Total new vehicle sales (as reported by NAAMSA today) recorded a more subdued growth in April 2011, up only 6.1%y/y. This is slightly down on the 8%y/y growth recorded in April. During the first five months of 2011, total vehicle sales have risen by a respectable 16.4%y/y.
Sales of light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses decreased by 7.9%m/m, negatively impacted by supply distruptions out of Japan (see discussion below). The sale of medium and heavy trucks turned in a mixed performance and recorded a decline of 5%y/y for medium commercial vehicles and a gain of 19.1%y/y for heavy trucks and buses. Export sales also reflected a more subdued performance in May with a decline of 8.8%y/y.
As mentioned above, during May 2011, constraints on the availability of certain components from Japan impacted the production of certain product lines in South Africa and, together with shortages of various models sourced from Japan, contributed to the slow-down in the rate of growth in new car and light commercial vehicles sales for the month. This would also have contributed to the lower aggregate industry exports. It is anticipated that the supply position will normalize over the medium term.
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