This is an indication that the country is moving out of its first recession in 17 years, which is very good news for the business community, says McCarthy CEO, Brand Pretorius.
“The motor industry is regarded generally as an accurate barometer of business confidence and activity in the real economy, so the February new vehicle sales performance is heartening,” says Pretorius.
Total new vehicle sales of 39 312 units were only marginally better than sales in January this year, but it is a substantial improvement of 20.5% over the motor industry’s performance in February 2009.
The biggest improvement is in the passenger car segment, which may have declined by 3.7% compared to January, but was a significant 27.5% up on the figure for February last year.
“Last month’s new car sales figure of 26 009 units provided further evidence that there is a definite upturn in the market, driven primarily by fleet purchases,” explains Pretorius. “Some pre-World Cup soccer buying by the car rental companies also boosted the market. However, it was disappointing to see subdued demand from private buyers.”
With the exception of the medium commercial vehicle segment there were healthy increases in all the other commercial vehicle sectors, compared to sales in February last year.
“The strong year-to-date new vehicle sales growth has exceeded our expectation and we hope the current momentum continues in March,” concludes Pretorius.
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