New-vehicle sales continued their downward spiral in August, dropping by 8.2%, to 51 055 units, compared with the same month last year.

New-vehicle sales in the domestic market declined by 6.1% in July and 4.8% in June.

Sales numbers released by the Department of Trade and Industry on Tuesday, showed that new passenger car sales declined by 7.8% in August, to 34 885 units.

Sales of new light commercial vehicles, bakkies and minibuses, at 13 781 units, dropped by 7.8%, while sales of medium trucks, at 889 units, contracted by 11.2%.

New heavy truck and bus sales plummeted by 17.9%, to 1 500 units.

Vehicle exports maintained their momentum for the year, however, increasing by 12.3% to 28 069 units.

The underlying trend in domestic new car and commercial vehicle sales remained negative, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa commented in a statement.

“Despite attractive incentive packages on offer by most automotive companies, trading conditions remained extremely challenging.

“Vehicle manufacturers with substantial export sales were cushioned to some extent against the impact of the weaker exchange rate, but imports of fully built-up vehicles were subjected to the full impact of exchange rate pressures.

“Intense competition in the increasingly difficult trading environment continued to put pressure on margins throughout the domestic automotive value chain.”

Statistics released by Standard Bank on Tuesday show that consumers were feeling the pinch of a weakening domestic economy.

The average contract term for passenger car financing increased from 65.9 months in August last year, to 69.3 months in August 2015, said Nicholas Nkosi, head of Standard Bank Vehicle and Asset Finance.

Not only were consumers taking longer to pay off their cars, they were also targeting more affordable vehicles.

Nkosi said the average deal size decreased from R305 774 in August last year, to R289 006 in August 2015.

Top-selling Cars and Bakkies in August:
1. Volkswagen Polo Vivo 2 711
2. Ford Ranger 2 472
3. Toyota Hilux 2 449 
4. Volkswagen Polo 2 313
5. Toyota Corolla/Auris/Quest 2 215
6. Nissan NP200 1 565
7. Toyota Etios 1 417
8. Isuzu KB 1 400
9. Chevrolet Utility 1 301
10. Ford Fiesta 1 230