New car and light commercial vehicle sales were expected to remain under severe pressure until the middle of 2009, Naamsa said on Friday in its review of business conditions for the third quarter of 2008.
This was as a result of tight monetary conditions, inflationary pressures, high levels of personal and household debt and a further slowdown in economic activity levels, the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of SA said.
In the third quarter of 2008, passenger car sales were at 76 631 units — recording a decline of 25 514 units or 25% compared to the 102 145 new cars sold during the corresponding quarter of 2007.
Combined commercial vehicle sales during the third quarter of 2008 at 46 750 units reflected a fall of 11 927 units or a decline of 20,3% compared to 58 677 units sold during the corresponding quarter of 2007.
On a quarterly basis, sales of new cars, light and medium commercial vehicles recorded further sharp declines compared to the corresponding three months of 2007.
Sales of new heavy and extra heavy commercial vehicles registered gains as a result of continued strong investment in infrastructure development projects, Naamsa said.
”Interestingly, domestic sales of new cars during the third quarter at 76 631 vehicles showed an improvement of 6 802 units or 9,7% compared to the 69 829 cars sold during the second quarter,” the organisation said.
Industry employment levels declined marginally during the third quarter, principally due to further operational adjustments at two of the industry’s assembly operations, Naamsa added.
Compared to the 36 059 positions at the end of the second quarter of 2008, aggregate industry employment declined by 373 jobs during the third quarter of 2008 to 35 686 jobs.
”During the quarter, three companies increased headcount, two major employers reduced the number of employees — whilst employment at the industry’s other major employers remained stable,” Naamsa said.
Turning to industry capacity utilisation levels, Naamsa said these continued to hold up relatively well as a result of a growing export business.
Naamsa added that industry domestic sales projections continued to reflect difficult trading conditions and had been revised downwards.
”However, vehicle production/export projections for 2008 continue to reflect growth with an expected decline of about 15%, in volume terms, during 2009 as a result of the economic slowdown in developed, mature markets.” – Sapa