Balancing these negatives will be a period of intense product activity surrounding the Johannesburg International Motor Show and new model introductions of high volume models in the post show period through to the end of the year.
This is the view of Malcolm Gould, vice president of General Motor's Sales and Marketing division.
"September vehicle sales were characterised by a welcome, somewhat trend bucking, high level of market activity that produced the highest volume sales month for the industry in four years", says Gould. "Our view is that, even with this heightened level of interest, the industry will be hard pressed to maintain the momentum of the past month. Double digit growth plus is a probability for the year but we expect the final number to fall below the current level of 16,2% for the full 12 months," says Gould.
The majority of support for increased sales by GM came through the dealer channel with an extra 1 750 sales recorded by dealers compared to August. Government sales increased 350 units and rental deliveries were up by around 800 units. Factors that likely impacted on sales through the dealer channel are a high level of promotional activity as the third quarter closed off, together with an easing of supply out of Japan and Korea amongst local manufacturers.
