Commercial vehicle sales off to a slow start

To kick off the New Year, sales results for the South African commercial vehicle market revealed a general decline in January, with one segment showing an improvement

According to the latest combined results released by the National Association of Automobile Manufacturers of South Africa (Naamsa), Associated Motor Holdings (AMH) and Amalgamated Automobile Distributors (AAD), 1 568 new trucks and buses were sold in January.   

Overall January sales results indicated a 4,4 percent year-on-year decline. When compared to January 2019, sales were down 8,0 percent in the medium commercial vehicle (MCV) segment, ending January 2020 with 503 new trucks sold.

Similarly, heavy commercial vehicle (HCV) sales declined by 14,5 percent to 277 units. On a positive note, the extra-heavy commercial vehicle (EHCV) segment experienced an upturn in sales, increasing by 6,2 percent to 758 units. Bus sales continued to struggle, however, with a significant 45,5 percent decline to 30 units sold in January.

“We have certainly seen an interesting start to the local commercial vehicle market in January 2020,” says Filip Van den Heede, managing director of UD Trucks Southern Africa.

“The sharp declines in both MCV and HCV sales are an indication that the fundamentals are under pressure – likely an indicator that the country’s economy is not yet seeing a recovery to growth. We hope that the extra-heavy commercial vehicle trend in January can stabilise and gradually counter the other segments,” he adds.

Van den Heede says that the growth in the EHCV market can be attributed to some recovery in the movement of commodities, which drove new vehicle sales.