Dim outlook for local vehicle sales - BDlive
Last month’s interest rate increase of 25 basis points came too late in the month to significantly affect sales but tighter lending rules, introduced weeks earlier, created a real brake, WesBank research head Rudolf Mahoney said on Monday. Figures from the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA (Naamsa) show that sales dropped 6. 1% in July compared with a year earlier, with cars down 8. 8%, heavy trucks 73% and buses 36%. For the first seven months of the year, the... Total new vehicle sales last month were 54,112, from 57,636 a year earlier, while the seven-month figure dropped to 356,755 from 366,058. Investec said the data reflected "weak rates of consumption and fixed investment spending". A discount battle for supremacy between Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger has caused the light commercial vehicle market to grow 1. 5% this year. At the start of the year most forecasters expected the year’s new vehicle market to be flat or slightly down. Standard Bank’s Nicholas Nkosi said on Monday: "We anticipate further pressure for the remainder of the year given the recent interest rate hikes, inflationary pressures and general pressure on consumer affordability. Source: www.bdlive.co.za
