December new vehicle sales rise by 2.5% but fall short for the year

An employee works on an assembly line producing electronic cars at a factory of Beijing Electric Vehicle, funded by BAIC Group, in Beijing. China’s surging exports of electric vehicles had a negative impact on South Africa’s petrol and diesel vehicle exports to Europe in 2024. Picture: supplied

Published Jan 8, 2025

Edward West

[email protected]

December new vehicle sales increased for a third consecutive month, by 2.5% to 41 273 units compared with the same month a year before, but it was not enough to bring total sales for the year above that of 2023.

The Automotive Business Council said the industry had anticipated a year of two halves, with a taxing first half of the year and brighter economic prospects, along with an upswing in new vehicle sales during the second half of the year, which unfortunately did not materialise.

“Despite a stronger year-end performance supported by strong seasonal sales to the vehicle rental industry, easing inflation, and two interest rate cuts, new vehicle sales (in 2024) decreased by 3% to 515 712 units compared to the 531 775 units sold in 2023,” the Automotive Business Council said in a statement Wednesday.

It said that new vehicle sales remained under pressure in 2024, continuing to reflect a shift in the matrix with various new entrants in the local market, in particular Chinese brands, offering options at the more affordable end of the pricing spectrum as consumers battled a tough economic climate.

It said that the new passenger car market reflected a “sound performance” in December with a year-on-year volume increase of 82%, but light commercial vehicle sales fell by 10.3% compared with the same month in 2023.

Sales of medium commercial vehicles increased year-on-year by 7.6%, while heavy commercial vehicles and buses decreased by 11.8%.

Vehicle export sales in December 2024 fell by 4.3% to 25 931 units.

Out of the total reported industry vehicle sales, an estimated 88.4% represented dealer sales, an estimated 8.1% were sales to the vehicle rental industry, 2.1% to government, and 1.4% were sold to industry corporate fleets.

Various factors impacted vehicle exports, including a slowdown in demand in the EU due to low economic growth, stricter emission rules, and competition from cheaper electric vehicle imports from China in the EU, as well as the timing effect of new model introductions in the domestic market by major exporting OEMs.