle sales, the 2014 new vehicle sales recorded a slight year-on-year decline. The slowdown in the economy, two interest rate increases and above new vehicle average price inflation contributed to a fall in domestic sales volumes of 0.7 percent for the year. In the event, the marginal decline in aggregate sales during 2014 of 0.7 percent in volume terms compares to annual growth in total sales of 24.7 percent year-on-year in 2010, 16.1 percent in 2011, 10.2 percent in 2012 and 2.9 percent in 2013.
On balance, 2014 turned out to be a difficult year for the automotive industry with domestic new vehicle sales under pressure, particularly at dealer level, despite attractive incentives and a strong contribution by the car rental sector which accounted for an estimated 14.0 percent of new car sales during the year. Sales of heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles performed relatively well and recorded noteworthy year-on-year gains. Industry trading conditions remained intensely competitive with over 60 brands and about 2 962 model derivatives, in the new car and light commercial vehicle sectors, competing for consumers’ franchise.
Preliminary estimates indicate that in the motor industry for South Africa, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, and Botswana new vehicle-related sales turnover had grown by about 9.0 percent, based on sales volumes and a weighted average estimated increase of about 10.0 percent in new vehicle prices, during 2013 to reach about N224 billion for the year. Industry new vehicle export sales were estimated to have added a further N$65 billion to total industry 2014 revenue.
Export sales had been negatively affected by a four-week strike in the metal and engineering industry during the middle of 2014 with an estimated net loss of 16 000 vehicles and, as a result, aggregate 2014 total vehicle exports at 276 874 units were only slightly up on the 276 404 vehicles exported in 2013.
“Assuming further modest improvement in the global economy – industry export sales during 2015 could improve by some 50 000 vehicles or about 17.0 percent over 2014. Total Industry exports were projected to reach about 325 000 units during 2015 increasing further to about 375 000 units in 2016,” stated NAAMSA.
The outlook for 2015 remains uninspiring with the best case scenario, at this stage, one of marginal volume growth in domestic sales.