The total sales figure represents a drop of 13 646 units (-29.6%) compared to the same month last year, but is up by 754 units from June 2020.

Of the total sales figure, 30 325 units or 93.6% of the vehicles were sold by dealers. This means that fewer than 2 000 units were sold to the government and manufacturers and only 135 units were delivered to vehicle rental buyers. With seven months recorded, the total vehicle market is 38.5% or 108 925 units behind 2019.

The passenger vehicle market appears to be the hardest hit. In July, the industry sold 18 905 passenger vehicles, which is 35.8% lower than for the same period last year. Light commercials dropped by 19.7% to 11 123 units, when compared to the same month last year.

On the commercial vehicle side, sales dropped to 698 (-12.9%) for medium commercial vehicles, to 458 units (-13.1%) and to 1 165 (-10.2%) for extra heavy commercial vehicles. A total of 47 buses were sold.

Toyota remains the market leader with 7 464 units sold, followed by Volkswagen (5 075 units), Ford (3 194 units), Hyundai (2 510 units) and Nissan, which slipped to fifth with 2 132 units sold in July.

The remaining top 10 members are made up of Isuzu (1 671 units), Mercedes-Benz (an estimated 1 367 units), Renault (1 333), Suzuki (1 213) and KIA (905 units).

Naamsa notes in its commentary that there are some green shoots. The Absa Purchasing Managers’ Index measured at 52.1 index points, the first time that this is in positive territory since December 2018, which points to some expansion in the economy.

At the same time, the additional 25 basis points cut and low fuel prices have provided some additional relief to motorists and should filter through to new vehicle sales.

Click here to see the full report: AVAF Infographic NAAMSA July2020